When doing preschool art projects you can make things like paper plate crowns, and various items using paper towel rolls. There are tons of preschool art projects out there. So, when doing them, consider the following skills you want your preschooler to work on, and choose an art project that fits their interests, and lets them practice the skills they will need in kindergarten:
Shapes: Look for art projects that require your preschooler to use a variety of shapes, from circles, squares, and rectangles to octagons. The use of a variety of shapes will help your preschooler learn special recognition and give them a chance to practice tracing, drawing, and cutting out different lines. Show the preschooler how different shapes, when put together can make a whole different thing. For example, a circle used to represent a head, a triangle a dress, and two rectangles legs, and you have a person.
Practice writing letters: One of the best things you can do for your preschooler when doing an art project is help them practice their letters in a fun environment. For example, you could give them a coloring page with a large block letter of their name’s first letter. Let them decorate, design, and color it as they please. Or, have them write their name on every art project they do.
Practice cutting: Cutting is a difficult skill for preschoolers to master. They often do not have the hand coordination to cut straight or control their cutting. Practice helps them develop that coordination, and become much better. So, when doing art projects, try to involve some cutting. You can provide shapes that they need to cut out and then paste on something else, or have them cut lines in a paper, etc. The idea is to give them the practice they need to master the skill of handling scissors. Kids love trying to use scissors, and art projects are the perfect opportunity for them to get their practice in.
Stay in lines: When doing art projects try to get kids to express their creativity, but also help them to follow the rules, such as staying within the lines, or creating things that take shape and actually show something. The idea is not to stifle their artistic spark, but to help them hone their skills.
A few fun art projects for preschoolers include:
1. Coloring pages. This is simple, but preschoolers love to color pictures of their favorite characters, something they learned about etc.
2. Me pages. This is where you give the preschooler a paper with a stick figure on it, and provide them a variety of medium to decorate the stick figure to make it them. You might give them yarn to make hair, paper to make clothes, gems, beads, etc. to decorate with. Let them have at it and get creative.
3. Cereal necklaces. This is a fun art project that helps preschoolers with their coordination.