Facing another snow day? Well here’s the perfect activity to keep the kids active and happy — and the main thing you need is old markers. Emphasis on the old! Before you throw away that set of neglected/mostly-dried out markers, give them one more shot at artistic glory. Use them to make snow paint!
Instead of tossing the old markers, soak them in water, put the water into spray bottles and then head out to add some color to your snow-covered world.
It’s just so happy seeing bright coloring on the white snow. Grab your old markers and let’s get started.
Supplies:
– old non-toxic markers* **
– water
– jars or plastic containers
– spray bottles
– snow!
*Please make sure the markers are non-toxic. Colored snow is super fun but it will melt and the colors will soak into the ground. Be kind to Mother Earth.
**Don’t have old markers? Use food coloring or non-toxic liquid watercolors. Add desired amount to water-filled spray bottles and you’re set.
Gather up old no-toxic markers. Bent tips, dried out and crusty? Doesn’t matter. It all works. Separate them into colors.
Place the markers, uncapped, top down into jars, half filled with water. Allow to soak for at least 8 hours and up to a day. The longer they soak, the denser the color.
A couple things to note:
– You will need more than one marker to make a dense enough color spray.
– Think about combining similar tones together. Unless red is very strong, nearly opaque, it looks very similar to pink on the snow so combine them together to make a stronger, deeper rosy hue. Other good combos are black and gray, teal and green or teal and blue, yellow and orange.
– All hues are not created equal. Blue, green, purple, black, brown, orange — strong, potent colors. Yellow and a true red are more of a challenge (though we achieved the pinky red above). Purple can appear purple-ish pink.
– When spraying, set the bottles to the spray or mist setting instead of the stream. The stream setting pierces the snow and could damage a fantastic snow sculpture.
When the markers are finished soaking, pour the colored water into spray bottles and use!
__
Hey there, looking for more winter activities for your kids? Try these colored ice ornaments and these DIY ice luminaries.
Credits: Images, styling & text by Amy Christie.
