Extreme Drawing

Seasonal science and crafts for kids, all year round

Seasons

Science for every holiday

Each holiday has its own kitchen science: snowflakes made of salt at Christmas, fuzzy mould and fizzing foam at Halloween, eggs dyed with red cabbage at Easter. Try each one on the screen first, then the safe version for real.

Painted illustration of a pumpkin with mould spots, a salt-painted snowflake, a gingerbread house and blue and purple eggs in a basket, admired by the painter.

Every page here has two halves: what you can do in Extreme Drawing (with the tab and tools to use) and a real activity for home or class, with the steps an adult should do marked. Each fits a school topic you may already be teaching that term: freezing and melting in winter, decay in autumn, acids and alkalis in spring.

Painted illustration of the painter sprinkling salt on a big blue and purple snowflake painting, beside a frosted snowman drawing, gingerbread stars and hearts and a Christmas tree.

Christmas

Salt-painted snowflakes, a page frozen with ice ferns, and a sweet dough baked golden in the oven.
Painted illustration of a pumpkin with star-shaped holes and mould spots, a bottle foaming over in orange and purple and a pipe-cleaner spider, the painter holding a witch's hat.

Halloween

Friendly spooky science: fuzzy mould, a snake of foam, scratch-art night skies and ghost messages.
Painted illustration of the painter lifting a sky-blue egg out of a jar of red cabbage juice, with jars of dye, a basket of coloured eggs and a red cabbage.

Easter

Dye eggs blue with red cabbage, and see why vinegar and baking soda change the colour.

Not a holiday, still a season

Some experiments fit the weather rather than a date. On a sunny week, make a sun print: things lying on the paper keep the colour underneath while the rest fades. In spring, grow cress. On a rainy afternoon, there's always messy play.

What's an easy Christmas science activity for kids?

Salt painting a snowflake: draw it in glue, cover it with salt, then touch drops of watercolour to the salt and watch the colour race along the lines.

Is there a Halloween experiment that isn't scary?

Mould in a sealed bag is spooky and real, and elephant toothpaste foam looks like a bubbling potion. Both are on our Halloween page, with the safety notes.

Can you dye Easter eggs with red cabbage?

Yes. Red cabbage juice dyes white eggshells a soft blue. Our Easter page has the how-to and the chemistry.

Try a season on the screen