Painting snow on a winter day is such a fun thing to do. We've even painted a whole snowman before.
However, we were recently hit with frigid temperatures here for awhile. Like frostbite-within-minutes-why-do-I-even-live-here-stupid-cold frigid (and yes, that's the technical term...haha). So our outdoor play was put on hold for a bit, while we hibernated through the -40 C or colder temperatures.
When it was finally a normal winter temperature (aka still cold, but not COLD cold), we headed outside for some outdoor play.
And since we were in the mood for Valentine's Day activities, I thought it might be fun to paint hearts in the snow. So, we brought out some supplies to do a little heart snow painting activity.
Ready to try making your own spray painted hearts in the snow? Well, let's dig in!
What You'll Need for this Valentine's Day Themed Snow Painting Activity
Obviously, you're going to need some snow (and lots of it!) to do this activity. With that assumption in mind, here's what else you'll need to make your own spray painted hearts in the snow:
- Heart shaped stencil of some kind (picture of it below) - We used the big dollar store hearts from this loose parts activity. You could use heart shaped cookie cutters, premade stencils like these, or even try making your own stencil out of craft foam or something.
- Spray bottles filled with water - I used two spray bottles that way each of my boys could have their own to play with. (And so they wouldn't fight.)
- Red liquid watercolor or red food coloring - How much you'll need will depend on how big your spray bottle is, how deep you want the red color to be, and whether you are using liquid watercolors or food coloring. I added about 10-12 drops of red food coloring to our spray bottles.
Prepare your paint in the spray bottles by adding some water and liquid watercolors or food coloring. Then shake them up so the color is well distributed.
After you're all bundled up in your winter gear, grab your heart stencils (see ours below) and your spray bottles and head outside for some fun in the snow and cold. For this activity, we used two heart stencils in different sizes.
Decorate for Valentine's Day with These Painted Snow Hearts!
My youngest K was really into this snow painting activity. Mind you, he likes anything that involves using a spray bottle so I can't say I'm entirely surprised that he would enjoy this activity.
My oldest, J, on the other hand, was excited that we could finally head outside after our deep freeze and just play in the snow.
So, while K painted hearts, J demolished a huge mound of snow and turned it into a slide. After placing a stencil, you simply spray away until the snow is well saturated.
PS: How AWESOME is K's winter hat?! Have you seen a cuter moose? I mean, does it get any more Canadian than wearing a moose hat in the snow? Probably not.
Anyway, cute hat aside...let's get back to making colorful hearts in the snow. When the heart stencil is removed, you'll be left with a beautiful painted snow heart.
Then simply repeat the process to make as many colorful hearts in the snow as you want. As for K, he made four hearts in total before deciding to join his big brother for some snow pile demolition.
But hey, at least my snowbanks looked colorful and festive for awhile. And the boys got to finally enjoy some outside play for a bit.
This heart snow painting activity is part of the Show Me the Love series. Be sure to check out some more Valentine's Day activities from my series co-hosts:
Valentine's Mailing Invitation to Play from House of Burke
Creating with Hearts on the Light Table from Still Playing School
