Snow painting with a toddler

While on break from preschool, we have been getting lots of snow and it has also been very cold outside. This is my grandson’s first year to be old enough to explore snow but since it is so cold outside, we have been bringing the snow inside for a little exploration and snow painting…

The preschool experience at home (a non-designated preschool space) with young children is often a different experience than what takes place in a classroom setting (a designated preschool space) because you are working in an environment where everyday living by the entire family takes place rather than in an environment solely designed for the preschool experience.  Although activities may look and be a little different, both the process at home and in a preschool classroom can lead to amazing learning and development…

While my grandson was taking his nap, I set up a little snow play station in my kitchen.  Normally, I would have put everything out ahead of time as an invitation to play but my grandson never wants to do anything until he has had his snack, so before diving into our snow play – we had a snack. Then I dumped a bowl of snow into the middle of the table…

On the counter, I had already prepared a few dishes of colored water (food color added to water) and paint brushes.  I set out the blue water first and my grandson immediately started exploring…

While my grandson explored the blue water and paint brush, I set out the other colors of water I had prepared…

My grandson went around the table exploring the different colors of water – sometimes painting a little on the snow and sometimes just stirring the water in the tray…

My grandson came and went from the snow painting table throughout the next little while.  He would wonder off every few minutes to go and play with his toys then come back to the table to explore some more…

While he was off playing with other toys, I would change the table up a little or move things around just to see if the change would create new interest in exploring the color and the snow…

Then my grandson would come back to see what I was doing and play a little more with the snow.   While he played, I would say statements like “Brrrr, the snow is cold!” or “The snow turned blue!” and so on…

My grandson is learning to say lots of new words right now and it seems the words “cold” and “hot” or “up” and “down” are at the top of his vocabulary list of new words…

There was no right or wrong to this process – it was simply an exploration of color and snow and all the concepts that naturally arise as my grandson explored…

My role as the facilitator of play was to keep the process inviting. I tried to make a simple snowman but the snowman looked a little more like a snow mountain. My grandson liked the ball on top so we focused on the snow ball instead…

Our exploration of snow was a simple experience with no specific pre-planned agenda. As my grandson explored the snow, I watched for opportunities to keep his interest but when he would go off to do something else for a bit (like try on my house shoes) I modified the experience to see if he might come back and try exploring a little more…

And yes, we did drop a little snow on the floor during our play but no worries, I had a towel handy for just this purpose…

After awhile, my grandson had definitely moved onto other interests so I simply dumped the snow into the sink and wiped down my board and table. A simple process to set up and take down…

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Want to see what snow painting looks like in the classroom setting?  Then click here for more!