Art projects for kindergarteners?

[Guest JillysBeans]

What are some of you doing for art projects for your younger kids? My daughter just turned 5 and I really want Kindergarten to be fun for her. I would like to have lots of fun art activites for her and my 3.5 year old preschooler. Would you suggest a specific art curriculum, art book, looking up ideas online, etc? Why do I feel so stumped when it comes to art? I used to be so crafty (before having 3 little ones) and this used to be like second nature to me. Thanks for your input.

[Chris in VA]

My favorite book for art is Creative Art For The Developing Child. It gives you info on what stages a child goes thru in art, why art is different from craft, and makes the case for lots of process-based experiences for young children. Gives lots of ideas, too. When a child gets lots of time to experiment with materials and see how they "work," they can have a better chance at using them to produce a certain result later.

 

Some things we did at our preschool that are process based--

 

Paint

Tempera--paint with a large brush, a small brush, found objects, make prints, add ingredients to the paint to make a different texture (soap, sand, etc). Paint on things, like rocks or sandpaper or slick paper, or newspaper or paper plates. Drip the paint off the end of the brush. Use a toothbrush and a screen, or flick it off the toothbrush. Marble paint in a box with a lid.

Watercolor--teach them to put a couple drops of water in the "pan" for each color. Paint on a wet paper. Paint with lots of water or a little water, or a dry brush.

Change the size of the brush or paint with fingers or sponges or bottle caps. Paint on an old record then take a print of it (makes great "planets.")

 

Markers/Crayons/Colored pencils

Draw with marker on wet paper. Cut a hole in the paper and see what it inspires. Take the paper off the crayon and make broad strokes. Melt old crayons together in a muffin tin and use the big round crayons on large sheets of paper. Carefully (use a glove) draw on paper that you've put on a warming tray--the crayon melts instantly as you draw for a batik-like look.

 

Scissors

Set up a big box you can sit in for your child, and put in it all the junk mail, scraps of leftover paper, an occasional newspaper, etc. Tie the scissors to a long string and tie it to the box. All the scraps stay in the box.

Draw a circle with a line that continues all into the circle, and cut round and round to make a "snake" or a "wind twister."

Cut out classified ad strips, tape together on a table to make roads, and add house and other town things. Or see if you can cut strips that go down a hall or around a room.

 

You can model with beeswax, playdough, Sculpty--show how to make a bowl, stamp out designs for a tile, make beads. Still process, but you end with more of a product.

 

Tie your art to your history (cave painting is lots of fun), emphasize using the same media in 10 ways, learn the elements of art, etc. Do a shape every month, and collage on the shape, cut out the shape multiple times to use to make a collage, use that shaped sponge for prints, make tracks out of little cars and paint on the shape, etc. CARTDC says to do circle, square, pennant (long sideways triangle, good to help size seriation), triangle to start.

[Closeacademy]

How about Kinderart?

 

There are some other neat ones out there with lots of really cool ideas. Some people are so creative when it comes to working with kids and art. :001_smile:

[NanceXToo]

As a huge Oak Meadow fan, I would recommend Oak Meadow's First Book Of Crafts if I was going to recommend a book/program.

 

With that said, I don't think you NEED a book/program as there is so much free stuff online. Enchantedlearning.com has some really cute arts and crafts ideas, I've used a lot of those. Family Fun Magazine always has fun projects in it. But you can look up preschool crafts or kindergarten crafts and find tons of ideas for free.

 

There are probably books at your library, too.

 

One fun specific project I came across while searching online once was "watercolor painting"- with kool aid. Get a few different packets of kool aid, mix in a bit with water in a container til you get a consistency that's suitable for doing a watercolor type painting, and then let the kids paint away. It smells really good! They might enjoy trying to guess the flavor, and after it dries, you can do a "scratch n sniff" type thing with it, too! But don't use paper that has a heavier scent to it, like construction paper, or it will mask the scent of the kool aid.

