"Eric Carle" inspired Snowman

There is nothing cuter than a snowman, except a "kinder-created" snowman. Watching little fingers stick carrot noses and top hats to wet paint is really amusing and utterly adorable. Since most of my students have never seen snow (Santa Barbara!), I talk about how to make a snowman, focus on the big, medium and small concept that is just perfect for kinders.

Place a container of white tempera paint and large brushes on each table. Set out table protectors if you wish and then a blue or purple paper on top of that (or whatever color you like). Ask the children to paint the snow first, then the series of snowballs, beginning with the largest (bottom) and finishing with the smallest (head).
Then, as the kids add snowflakes (using the back of their brushes), place a tray of painted paper (perhaps from a previous lesson) or colored printed paper, scissors, glue stick and a black oil pastel on the table.
Demonstrate how to cut out a top hat, scarf, nose, etc. For this age, I focus on shapes: triangle for nose, a square and a rectangle for the hat, etc.
If a child wants to tear some pieces, I let them, but for the most part, every detail or embellishment is cut out.

Kinder Results!

Winter Scene: Drawing and Painting lesson

Looking for an easy drawing and painting lesson with a high success rate? Try this one. Even in California, most kids equate January with cold weather. I talk about how snowflakes flutter down from the sky and land in the folds of trees, forming clumps of snow. In first grade, we stick to the lovely aspects of snow. I don't mention how hard it is to dig out from under five feet of compacted snow. To prove that snow is indeed lovely, I have lots of beautiful calendar pictures of hand.

For each student, you will need:

• 1 sheet of 12" x 18" blue construction paper

• 1 black oil pastel and 1 brown oil pastel

• shared tray of watered down (just a bit) of white tempera paint and brushes

• small container of red tempera paint (shared)

Instructions:

Drawing the tree. I discuss how the trunk is thick on the bottom and as the tree grows and gets higher, the branches get small and thinner. I encourage the kids to think of the tree as an upside down "Y". I demonstrate how to add branches with the oil pastel, concentrating on making the branches narrower as they grow away from the trunk.
Next, have the student's create "bark" by using either the black or brown oil pastel.

Adding the snow. With a small paintbrush, have the students paint big swathes of white paint across the bottom of the paper, going right over the tree trunk. The kids can go up as high as they want, making sure that at least half of the tree is exposed. Next, have the student's paint small clumps of "snow" in the pockets of the tree branches.

Adding a red highlight. I ask the kids to paint something red on their picture. It could be a scarf for a snowman, a red fox, a cardinal, whatever they want. I resist the urge to show them a sample, because this tends to sway them into what to paint. Have the kids use their imaginations as much as possible. Although, if Ashley draws a fox, you can bet the girl next to her will as well. That's just the way it goes!

Now for the FUN part...adding snowflakes. My technique for splatter painting is to use a medium sized brush, dipped in white paint. Then, holding it about 2" above the painting, tap with a finger. Many art teachers use toothbrushes, but I find the spray is too small and can be difficult for little fingers to manage.
Just a big dollop of white paint and a good tap should yield enough snowflakes to satisfy first graders.

Collage Snowman Kindergarten Art Lesson

My kindergarten class had a terrific time creating their collage snowmen. It's a very simple lesson to do with this age group. You'll need two 30 minute sessions:

First session:
Cut small pieces of tissue paper into small pieces (violet, blue, pink and any other cool colors) and arrange on trays. Set tray in the middle of table for each group of kids. Demonstrate how to apply tissue paper to 9 x 11 white or light blue paper using liquid starch and a small brush. Encourage the kids to add tissue paper even to the edges-they can be trimmed later.

Second session: Put out a few colors of tempera paint (white, light blue, red, orange, black) and demonstrate how the kids might draw a snowmen. They have their own ideas, so I usually don't force them to stick with the three-circle theory!
Final detail: hand out a few sequins or snowflake shaped sequins to add on with white glue.

Results: Totally charming!


Foothill School Mrs. Feeley and Mrs. Scott's K class