They dipped the folded side into some black tempera paint, placed a line of black across their tree trunk, and dragged down a bit. Everyone received a small piece of card stock folded in half. I drew lines on 12 x 14 paper (vertically) ahead of time and photocopied them so that everyone had tall, wide, straight trees. While the papers were drying we started creating our birch trees.

It’s hard to see in the photo but it gave the paper a lovely mottled effect. On the other half (the one they DIDN’T draw on) they painted two or three colours and then I quickly sprinkled on salt (you must do this while it’s still wet). It’s important to paint each section of lines a different colour. Then they took out their water colours and, using bright colours, painted their paper. On one half of the paper the kids drew lines and dots and squiggles with both black and white crayons. Deep Space uses pastels, but I don’t like the mess, so we used black crayon and pressed hard. They folded it in half and drew a black line down the fold. Here’s what we did!Įach child had an 12 x 14 piece of paper.

I found this lesson at Deep Space Sparkle. New snow would soon bury the rest.įollow Up Activities: There are lots of fun activities that would fit nicely with this story, the most obvious being to build your own snowman with found objects.ġ) How about making pine cone bird feeders?Ģ) The illustrations in the book lend themselves well to written character descriptions.ģ) But my favourite activity of all is the one we did this week. Opening: Do you think birds know when it’s going to snow? I do. It’s the kind of book you can look at again and again, just to appreciate a different aspect There are lots of opportunities to marvel over the imaginative people, laugh at the popcorn and peanut-stealing squirrels and birds, and count all the colourful objects. Why I Like It: This book doesn’t tell a story instead it’s a visual treat. Children of all ages will be inspired to create an artsy snowman either on paper or outside with the real stuff. This book is full of gorgeous, collage-style snowmen (and women and girls and boys and pets). I think you’re going to love this book by Lois Ehlert and the gorgeous winter birds we painted afterwards.īrief Summary: If you thought snowmen only had carrot noses, then you’re in for a big surprise. Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert