Painting snow is a wonderful low prep and easy activity for the winter seasons.

Since there has been an uncommonly large amount of snow here in Minnesota this winter, it’s hard not to ignore this free “material” that’s piled high outside.

Here’s another easy activity using snow to review Chinese characters indoors.

Materials & Instructions for Paint Snow Activity

1. snow
2. food coloring
3. paint brushes (I prefer ones that are thicker like these, it picks up the food coloring “paint” a lot easier)
4. cup for holding the food coloring “paint”

I fill a plastic cup 1/3 of the way with water then give a good squeeze of food coloring into the cup.

I discovered after the first batch of food coloring paint I made that I need to not skimp on the food coloring so it will show up well on the snow.

Different Ways to Practice Writing & Reading Chinese with This Activity

1. Write the characters yourself for your child to read
2. Let them trace over what you’ve written
3. If they know some characters, invite them to write the ones they know. Kids love showing off what they know
4. Invite them to jump on the characters you call out. Hear them squeal with delight!
5. Introduce the冫(冰 / bing1 / ice) radical by writing simple characters with the radical like 冰 (Bīng/ice)，冷 (cold/lěng)，凍 (dòng/frozen)，冬 (winter/dōng) that have meanings related to the cold/ice.
6. Let them guess what you’re writing as you’re writing it out

My student (6YO) started writing simple words she learned like 一，二，三.

It’s always so fun for me to see kids begin to apply what they’ve learned and to implement it in games we play.

When kids are given opportunities and time to learn and play at the same time, you’ll be surprised what they choose to do and the creative ways they improve an activity.

I get a lot of fun learning ideas from them!

My student wasn’t very confident in Chinese when she first started and didn’t understand much either since it’s not the dominant language at home. Her mother is Indonesian Chinese and fluent in Hokkien with parents who are fluent in Mandarin Chinese. So it’s been a fun journey to see how she is enjoying learning Chinese and how she’s speaking a lot more now than when she first started lessons with me.

I love learning activities like these to help us get out of our house, get some fresh air and get some fun reading and writing practice in.

Did You Enjoy This Activity with Your Kids?

Please tag me @spotofsunshinechinese if you do decide to do any of the above activities. I love seeing families enjoying our activities and your own adaptations of them!

More Resources to Help You Have Fun Teaching Your Kids Chinese!

• Indoor Snow Play: Chinese Character Review Game
• 25+ Netflix Chinese Shows for Kids Organized by Age
• How Chinese Became Our Daughter’s Dominate Language at Age 2
• Me and My Daughter’s Language Adventure