Six numbered panels and then a page of practice boxes. The useful thing about this one is that it is not six separate things to learn: it is three straight lines crossing at a point, and after that the same pair of marks drawn again on every arm.
Three lines and one repeat
Steps one and two build the whole skeleton. A line up and down, then two more lines crossed over it, and the page has six arms radiating from one point. Step three puts a small six sided shape over the middle to tidy the junction.
Everything after that is repetition. Step four is a V near the end of each arm, done six times. Step five is a smaller V further down each arm, done six times. Step six is a little arrow at each tip. A child who notices that stops copying and starts inventing: once the six arms are on the paper, any mark repeated on all of them comes out looking like a snowflake, because the symmetry is doing the work rather than the drawing skill.
What the six steps ask for
- Draw one straight line up and down.
- Cross it with two more lines, so you have six arms.
- Draw a small six sided shape over the middle.
- Near the end of each arm, draw a V.
- Draw a smaller V further down each arm.
- Finish each arm with a little arrow at the tip.
Grey and black
Each panel shows the drawing as it stands, with the lines already on the paper in grey and only the new ones in black. On a snowflake this is not a nicety. By step five the picture holds forty-odd short strokes, and finding which twelve of them appeared since the last panel would be harder than the drawing itself.
In grey and black, step five is twelve black marks on a grey flake, and a child can see that they come in pairs and that there are two of them on each arm. The structure of the lesson is visible in the picture instead of having to be explained.
The practice boxes
The second sheet puts the finished flake small at the top and then gives empty squares, one, two, four or six of them. Each square has a faint dotted cross at its centre.
That cross earns its keep more here than on either of the other subjects, because a snowflake is built outwards from a single point and the cross marks exactly where the first two lines should meet. Start the vertical line through it and the finished flake lands in the middle of the box rather than in a corner.
Questions
- How many steps are there in the snowflake lesson?
- Six, printed two to a row with an instruction under each panel. Three of them build the six arms and the centre; the other three are the same pair of marks repeated round every arm.
- Why do snowflakes have six arms?
- Because of how water freezes. Ice crystals grow on a six sided lattice, so a natural snowflake ends up with six arms or six sides, and every arm grows in the same conditions, which is why they match each other so closely.
- Can a child invent their own snowflake?
- Yes, and it is the point of the lesson. Once the three crossing lines are down, any mark a child makes on one arm will look right as long as it is repeated on all six. Trying their own V shapes and tips is the natural next step after the practice boxes.
- How many practice boxes does the second sheet give?
- One, two, four or six, set from the control above the paper, with four as the default. Each one is square with a faint dotted cross at the centre to start the first line through.
- Does this need special pens or paper?
- No. A pencil and plain copier paper are enough, and the sheets print fine in black and white. Thicker paper only helps if the finished flakes are going to be cut out and hung up afterwards.