A low wall of colored ice bricks with snow packed between as mortarPlastic food tubs. Freeze a tub of each color. Lay bricks in a row, pack snow on top, and stagger the next row.
A snow armchair with armrests, wide enough to sit inPacking snow and a shovel. Pile a block against a snowbank. Scoop out the seat and pat the arms and back smooth.
A word in stamped letters big enough to read from an upstairs windowBoots. Plan the letters on paper. Jump from letter to letter so no stray tracks join them, then check from upstairs.
A bucket-molded snow cake with colored icing drizzled from the topSqueeze bottles, 2 colors. Pack a bucket and turn it out. Drizzle one color from the middle, then dot the rim.
A bullseye of sprayed rings to aim snowballs atSpray bottles, 2 colors. Spray the center dot, then rings that alternate. Pack a pile of snowballs and step back.
A color-mixing patch: yellow sprayed over blue to watch green appearSpray bottles, 2 colors. Spray a blue patch and a yellow one that overlaps half of it. Try red over yellow next.
A dragon sprayed along the top of a long snow ridge, with scales in two greensSpray bottles, 3 colors. Shape a head at one end. Spray the body green, add darker scale dabs and a red tongue.
A flag of your own design sprayed onto a stamped rectangleSpray bottles, 3 colors. Stamp the rectangle flat. Hold a piece of cardboard as a mask along each straight edge.
A hopscotch court squirted onto packed snowSqueeze bottle, 1 color. Stamp a strip flat. Draw the boxes, number them, and hop it in boots.
A rainbow arc sprayed across a snowbank, red on the outsideSpray bottles, 6 colors. Spray the red arc first and tuck each band under the last. Stand back to check the curve.
A row of tulips squirted along the edge of a path, as if they had come up earlySqueeze bottles, 3 colors. Green stems first, a step apart. Then a cup shape in red or yellow on top of each.
A sunset sprayed up the side of a snow pile: yellow low, then orange, then pinkSpray bottles, 3 colors. Mist each band wide and let the edges overlap, so the colors blend where they meet.
Lanes and a finish line sprayed down a sledding slopeSpray bottles, 2 colors. Spray two lane lines from top to bottom and a checkered band across the foot of the hill.
Polka dots all over a snow mound, one held squirt for each dotSqueeze bottles, 3 colors. Hold the nozzle still and count to two for each dot. Space the dots a hand apart.
Your name squirted in letters as tall as your armSqueeze bottle, 1 color. Stamp the snow flat first. Write with the nozzle close to the surface and keep moving.
Stamped tracks and prints 12
A bird made from two mitten prints side by side, thumbs touchingMittens. Press both hands flat, thumbs together, fingers spread outward as wings. Poke an eye and a beak.
A checkerboard with every other square stamped flat and the rest left fluffyBoots and a stick. Mark a grid of four by four with the stick. Stamp down alternate squares, stepping only on those.
A giant snowflake with six stamped arms and two side branches on eachBoots. Walk three lines that cross at one point. Add a short branch each side of every arm, halfway out.
A heart stamped large enough to stand insideBoots. Start at the bottom point. Walk up and around one lobe, into the dip, around the other and back down.
A maze stamped out with boots for friends to runBoots. Stamp the way through first as one winding path. Branch off the dead ends afterward, each a few steps long.
A sun: a stamped circle with rays walked out and back in the same footprintsBoots. Stamp the circle. Walk each ray straight out, turn, and step back in your own prints so it stays one line.
A tractor-tire track made by sidestepping with heels togetherBoots. Point your toes apart in a V and shuffle sideways. Each step leaves one chevron; keep them the same size.
A trail of invented animal tracks pressed with a fist and a spoonMittens and a spoon. Press a fist for the pad and the spoon tip for four toes. Repeat left, right, left.
A word in stamped letters big enough to read from an upstairs windowBoots. Plan the letters on paper. Jump from letter to letter so no stray tracks join them, then check from upstairs.
An arrow trail with turns that leads to a hidden snow creatureBoots. Build the creature first. Stamp an arrow every ten steps back from it, with one false turn that ends in an X.
