Preschool aged children love to explore. Help your child discover the wonders of color mixing by creating a snowy outdoor "colorscape." Start with a blank canvas of freshly fallen snow. Select a specified area and mark it off by creating a line in the snow using a plastic shovel or stick (an adult should perform this step for the child). Place food coloring mixed with water into spray bottles or ketchup/mustard style squirt bottles. Start with the three primary colors: red, blue and yellow. Let the child gently squirt the food coloring mixture onto the snow. Mix the colors together with a kid's plastic shovel or special kid's plastic gardening tool. Watch as your child creates greens, purples, and oranges in the snow. Take a photo of this color creation to save for a lasting memory. Materials used during the course of this art activity may cause staining so parents should dress children accordingly. Additionally, the food coloring may stain or discolor the surface underneath the snow. Try placing the snow on an old tarp as an alternative to coloring the ground. Children who have not developed the self-control to follow safe food color squirting rules should not engage in this activity.
Kids can create imaginative and artistic shapes using snow and simple cookie cutters. Gather snow in a small cooler or similar container. Bring the snow inside and prepare a variety of different plastic cookie cutter shapes on a baking tray. Start with basic geometric shapes such as circles, squares, or triangles. If you are feeling more adventurous, move to stars or animal shapes. Make sure that your child is wearing warm gloves or winter mittens and help her to scoop the snow into the cookie cutter molds. Gently turn the cookie cutter molds over to reveal snow shapes. Piece together the different shapes to create one larger snow image such as a snow man made from circles or a house made from a triangle and a square. Keep in mind that the warm indoor air will quickly melt the snow. Weather permitting, try this activity outdoors. This will help the shapes to retain their form.
Hot weather and warm climates are not the end of entertaining art activities with snow. Use faux snow made from a glitter mixture to create a wintry scene that will bring cool to any summer day. Prepare a suitable work space, such as a low table or desk, by covering it with newspaper or a washable vinyl table cloth. Start with a blank piece of white drawing paper and ask your child to create a simple landscape picture. Most preschool aged children are not familiar with the word landscape; therefore it is best to give a brief introduction. Explain that a landscape is a picture of the outside. Help her to draw rolling round mountains or a triangle shaped pine tree. Add a coating of clear drying, non-toxic glue to areas that will become snow covered. Either squirt the glue directly onto the paper or mix it with a small amount of water and spread with a thick paint brush. Sprinkle silver, white and opal glitter on top of the glue to simulate falling snow. Once the glitter sticks, the landscape will be turned into a wintry scene.