Art
Paint Pen Pumpkin Decorating
It’s pumpkin season! Carving pumpkins is great, but with young kids it’s hard to make that happen. At our house, we like to use paint pens to decorate our pumpkins in various ways. It is so much faster and less messy. Plus, kids can decorate their own pumpkins no matter how old they are. We […]
Glittery Spider Web Craft
Whether you’re looking for a fun fall activity or something to accompany a spider study, these spider webs will be just the thing. You will need liquid glue, wax paper, and glitter. Trace the shape of your spider web on the wax paper. Make sure your lines are thick and solid; some of the ones […]
Stand-up Paper Giraffe Project with Printable
Here’s a project to do before or after your next zoo trip. You’ll need: paper, scissors, a hole punch, pipe cleaners, and this printable. You can print the giraffe-printable on colored paper or print it out and use it to trace onto construction paper. If tracing, fold the paper in half widthwise first and make sure […]
Color Blending With Play Dough
Show your preschooler how primary colors are blended to make secondary colors in this fun and simple color blending activity. You will need play dough in three different colors – red (or pink), blue, and yellow. You can buy dough or make your own. We made this easy soft dough recipe and divided it into […]
Easy Soft Play Dough Recipe
This super-easy play dough is not only is it easy to make (only two or three ingredients and you probably already have them!), it’s a snap to clean up and makes for a great sensory experience. You need some hair conditioner (whatever you have should work), cornstarch, and, if you want, food colors. I started […]
Creepy Crawly Pipe Cleaner Creatures
Using this method, you can make any number of crawling creatures from your pile of pipecleaners. Besides pipecleaners, you may want to use some googly eyes and glue. To make legs, antennae, and heads for your creatures, bend pipecleaners into zig-zag shapes and twist as shown. You can make 3, 4, or 5-legged sections […]
Practice Cutting: Paper Snakes
This activity is great for more advanced preschoolers to practice their cutting skills. You’ll need paper, a pencil, and scissors. Starting in the center of a piece of paper, draw a spiral line. Don’t make the circles too close together. Go all the way to the edge. Starting at the edge, carefully cut on the […]
Daisy Flower Chain Instructions
Have you ever wanted to teach your kids how to make daisy chains? Here are simple instructions. You will need: flowers. Small flowers that grow in the grass are perfect for daisy chains; dandelions work great too! Make sure you leave a few inches of stem when you pick the flowers, as you will need […]
Homemade Time-Out Glitter Bottle Timer
Make these sparkly glitter bottles with your preschooler. They are fun to play with but have also been serving another use: Time-Out Timers! Have your child shake the bottle when upset, and then watch it settle to calm down. When everyone is settled down, normal life can resume. All you need: empty water bottles, glitter, […]
DIY Scratch Art
Create your own scratch art paper and artwork! I was amazed at how well this worked. Here’s what you’ll need: – Watercolor or Multimedia paper – Oil pastels – Acrylic paint (for traditional scratch art you’ll want to use black) – Paint brust – Scratching tool What to do: 1. Create a design on your […]
Rainy Day String Pictures: A Fine Motor Activity
For this fun and easy indoor project, all you need is some lengths of string or yarn. The more colorful the better! Try this creative, fine motor activity with your preschooler. Show your preschooler how to use the strings to make shapes and pictures. The sky is the limit! Beware – this project is fun […]
Basic Shape Pictures
Learn about shapes, colors, and the basics of drawing while making fun pictures with paper cutouts and glue! All drawing starts with basic shapes, and you can introduce your child to this concept while reinforcing the names of shapes and colors and practicing gluing. You will need several sheets of construction paper, scissors, and glue. […]
Flying Butterfly Craft: Straw and Construction Paper Butterfly
Make this impressive butterfly with craft supplies you already have lying around. You will need: construction paper (2 colors for each butterfly), scissors, a cup and a pencil (for tracing circles), pipe cleaner, straws, and brads. 1. Trace the butterfly wings on one sheet of construction paper using the cup as shown. 2. Stack the […]
Dream Catcher Sculpture
These might just be the perfect summer camp craft. The sculptures are fun to make and can go in so many directions with a little creativity. I’ve never actually seen anything like them before. The idea came to me when I was thinking about creating a dream catcher activity and saw the stick sculptures one […]
