Winter Art Activities
Here are some fun and creative art activities to do in the winter time.
By Elisa Jackson
As teachers we often design our art activities to coincide with the current season or upcoming holiday. Since we are in winter, it's a great time to think of some fun and different winter art activities for your students. Here are a few to try with your class.
The first activity you can have your students try is making a three-dimensional snowman. We are all used to the traditional two-dimensional version where you paint a snowman or glue cotton balls to paper. But this snowman is made from Styrofoam balls and cotton balls. You give each student three Styrofoam balls of different sizes and hot glue them together with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on top. Students glue the cotton balls to the styrofoam and then can easily poke in items to the smallest ball on top for a face. You can have one snowman for each child, or get really big Styrofoam balls and have one big snowman for the class.
Snow globes are always a delight during the winter time, and you can make them in your classroom! You will need jars with tops, white glitter, and a small winter figurine that the students have previously made that fits into the jar. The first thing to do is to put white glitter in the jar, swish it around, and pour it out. Some will stick to the sides which gives it a snow globe effect. Next, take the figurine the students already made (a snowman, snowflake, snow house, etc), and hot glue it onto the bottom of the lid. Once it is dry, carefully screw on the lid to the jar and put the jar upside down. Voila! A beautiful snow globe!
Snowflakes are a popular winter symbol, and making them in your classroom should be anything but boring. Take the traditional white, blue, or silver colored paper and cut it into a circle. Have students fold it many times, and cut out pieces to make the snowflakes. Once the snowflakes are cut, students can decorate them with sequins, glitter, or tissue paper. When they are all finished, attach each one to a string, and hang it around the room to create snow in your classroom. This makes for a great winter-themed room.
The last activity is a tissue paper winter picture. Whichever picture you feel represents winter the best, have it outlined and printed out on construction paper or card stock. Get tissue paper the colors the picture should be and cut one inch squares of tissue paper of those colors. Students take a pencil, wrap the tissue paper over the eraser, and put a tiny dot of glue on the end. Then students put the piece of tissue paper with glue onto the picture in its appropriate spot. Students do this to fill up the entire picture. Once done, you have a great three-dimensional winter picture with a lot of texture to it. Here are more activities to do with your class during the winter time.
Winter Art Activities:
Students make a winter quilt by designing winter pictures and fastening them together with yarn.
Students track the sunsets from December to March and record the pattern they fall in. They can then paint a winter sunset.
Students compare the seasons of winter and summer and create posters for both
Students trace four winter words with pictures that accompany them. This is good printing practice for the lower grades.