Fantastic Friday with the Arts - Snowy Scenes

It seems winter may finally be nearing an end in Kentucky, so we decided to create one last snowy scene for the season. This project is one of my favorite winter art lessons. It is very easy to create, and the strong contrast between the black, white, and blue makes for a very dramatic and eye catching scene. It is popular with the kids, and the parents always seem impressed by the results.

I always begin this lesson by showing paintings of wintry scenes by famous artists. I usually choose Pieter Bruegel's The Hunters in Snow -The Hunters in the Snow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , as well as any winter scene from Hendrick Avercamp -WebMuseum: Avercamp, Hendrick . Both men were Dutch, and lived during the 16th century. They both created wonderful winter scenes.

After viewing the work of the two artists, the kids began to draw their own winter scene. They used black marker on blue paper. I explained to them that these scenes are "twilight scenes." Scenes taking place just as the day is coming to an end, therefor showing everything in a dark silhouette only. We also looked again very closely at Bruegel's The Hunters in Snow. I wanted them to notice the depth and perspective found in this work. We discussed the concept of foreground, middleground, and background. Anything they wanted to be far away (or in the background) should be smaller than what they have drawn in the foreground. I encouraged them to try to have an item, such as a fence, span all three space levels. The item should start off large, and gradually diminish in size until it disappears into the background.

The next step is super easy. Paint the snow! Many times I have used white chalk for this step instead. It creates a bit of a softer look. I reminded the kids to paint the snow anywhere it would naturally land in real life - branches, fence posts, or roofs.

That's it! Pretty snowy scenes! Let's hope these cute pictures don't evoke any more snowy weather in Kentucky. This is the last bit of snow we all want to see until next winter!!! Have fun creating!

How We Spent Our Snowy Day

Well, It was a very snowy day in Eastern Kentucky and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out our new microscope - on snowflakes of course! We sprayed some microscope slides with lacquer and set them outside to catch some flakes. Once we were sure we had some, we brought them in and gave the lacquer time to dry. The snowflakes melted, but the lacquer was imprinted with the shape of the snowflakes! Too cool! Here are the kids checking out the flakes. The kids drew pictures of the magnified snowflakes in their nature journal. Thanks Papa for the new microscope!!!

After our snowy science lesson, Abbey moved on to a recycled materials art project. When we received our fabulous new microscope in the mail, it came packed in lots and lots of packing peanuts. Abbey created a terrific picture for her daddy by gluing them down to construction paper and coloring them with paint pens.

The final product!

Last, but not least, we brought some snow inside for the little dollies to play in. It was really too cold to play outside today, so we brought a bit of the fun indoors! Abbey loved this - I refilled her snow many, many times.

Anybody have any new snow day ideas for me? I am always looking for fun ideas. Let me hear your thoughts. Apparently, the weatherman says we may get more snow, so I am gonna need them!

Thanks for reading!!