Creative

Melting snowmen

by Fellowship Agency June 8, 2018

Build a snowman and watch it melt, all from the comfort of your classroom.

Learning outcomes

You will be able to:

  • create an artistic Christmas painting.

You will need (per group)

  • 2 x F1 Gratnells trays
  • Gratnells insert to organise resources (buttons, googly eyes, tinsel, pipe cleaners, etc.)
  • Coloured paper
  • White paint
  • Googly eyes
  • Buttons (we used ones from EDX Education)
  • Straws

What to do:

  • First, squirt two spots of white paint onto a piece of paper in the tray.
  • Use straws to blow the paint out and make it look like melted snow.
  • Decorate your snowman with googly eyes and buttons, or give it a nose and scarf.
  • Be sure to hold your painting up so that the paint begins to move down and your snowman looks like its melting.
  • As there is a lot of paint on the paper, these pieces may take longer than usual to dry. Make sure you leave them to try on a flat surface, rather than upright, to avoid paint dripping.

As always, art projects in Gratnells trays minimise mess and give each child or small group a smaller, more personal work station.

Other things to try…

  • Time how long it takes for the snowman to melt- maybe make it a competition.
  • Share photographs of your Christmas creations on social media using #WhatsInMyTray.

Curriculum links:

EYFS– Development Matters-Expressive arts and design: Exploring and using media and materials- To provide a wide range of materials, resources and sensory experiences to enable children to explore colour, texture and space.

Year 1- Primary National Curriculum- Art- To use a range of materials creatively to design and make products.

Health & Safety

As with all Gratnells Learning Rooms What’s In My Tray activities, you should carry out your own risk assessment prior to undertaking any of the activities or demonstrations.