Early Childhood Studio Lesson
Snow Art
It was nearing the end of a very long, rough winter with a lot of snow and too little time to play outside. One of my favorite classes
that year was a group of eight boys in
T1 (transitional first grade). T1 was
the perfect place for students who
were ready to leave kindergarten but
not quite ready for a first-grade curriculum.
Each Friday afternoon, I saw the
boys in art class for fifty minutes.
Typically we would work on two or
three ongoing projects. They enjoyed
undertaking several different activi-
Nicole Kraus
ties in that long period rather than just
one project. The boys tended to move
quickly because of the small class size.
Inspired by Mother Nature
Mother Nature had created the perfect scenario for us on one particular
Friday. An ice storm had glazed the
two feet of snow we already had on
the ground. The day had warmed up to
slightly above freezing and there was
no wind. I asked permission from my
principal and asked the boys to bring
their jackets to art class.
They were so excited when they
came in that afternoon, but they had
no idea what I had planned for them!
We worked on one short project for the
first part of class and then I told them
my big surprise: We were going to create snow art!
The boys were unsure until I
explained that we were actually going
outside to paint the snow. I explained
to them that the ice on top of the
snow had made a smooth place for us
to paint, and we were going to create
art outside for the whole school to
enjoy.