[Mommee & Baba]

We do a letter of the alphabet every day of school and include a project that goes with the letter we're studying. My K5er loves this...also we have an "art cubby" filled with all sorts of things to create with. Buttons, googley eyes, yarn, tissue paper squares, paints, markers, stickers, glitter, different types of paper, craft sticks, cut up straws...ect...and I allow my 2nd grader and K5er 30min of "art cubby" time 3 days a week and they LOVE it! Also we do hands on crafts and projects with our curriculum as well. Friday's are fun days for the most part as well..Only math, reading and geography...the rest is games and art.

[FairProspects]

Both my boys are loving Preschool Art. I can always find a project that matches what we already have laying around the house with little to no prep. Definitely our favorite art resource and process oriented too!

[Guest Cindie2dds]

As a huge Oak Meadow fan, I would recommend Oak Meadow's First Book Of Crafts if I was going to recommend a book/program.

 

With that said, I don't think you NEED a book/program as there is so much free stuff online. Enchantedlearning.com has some really cute arts and crafts ideas, I've used a lot of those. Family Fun Magazine always has fun projects in it. But you can look up preschool crafts or kindergarten crafts and find tons of ideas for free.

 

There are probably books at your library, too.

 

One fun specific project I came across while searching online once was "watercolor painting"- with kool aid. Get a few different packets of kool aid, mix in a bit with water in a container til you get a consistency that's suitable for doing a watercolor type painting, and then let the kids paint away. It smells really good! They might enjoy trying to guess the flavor, and after it dries, you can do a "scratch n sniff" type thing with it, too! But don't use paper that has a heavier scent to it, like construction paper, or it will mask the scent of the kool aid.

 

:iagree: Completely. We do a lot with sand, water, homemade playdoh, etc. We have done Oak Meadow K with their First Book of Crafts and Enchanted Learning and loved it!

[Guest JillysBeans]

Thank you so much for all of these suggestions!!! This is everything that I needed to hear. I think that I was just really "over-thinking" everything. I think that my kids will really love the kool-aid suggestion.

[Mom0012]

I love the Judy Press craft books. When my daughter was in K/1st, she went through the books I had and tabbed all the crafts she wanted to do. Then, I just made sure I had supplies on hand (usually very basic supplies) and she spent about an hour a day working on them. They were so simple, she was able to follow the directions herself and work on them independently.

 

She made my father about 100 gifts for his birthday and she was so proud of herself.

 

Lisa

[just Jenny]

I bought some fabric, and some fabric markers (they are non-toxic). Then I choose a theme. One time we did snowflakes (cut out paper snowflakes, traced them onto the fabric and the kids colored them in), another time "Creation", another time we drew pictures of our family, another time we traced our hands. The kids make their drawings-or scribbles, or whatever they are able on the fabric-as long as it stays within the theme-pretty much.

 

Their drawings are so cute-then you can take the fabric and make it into a pillowcase, or a simple quilt (adding a sheet of batting, a back, tying knots in it to hold it together, and then sewing some bias tape around it-all things you can see demonstrated on youtube), or a wallhanging.

 

If you don't sew, you can buy canvass totes, and aprons at the craft stores, or else take an old white sheet and open the sides of the top-have them color it and use it for a curtain.

 

I like doing this because I like making things that are useful and I like it when I have a way to hang onto their art for a long time!

 

I shop at Jo-Anns and Michaels, always with coupons and then you can get things quite reasonably.

 

other cheaper options:

 

getting a big roll of butcher paper and using regular crayons or markers to trace the kids, write things, draw things. My kids love this and can do it for hours. You can later use this for wrapping paper too.

 

Or you could even use supermarket paper bags, cut them open, use the blank side and tempura paints-make some shapes with old sponges or potatoes and make wrapping paper.

 

One great drawing book that my K'er likes and I had from when I was a kid is called: Ed Emberley's "Make a World" I know they still sell them on Amazon-and he teaches how to draw using just basic shapes. The pictures he creates are all stick pictures, and my son will sit for an hour at a time copying the drawings.

 

With three kids, I can see why you are not feeling creative. That's how I am in the kitchen with cooking!