Looking for an easy winter art activity? You’ve come to the right place. With all ages home for winter break, this easy winter art idea is a crowd-pleaser for many. (Don’t be surprised if you join) Painting with tissue paper is not only easy; it’s brilliant.
Winter Art for Toddlers
I absolutely love crafting with little ones—watching them explore new materials and get those little hands messy. But my favourite toddler crafts focus more on the process and less on the end result, like these 50 Crafts for 2-Year-Olds. These types of crafts, including many of the Winter Art for Toddlers ideas you’ll find below, give little ones the opportunity to flex their creative muscles and be independent. After all, we do know how much toddlers love to be independent!
These are exactly the types of beautiful activities you will find inside my Toddler Program, Playful Days. If you would like one lovely activity to enjoy with your toddler each and every day – perhaps this is what you have been looking for?
As well, just before we get into the winter art ideas, I want to share my Free Rainbow Puzzle Pack with you. It is filled with fun, learning-filled activities and printables for toddlers, perfect for brightening up a drab winter day!
Alright, now let’s get into some winter crafting!
Many of these crafts can be adjusted for children of varying ages, making them great for families. With my children, I like to focus on the fun of creating, meaning our crafts often end up looking different than perhaps intended. This doesn’t bother me (or my children) one little bit. But it did take me a bit of time to come to this realization.
It’s funny to think about, but when my oldest was little, I would follow along behind her touching up her crafts… ridiculous, but true. No wonder she is my little perfectionist. Whoops. Sorry love.
But my boys are wild, and couldn’t care less if their snowmen are pink, or have five eyes, or were supposed to be mittens.
Just something you may choose to keep in mind while you enjoy these winter crafts for 2-year-olds!
Winter Art Projects for Toddlers
A Loofah Snowman – I love painting with different mediums with toddlers! This winter craft uses a loofah to make snowballs and then all sorts of household items to decorate.
Birch Winter Tree Art – This art project is perfect for toddlers! The tape holds the place of the trees while those little hands can get nice and creative painting and splattering away. Peel away the tape, and beautiful birch trees are revealed.
A Pretty Winter Lantern – This is such a beautiful craft for a wonderful winter activity to enjoy with your toddler. Have you ever done a lantern walk?
Winter Watercolour Crayon Resist – While I focused this activity on my oldest while writing this blog post, my toddler and preschooler both took part in creating their own lovely watercolour artwork. Simple and gorgeous.
Painting with Mittens by Teach Preschool – Use mittens for painting! This is a lovely extension to many books or a wonderful art exploration all on its own.
Marbled Snowmen in Snowglobes by Rainbows Within Reach – I love the idea of using marble painting as snow. And those little mixed-up snowmen? Adorable!
Melted Snowman by Mamas Like Me (for Kiwi Crate) – I don’t really know what to say about this besides… brilliant.
Tape Resist Snowflakes by Play Create Explore (link no longer available) – We do quite a bit of tape resist art. I love this version for 2-year-olds because they can even apply the tape themselves to create the snowflakes before finger painting.
Icicle Drip Painting by Things to Share and Remember – Pipettes were made for 2-year-old art projects!! Well, no… actually they were made as laboratory tools… but they should have been made for toddlers!
A Topsy Snowman – This craft is also a fun activity. Little ones can try to balance the parts of the snowman or stick a popsicle stick in some playdough, and the snowman can be thrown like a game of horse shoes!
Torn Paper Snowy Owl by Hannah’s Art Club – While there are a lot of wonderful art processes used in this toddler winter art project, I especially love the torn paper aspect. Wonderful for developing fine motor skills.
Abstract Snowman Art by Still Playing School – Cotton balls and glue are a great base for some toddler sensory exploration!
Snowman Collage by Sugar Aunts – A great way to practice some scissor skills. And do 2-year-olds ever love scissors! I like to give my toddler long strips of paper, so he just has to make one cut through the middle—it’s a great way to practice!
Cozy Winter Hats by Things to Share and Remember – I love the idea of toddlers playing with different materials, fabrics, and yarns – what a great way to explore warm and soft textures on a chilly day!
Mitten Cookie Cutter Stamping by House of Burke – Using cookie cutters is a neat way to introduce stamping to toddlers—nice and big to hold and simple large shapes to admire the print!
