Snowball Painting

In this activity we are going to be making snowball paintings. This sensory craft is easy, versatile, and only requires a few materials. It is perfect for helping preschoolers hone their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. In addition, snowball painting can be calming while also creating the opportunity to further explore the world through touch and sight. There is no perfect way to do it, so children can have a lot of fun and express themselves with creative freedom!

Materials

Light blue construction paper

White acrylic paint

Light blue acrylic paint

Clothespins

Large pompoms or cotton balls

Small pompoms or cotton balls

Paper or plastic plate

Activity Steps

Before we begin, I recommend covering your workspace with newspaper or an art tablecloth to prevent any paint spills. Doing this makes clean up a lot easier!

Step 1: First, pinch a pompom between a clothespin. This will make it easier to control painting with the pompoms. It’s also not as messy as only using your hands.

For reference, I used four clothespins. I attached small pompoms to two of the clothespins and large pompoms to the other two. Doing this allowed me to make small and large snowballs in white and blue without mixing the paints. This is not required, however. Feel free to mix the paints if you like the way it looks!

Tip: If you want your pompoms to be even more secure, you can super glue them to the ends of the clothespins.

Step 2: Next, place your paints in the paper or plastic plate. You can also place them in different plates if it feels easier that way.

If you don’t have a lighter, icy blue, you can create one! Simply mix a darker blue paint with the white paint. Keep adding a small amount of white paint and mixing until you get the shade of blue you want.

Step 3: Now it’s time for painting! Dip one of the pompoms into the blue paint. Next, transfer the pompom to the construction paper and press it down like a stamp. When you lift the pompom, you should have a circle that looks like a snowball on your paper. Keep doing this with the different sizes and colors.

You can also change the pressure you apply to create more interesting and diverse snowballs! Feel free to explore and observe how the snowballs look when you mix the paint a little or twist the pompom against the paper instead of just pressing it down.

Step 4: When you are satisfied with the snowballs, allow the paint to dry for at least 15 minutes.

Now your snowball painting is done. If you are feeling really creative, you can add a snowman, igloo, or anything else to your art as well!