Painting Snow
Children can paint freely across a unique surface and see where their ideas take them. Experiencing textures and temperatures you feel, like the hard ground, cold snow, and frozen, slippery ice.
- Audience
- Caregiver
- Subject
- Nature & Outdoor
- Age
- InfantKindergartenPre-KPreschoolToddler
- Languages
- Brazilian PortugueseEnglishHaitian CreoleSimplified ChineseSpanishVietnamese
- Materials
- Liquid watercolor or food coloring (be mindful of staining), paint brushes, spray bottles or squeeze bottles , water dropper, sponges (optional), ice (optional)

Try painting snow with your child!
Activity
- Mix paint or food coloring with water, and then add colors to the snow. There are many ways to paint the snow. You can use one tool or try them all!
- Let your child explore and see what happens with the colors.
Try this with babies
- Use sponges and add a bit of color to avoid a huge mess. Squeezing sponges is great for helping the little hands get stronger!
Want more challenge?
- Mix colors and create patterns.
- Encourage your child to mix colors and create patterns. Try making a detailed painting or writing letters in the snow.
Ideas for different weather
- If it is very cold outside, bring a bucket or tray of snow inside to paint on.
- If there is no snow, use ice instead. You can fill a tray with ice cubes or freeze water in a baking pan to make a sheet of ice. Your child can use the same painting tools to explore color and patterns on ice, just like they do on snow.
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