Art for Preschoolers

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Art for Preschoolers Goals: In the art area children are given the opportunities to learn important art concepts and creativity as well as to practice decision making, learn about cause and effect, identify colors and shapes, refine hand-eye coordination, develop small and large muscle skills, express feelings, practice sharing, experience pride, and much more! Area: When selecting an art area it is a good idea to choose a place with plenty of room for more then one child to work at a time. Choose a location with washable flooring and a nearby water source if possible.

Equipment: Equipment you may wish to offer in the art area are a child sized table and chairs, a drying rack or place to hang finished art that needs to dry and easel space. Easels can be made or purchased. Try using wall space and adding a dry erase board with clips to serve as easel space also.

Supplies: Art supplies you will want to offer should include materials for painting, drawing, pasting/gluing, and sculpting or molding. Click on Art Supplies to Have On Hand for a list of basic supplies to stock your art area with. Other materials may need to be purchased for specific ... more. less.

activities you may wish to offer. Some programs offer the art area as a free choice area for the children to use at their own digression. Other programs may offer a specific "project" to do in the art area with a teacher working directly with the children. Still others may try to offer a little of both. Keep in mind the goals you have set for your program and what purpose you want your art area to serve. "Cutesy Crafts" are seldom age appropriate and offer very little creative expression. Remember "It 's the Process, Not the Product" that is important when young children explore art. So for the majority of your art activities stick to open ended activities that offer plenty of room for creative expression and exploration of materials and techniques. Activities: Art activities are found throughout the Preschool Themes found in the Preschool Room . " Using large sheets of butcher paper or newsprint, cut shapes for children to paint at the easel based on what theme or unit you are covering. " Paint with different items other then paint brushes, try feathers, scrub brushes, sponges, pine tree branches, marbles, corn cobs, bubble wrap, bubbles, etc. " Play music for the children as they paint and ask them to paint how they think the music feels. " Make different kinds of paint or clay to use in the art area. Visit the Craft Recipes page for some fun craft recipes! " Paper plates are great for creating collages, masks or puppets! Offer a variety of items for the children to use to create these one of a kind masterpieces. (Hint, add food coloring to the glue for added fun- we make red glue and give the kids shredded yellow paper, red pom-poms, green scraps of felt and call them Pizza Collages!) " Try adding other products to your glue or paint to add color and texture. Such as sand, glitter or food coloring (glue) , and shaving cream. Scroll down for tons of resource books for many more ideas! Tips: " Let children tell you about their art, don't assume you know what they are drawing or painting, etc. Opened ended questions such as "Tell me about your picture" will allow children to to talk about their creations without feeling judged or pressured to describe something specific. Avoid using words like "pretty", "great", or lovely, or asking "what is it." " Add a little dish soap to paints to make them wash out easier. Washable paints can be purchased too. " Save small plastic containers to use for paints, glue, small collage items. etc. " Label container for tools with pictures as well as written words to make clean up easier for them. Resources: Here are some great resource books with many more activities and ideas for things to offer in your art area! Click on a title or book cover to go to Barnes & Noble and read more about the book! Shopping at Barnes and Noble from this site helps support 2care4kids.com ! THANKS!

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