Snow Painting {Fail?}

I hate to use the word fail when it comes to art because it's about the process, not the final result. But it just didn't turn out how I had hoped. I saw these beautiful snow paintings at Happy Hooligans. Seriously, you need to check them out. I was so excited to try it with my class during our Winter theme, which was last week. Well, the first two days of the week it was below zero so we couldn't go outside. The third day I wanted them to actually get to play outside since it had been so long. So on the fourth day I thought we'd give snow painting a shot. We had just received a light dusting of snow, which I thought would be perfect. It would give everyone a fresh white canvas. So I filled some cups with washable paint and we headed to the park.

Big mistake. It was maybe 4 degrees out with the windchill. And the new snow just stuck to the paint brushes.

I told the kids to clear away the new snow and paint on the old, hard, frozen, dirty snow. It didn't seem to help.

The paint was freezing and the bristles on the brushes were freezing as well. But the kids did seem to enjoy doing something different.

I probably won't attempt this again with my class. Paint got everywhere, and even though it was washable, I felt bad sending it home that way. So I scrubbed a bunch of mittens and hats and boots in the sink when we got back. Spray bottles might be a better option. But after seeing those paintings at Happy Hooligans, how could I resist trying it myself?