And another calendar idea! Ripped Paper Winter Landscape

It's not too late to celebrate the New Year!

Here's a quick idea for a calendar you can make with scraps of paper. It's a nice way to use up scraps and practice ripping paper. I made this project with a variety of kiddos from pre-K to 4th grade and they all enjoyed it. I think they especially enjoyed adding the splatter-paint snow at the end!

Here's a close-up of a couple of the calendars. As you can see, some of
the older students added a few details to their scenes.
These were done as part of my "Gifts from the heART" class.

Ripped Paper Winter Landscape Calendar

Supplies Needed:

• A black or dark blue piece of paper for the night sky (ours was 4 1/2" x 8 1/2")
• Various white and blue pieces of paper for the snow
• Small scraps of various green paper for the trees
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Gold star stickers
• White tempera paint
• Stiff bristled brush
• Paper plate palette
• One 2015 Year-at-a-glance calendar printed on the bottom half of an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white paper
• Laminator and 8 1/2" x 11" laminating pouch

Directions:

1. Rip some strips of white and light blue papers and layer them together onto the black paper to create the illusion of snowy hills. When you like the arrangement you have, glue the layers onto the black background using the glue stick. This part is where younger kids may need a bit of assistance, but they usually catch on fast. :-)

2. Cut some little triangles for trees out of the green papers. Glue them onto the hills you've made. Trees in the way back of your landscape may appear smaller than the ones in the foreground of your landscape. 

3. Add sparkly star stickers to the tops of your trees or in the sky or both. Don't forget to sign your work at this time.

4. Place your completed landscape into a box to reduce splatters. Dip your stiff bristled brush into white paint and use your finger to flick the bristles to splatter paint "snow" onto your landscape. A grown-up may choose to do this, but kids do really enjoy it (yeah, it makes a little mess).  Add the desired amount of snow to your landscape and let dry.

5. Once your landscape is dry, use the glue stick to glue it to the 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper that has the calendar printed on it. 

6. Run the entire piece through a laminator to seal it and protect it for  a year's worth of use.

ENJOY! Happy New Year!!