One looping line drawn across the yard by dragging a sledSled. Pull the empty sled in wide curves without stopping. Cross your own line at least twice.
Patterns pressed with a colander, a whisk and a potato masher in rowsKitchen tools. Press each tool straight down and lift. Repeat in rows, alternating two tools like printed cloth.
Snow sculptures 12
A face on a tree trunk: a packed snow nose, brows and beard pressed onto the barkPacking snow and pebbles. Press handfuls onto the trunk at your own head height. Shape with a thumb; add pebble eyes.
A relief carving: a sun face cut into a slab of packed snow with a spoonPacking snow and a spoon. Pack a flat slab against a fence. Scrape away around the face so it stands proud.
A row of tiny snowmen along a fence rail, each with a different expressionPacking snow and twigs. Two small balls each. Give every one a different mouth from twig bits or seeds.
A snow alligator half sunk in the lawn: only back ridges, eyes and snout showPacking snow. Build a long low ridge. Pinch a row of points along it; add a flat snout and two eye bumps.
A snow armchair with armrests, wide enough to sit inPacking snow and a shovel. Pile a block against a snowbank. Scoop out the seat and pat the arms and back smooth.
A snow castle of bucket-molded towers with a stick-carved gatePacking snow and a bucket. Turn out four towers in a square. Build walls between them and carve the gate last.
A snow cat curled asleep, built low so it cannot topplePacking snow. Heap a long oval. Shape a head resting on the front paws and wrap a tail round the side.
A snow lantern: a hollow cone of snowballs with gaps, lit by a battery lightPacking snow and a battery light. Set the light down, ring it with snowballs, and stack smaller rings on top.
A snow octopus with a round head and eight arms snaking over the groundPacking snow. One big ball for the head. Roll eight snow ropes on the ground and curl the end of each.
A snow turtle with a domed shell scored into platesPacking snow and a stick. Round off a low mound. Add a head and four feet, then score the shell plates.
A snowy owl on a stump: one tall ball with spoon-pressed feather marksPacking snow and a spoon. Set an egg-shaped ball on the stump. Press rows of U marks and add two stone eyes.
A whale tail of snow rising out of the lawn as if from the seaPacking snow. Pack a thick curved stalk, then press two flukes onto the top. Rough up the snow at its foot as spray.
Ice and frozen color 12
A dotted trail of colored cubes leading across the yard to a surpriseIce cube tray. Freeze two colors. Set one cube every two steps and alternate the colors to the end of the trail.
A garland of ice shapes frozen onto one string and hung between two branchesIce cube tray and string. Lay one string through every cup, fill and freeze. Lift the whole garland out at once.
A low wall of colored ice bricks with snow packed between as mortarPlastic food tubs. Freeze a tub of each color. Lay bricks in a row, pack snow on top, and stagger the next row.
A row of ice jewels from a muffin tin, each a different color, set along a wallMuffin tin. Tint each cup differently. Freeze, tip out, and stand the discs on edge in a line of snow.
A tower of ice discs in rainbow order, like a stack of glass coinsMuffin tin. Freeze six colors. Stack the discs with a pinch of snow between each; red goes on the bottom.
A toy dinosaur frozen in the middle of a block of ice, shown on a snow plinthPlastic food tub. Half fill and freeze. Set the toy on the ice, top up with water and freeze again.
An ice lantern: a shell of ice from a bowl inside a bowl, lit by a battery lightTwo plastic bowls. Fill the gap between them with water, weight the inner one with stones, freeze. Light goes inside.
An ice suncatcher with fallen leaves and orange slices frozen in a pie tinPie tin and string. Lay in the leaves and slices, a loop of string over the rim, and water to cover. Freeze; hang.
An ice window stood upright in the snow with a snow frame built round itBaking tray. Freeze a shallow sheet of plain water. Stand it on edge and pack snow along both sides to hold it.
An ice wreath from a ring cake tin, with evergreen needles frozen insideRing cake tin and ribbon. Scatter fallen pine needles and cones, add water and freeze. Hang it from a branch.
