Six numbered panels on the first sheet, each one the snowman as it stands after that step, with a single instruction under it. The second sheet repeats the finished drawing and then gives empty squares to copy it into, one, two, four or six of them.
Three circles, and the overlap does the work
The lesson is really about where the circles go rather than how round they are. The body circle is the biggest and it sits low in the box; the middle circle sits a little way into the top of it; the head sits a little way into the middle. Each one cuts into the one below rather than balancing on it.
That overlap is what stops the result looking like three balls stacked in a column. It is also why step one tells a child to draw near the bottom. Start the body in the middle of the paper and there is no room left for a head, which is the single most common way a snowman drawing fails before step three.
What each step asks for
- Draw a big circle near the bottom. That is the body.
- Draw a smaller circle sitting on top of it.
- Draw a little circle on top for the head.
- Give him a hat. A line across, then a box on top.
- Add two eyes, a carrot nose and three buttons.
- Two stick arms, and a line of snow under him.
Why the greying matters most on this subject
In every panel the strokes already on the paper are printed grey and only the new ones are black. On a snowman that is doing more work than it would anywhere else, because the first three steps are all the same instruction: another circle.
Printed flat in black, panel two is two circles and panel three is three circles, and a child is being asked to count rather than to draw. With the greying in place, panel three has exactly one black circle on it and there is nothing to work out. The same applies at step four, where the hat is a line across the head and then a box on top; drawn in that order the brim sits on the head, and drawn the other way round the hat floats above it.
The practice sheet
The finished snowman prints small at the top of the second sheet, with empty squares below it. Each square has a faint dotted cross at its centre, which gives a child somewhere to aim the middle circle instead of starting at a corner and running off the edge.
Four boxes is the default and is about right for one sitting. Two gives much larger boxes for a child who presses hard and needs room, and one is close to a full page if the drawing is going on a wall afterwards.
Questions
- How many steps does the snowman lesson take?
- Six, printed two to a row on the first sheet with a one line instruction under each panel. The second sheet holds the finished drawing and the practice boxes.
- Where should the first circle go on the page?
- Low down, near the bottom of the box. It is the biggest of the three circles and everything else is built upwards from it, so starting in the middle of the paper leaves no room for the head and the hat.
- What does the grey mean in each panel?
- Grey shows every line already drawn in the steps before, and black shows what to add now. It matters here more than usual because the first three steps are all circles, so without it a child has to count circles to spot the new one.
- How many practice boxes are on the second sheet?
- One, two, four or six, chosen from the control above the paper. Four is the default. Fewer boxes means bigger boxes, which suits a younger child who draws large and presses hard.
- Is the snowman lesson free to print?
- Yes, both sheets print and download free with no account and no watermark, and you can run off as many copies as a class or a group needs. A4 and US Letter are both supported.