This is a fun and simple winter project- there are a few versions of this floating around on the internet. It seems to be geared towards younger students, but I loved making them and knew
my middle school kids would as well! I like projects that use everyday objects
that kids can try at home as well.
You just need some coffee filters (basket style) and watercolours and water.
You could also try using waterbased markers for this as well.
Liquid inks or liquid watercolours would come out much more vibrant, so use those if you have them.
Fold your filter in half 4-5 times. Cut lots of shapes and notches out from all sides.
I encourage kids to cut away lots of the filter- that way you can get a more frilly,
complex snowflake.
We used tempera discs for the painting step. Wet the entire folded snowflake first (using a wet paintbrush), then paint on colours on both sides, making sure the color is pretty intense and it passes through all the layers.
Paint, paint, paint... then flip it over and paint the other side...
We used clothespins to write our names on the snowflakes....
Then left them on a shelf to dry overnight.
The next class, carefully (they are very fragile) unfold them and carefully
glue stick them to a square piece of paper.
These were made by Grade 7 students.
Ta da!
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| Three snowflakes layered together! |
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| this student layered together two snowflakes. These were made by Grade 6 students:          |
8 comments:
These are so awesome! I am SO not crafty but I always find things to do with my 25 6th graders! They think I am! Thank you!
Thanks Ms. Norris! I hope you try these out with your class and thanks for leaving a comment!
Hi Miss
Thanks so much! I will use your method next week. I was going to use markers and a spray bottle for color but I love your idea of tempera cakes (and clothespins!!!). I've had great success mounting flattened coffee filters with spray glue (but I have to spray outdoors).
These are beautiful!! We're doing these for our 5th-grade Winter Party here in Frisco, Texas, and I wondered if it's better to have very large filters. It seems like it would be more dramatic. I'm just having trouble finding commercial-sized coffee filters. Thank you!! :)
Rina- great tip about the spray glue- that would work easier/better than the glue stick for sure!
Anonymous- I'm so glad you're trying this project out!
The coffee filters we used were pretty big- bigger than the ones I use at home anyway. I 'liberated' them from the Staff Room- shhhhhh! lol! I think they buy them at Costco?
But you're right- bigger ones would definitely be more dramatic. Good luck!
Hi Miss
We did your project in the sixth grade and expanded into a collage project. I wrote it up on the blog and credited you!!
Thanks again!
Thanks for the idea! I did this in a grade 4/5 class and they loved it. I had them write a quick haiku poem to go with their snowflakes at the bottom of their page.
Confessions of a Modern Day Substitute Teacher
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