Colored ice cubes pressed into a snowbank as a mosaicIce cube tray. Freeze water tinted in three colors. Press the cubes into the snow in rows to build a picture.
Frozen paint sticks: colored ice on craft sticks, drawn over paper as they meltIce cube tray and craft sticks. Freeze tinted water with a stick in each cube. Draw on thick paper as they melt.
Snow on paper 12
A bench, a bicycle and a mailbox, each drawn as a soft lump of snow to guessGray paper, white chalk. Draw only the snow on top of each thing and a hint of what pokes out underneath.
A blizzard spattered from a toothbrush over a dark street sceneDark blue paper, white paint. Draw the street first. Load an old toothbrush and flick the bristles with a thumb.
A cotton-swab snowfall: big dots near the bottom of the page, tiny ones near the topDark paper, white paint. Dab with a swab for the near flakes. Switch to a toothpick tip as you move up the page.
A polar bear in a snowstorm, drawn with only a black nose, two eyes and gray shadowWhite paper, soft pencil. No outline. Shade under the chin and belly, then add the three dark dots.
A snowman seen from above: three circles, a hat disc, stick arms and one long shadowPale blue paper, white chalk, gray pencil. Nest the circles. The shadow beside him is where his side view shows.
A story told only in tracks: a rabbit trail and a fox trail that cross in the middleWhite paper, black pen. Start the two trails from opposite corners. Where they cross, draw one set over the other.
Chalk drifts on black paper: the side of the stick for snowbanks, the tip for flakesBlack paper, white chalk. Drag the chalk on its side in soft humps. Dot flakes with the tip and smudge a few.
The long blue shadow of a fence lying across untouched snowWhite paper, one blue pencil. Draw the fence small at the top. Draw the shadow of each post slanting the same way.
Night snow under a streetlamp, with flakes showing only inside the cone of lightBlack paper, yellow and white pencil. Shade a pale cone below the lamp. Dot flakes inside it and nowhere else.
Real snow on paper: a handful melts through drops of paint and spreads the colorThick paper, watercolor, a tray. Dot strong paint on the sheet, pile snow on top, and leave it flat to melt.
Snow as bare paper: paint only the sky, the trees and the shadowsWhite paper, blue and brown paint. Leave every drift unpainted. A blue-gray shadow beside each tree makes the snow.
Torn white paper drifts layered on blue card, each torn edge a soft hilltopBlue card, white paper, glue. Tear three wide strips. Glue the farthest first and overlap the others downward.
How it works
Fresh snow is a white page that covers the whole yard. These 60 snow art ideas color it with spray bottles, stamp it with boots, pack it into creatures and freeze water into colored ice. Twelve put snow on paper, for days without any.
Read the full guide
Spray for bands, squeeze for lines
A spray bottle mists soft bands, as in the sunset up the side of a snow pile. A squeeze bottle draws lines, as in a name written arm-high or a hopscotch court. Stamp the snow flat first to give the lines an even surface.
Match the idea to the snow
Snow packs best when it is close to melting, moist and compact; dry powder will not stick to itself. So the sculptures want a mild day. Stamped tracks and sprayed color ask only for snow deep enough to hold a footprint, and the ice pieces for a freezer or a freezing night.
Food coloring can stain mittens and coats. Wear old ones and spray with the wind behind you.
Lanterns of snow or ice take a battery light, never a candle.
Photograph the piece the day you make it: sun and new snow soon change it.
Questions and answers
How do you paint snow?
With colored water: plain water and a few drops of food coloring in a spray or squeeze bottle. Colored water on snow has 12 pictures to try it on, from polka dots on a mound to a dragon along a ridge.
What can you make out of snow besides a snowman?
A cat curled asleep, a turtle with a scored shell, an armchair, an octopus with eight snow-rope arms, a face pressed onto a tree trunk. Several of the 12 snow sculptures are built low, so nothing has to balance.
What are easy snow art ideas for kids?
The Easy group has 17: polka dots from a squeeze bottle, a heart stamped big enough to stand in, mitten-print birds, tiny snowmen along a fence rail. Each needs one tool and one move. An adult stays close by.