Easy Magic Snowflake Art Idea With Salt and Watercolor
There is nothing more magical than seeing your drawings come to life after painting over them. Kids will love creating different snowflakes and exploring watercolor properties with this easy magic snowflake painting.
This art tutorial, originally published in December 2023, was recently updated in September 2025 to provide more information about the best supplies and a few extra tips.
After years of teaching art to children, I never tire of watercolor resist projects. Whether with toddlers, preschoolers, or elementary school students, kids are amazed at how this process showcases their drawings.
If you love this art technique, you have to also check out how to make salt paintings and these other easy kid watercolor ideas.
Supplies you’ll need
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Notes On Supplies
- Any time you are doing watercolor painting, watercolor paper will yield the best results.
- Instead of salt, you can experiment with other watercolor techniques using these optional supplies: painter’s tape, rubber cement, or cling wrap.
- Liquid watercolor paint will give you more vibrant colors, but a regular watercolor palette will also do the trick.
How To Create Magical Snowflake Paintings
Step 1: Draw Snowflakes
Use a white crayon or oil pastel to draw simple snowflakes. Make sure to press hard enough to get the wax or oil on the paper. It is hard to see the white on white, but if you hold it at an angle, you can see where you put the drawing material.
Step 2: Paint A Light Water Wash
This art technique works best if you paint a light water wash before adding the paint.
Step 3: Add Watercolor Paint
We like to use cool-colored paints and let them mix magically. Your snowflakes should start to appear.
Step 4: Add Texture
You can sprinkle salt or add a clear wrap on top of the wet paint. With young children, we advise only to use a little sprinkle.
ART TEACHER TIP – You will see how the salt absorbs the paint. If you are not seeing that, then add a little extra drop of water without touching the brush to the paper.
Step 5: Let Dry
Let your awesome snowflake paintings dry. Pull off any clear wrap and see the cool texture. You can lightly brush the salt off or leave it for added texture.
Optional Step: Flatten Paintings
If you use small papers, you may want to put a heavy book on top to help flatten them.
Tips
- MAY NEED TO ADD EXTRA WATER – If using liquid watercolors or can’t see the snowflake, you may need to dilute them for the magic to happen.
- PRESS HARD – Apply enough pressure with the white drawing material.
- USE THICKER PAPER – Getting this watercolor resist technique to work using regular, lightweight copy paper will be difficult. You can always test your materials beforehand to ensure they will work.
- TEST DRAWING MATERIALS – Washable crayons or certain brands of crayons may not work as well. We recommended an oil pastel for the best results. A regular Crayola white crayon will also work.
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Magic Snowflake Art With Salt and Watercolor
Equipment
- Water container
Supplies
- Thick White Paper Watercolor Paper works best!
- Watercolor Paint
- White Oil Pastels
- Salt
Instructions
- Draw simple snowflakes with a white oil pastel or white crayon. Press hard.
- Paint a water wash over the background to help the blue and purple colors blend.
- Add watercolor paint to the background. You can brush right over where you put oil pastels.
- Optional: Add salt or add paint splatters to your painting once it is dry.
Notes
- Watercolor paper will yield the best results.
- A high-quality white crayon can be substituted for an oil pastel.
- Do not use copy paper.