I love all of these winter art ideas for 2-year-olds! Full of exploring and new experiences, with lots of room for creativity—just as art was meant to be!
I am sure we will make our way through this list before the snow has all melted (darn long Canadian winters). I will let you know which ones were the biggest hit with my children—please do the same!
Thank you for reading, friends, I hope you enjoyed these ideas!
P.S. Don’t forget to grab your FREE Rainbow Puzzle Pack!
Abstract Winter Art for Kids
Children are naturals when it comes to Mixed Media art and tend not to care for paintbrushes or shy away from garish colour combinations. They’re natural explorers and with mixed media concepts, anything goes!
This simple Abstract Winter Art Project for Kids is perfectly suited to little artists who love to get their hands messy.
Using multiple painting techniques combined with glitter and black glue, kids will create a beautiful winter-themed piece of art that captures their unique experimental process.
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Abstract Winter Art for Kids: Materials
White Card Stock
Children’s Acrylic Paint
Scrap Card
Glitter
Bubble Wrap
Black Glue (PVA Glue + Black Acrylic Paint)
Decorative Edge Scissors
Any additional materials available in the craft cupboard – get creative!
To make the Black Glue, you will need a small squeezy bottle with a fine tip.
Combine 1 part Black Acrylic Paint with 3 parts PVA glue and give it a good shake!
Don’t worry if the mixture appears a little grey at first, it will darken to a black colour.
Step 1: Creating the scenic background
Squirt the acrylic paint directly onto a piece of white cardstock.
Cut up some scrap card and then scrape the card across the paint to spread it across the page.
Capture different paint colours as you scrape the card across the white cardstock to merge the colours and create gorgeous blends.
Step 2: Complete the canvas
Continue the Step 1 process (adding more colours if necessary) until the Arty Crafty Kids are satisfied with their new wintery canvas.
Add some shimmer and shine with streaks of glitter.
Step 3: Layer the background
(An optional extra) To add texture and depth to the landscape, use bubble wrap to create prints.
Step 4: Adding depth to the canvas
For best results, paint the individual bubbles on the bubble wrap and then press down firmly. Carefully peel the bubble wrap away from the painting to reveal the print.
Repeat as desired, using multiple colours and bubble wrap shapes,
Step 5: Make the trees
Using another piece of White Cardstock, cut out multiple ‘tree’ shapes with the ‘decorative edge scissors’.
Step 6: Fix the trees to the canvas
Glue the trees onto the painting.
Step 7: Complete the Abstract Art project
Complete the trees with black glue, creating fun trunk shapes.
If possible, apply the black glue in one free flow motion and have a piece of tissue to hand to wipe away any excess glue.
This Abstract Winter Art project can be easily adapted to suit any age and ability.
For instance, the black glue could be substituted for paint or cut up black card.
For one of our winter landscapes, we created trees out of white lace rather than cardstock and added snowflake embellishments. Perhaps the trees could be a gorgeous evergreen colour rather than white?
However your Arty Crafty Kids choose to complete their Abstract Winter Art projects, I hope they LOVE the process…
For more creative Winter themed ideas, you may also enjoy the following posts:
Why I created winter mittens
As a room mom for my five-year-old’s class, I needed an art idea for the winter party. Naturally, I want something simple. – a small number of supplies and easy cleanup. I am sure the teachers could appreciate this mission as well.
Rather than coming hot with a complicated craft idea from the infamous Pinterest, I took a note from the great Eric Carle. We painted the winter mittens using tissue paper, glue, and water. Naturally, we tested the winter art activity at home before bringing it to 20 ambitious children at the winter holiday party.
Related: Want to hear something wild? Painting activities for kids don’t always use paint!
Gluing and painting technique
Mix liquid glue with water at a 75/25 (ish) ratio. It was just enough to keep the glue gooey. Now I know that I am not giving you exact measuring amounts. The key is to mix and see what’s needed as you go.
To paint, place the tissue paper on the mitten and then brush over it with the glue/water mixture.
Pro Tip: Too much water may rip the paper so add a little at a time. If the glue feels too watery, add a little more glue and mix.
RELATED: Looking for art supplies in one place? Here are our favorite art supplies for kids.
Supply list
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What can you do with the leftover tissue paper squares? I will not leave you hanging with a drawer filled with paper. Check out the Easter art, tissue paper ornaments, and pumpkin art.