DIY Clay Food for Play
We made this play pizza and cookies with our easy diy modeling clay. This is a fun way to teach children about shapes and give them another tool for their imaginative play. Help your child form the clay into shapes. You’ll need a big triangle for the pizza slice and smaller circles for the cookies. […]
Make Your Own Modeling Clay
Make your own modeling clay! This simple homemade clay is lightweight and easy to work with. It can be air dried or baked when you are finished molding your creations. You need three ingredients for this dough – corn starch, white school glue, and baby oil. Start with equal parts cornstarch and glue and stir […]
Rock Art
Kids love rock art…OK, I do too! It’s so much fun to find the perfect rock and write a message on it or paint a mini picture. What you need: – rock – pencil – paint pens How to do it: 1. Go on a rock hunt. Find a few great rocks with […]
Recycled Foam Helicopter Craft
If your preschooler is obsessed with all things flying, then you will love this easy helicopter craft. You will need: a foam egg carton, a foam craft sheet, scissors, and split pin For each helicopter, you will need to cut out one egg carton section (do this ahead of time, as it’s definitely an adult […]
Writing Pencil Buddy
Spice up a boring old pencil with this pipe-cleaner snake. You will need: a pencil, a pipe cleaner, a craft pompom, googly eyes, glue, and paper. Wrap the pipe cleaner around the pencil in a spiral. Glue the pompom to the top of the pipe cleaner and add the eyes. Make a forked tongue from […]
4th of July: Fireworks Art Project
What you need: – black construction paper – crayons – glitter glue Draw the fireworks with a crayon, then go over it with the glitter glue. Try different base crayon colors to see what you like the best. Make some fireworks with several colors of glitter glue. If you don’t have glitter glue but you […]
Color Circle Suncatchers
These impressive suncatchers are easy to make – all you need is paper, a black marker, a cup, and some crayons. Note: For a suncatcher that lets more light through, use waxed or tracing paper. To make the design on your suncatcher, trace around a cup with a black marker. For more varied shapes, you […]
Cereal Box Scribble Bookshelf
Have you ever wondered what on earth to do with all your preschooler’s scribbles? Here’s a great idea that will help keep the playroom neat too. You will need: An empty cereal box (I used a double-bag size one from Costco), scribbled coloring sheets (or any other interesting paper), scissors, and glue. Have your preschooler […]
Summer Fort Coloring Page
Marc, our fantastic designer, dreamed up this summer time tree fort and created a coloring sheet to get the kids thinking about their dream summer fort. Make every coloring page great by finishing the sky with watercolors. The crayon acts as a resistant so you can’t mess it up! Let your child water color […]
DIY Play Camera Necklace
While they may be way too young to check out ViralRace and other sites to boost followers on social media (although that may well be yet to come), kids love pretending to take pictures! This activity lets them make their own camera to play with. You will need: craft foam, pencil, scissors, and glue. It’s […]
Sensory Texture Crayon Rubbings
Use this project to introduce your preschoolers to different textures around your house and yard. What you need: crayons, paper, and hard surfaces with different textures. Show children how to rub the crayon over the paper to transfer the texture of a surface. Good surfaces include wood grain, woven chair seats, textured walls, and bumpy […]
Contact Paper Transfer Art
Do you ever find yourself scrambling to find a quick, easy, and fun project for your preschooler(s)? This is an idea that fits all 3 requirements! And the best part? It only takes a minute for set up and clean up! It can’t get any better than that! Here’s the few items needed to get […]
Where The Wild Thing Are Masks
What preschooler doesn’t love Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are? Here’s how you can make your own monster masks to play with next time you read the story. You’ll need: brown shopping bags with plain backs, white paper, markers, scissors, and glue. First draw Wild Thing faces on the plain backs of the paper […]
Pipe Cleaner & Straw Preschool Jewelry Project
Here’s a fun beading activity for very young children. The pipe cleaners are easier to handle than strings or shoelaces and they fit perfectly inside the straw-beads. What you will need: pipe cleaners, colored straws, scissors, and tape. First make your beads by cutting the colored straws into one inch pieces. If you are working […]