Good Stuff for my Artsy Kindergartner?

[scbusf]

My DD just turned 5. She is currently in a private preschool, but will be homeschooled next year. She LOVES color, draw, and do anything crafty. She also needs a lot of structure.

 

I already plan on doing Singapore Math Essentials B and the Evan-Moor Beginning Geography. We will also continue with BOB books for reading.

 

So what is something I could use with her that is both structured AND crafty?

 

Thanks!

[schaiane]

I don't know about structure, but I used to have a little table with chairs in the living room with all of my daughters art supplies out in the open for her. Although she loved it, it got too messy! So I have a few drawers in my dining room where I keep all of her art supplies and she just goes and gets them by herself. I keep the glue, markers and scissors away from her, but all she has to do is ask me and I'll get them for her. I also hung up 2 strings, one above the other in her room and she loves displaying her crafts that way.

[Shifra]

I love Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children by Carol Petrash. There are great seasonal craft ideas in here(inspired by Waldorf school traditions but can be used by anyone with young children). The crafts are categorised by season and inspired by nature, so you could tie them into a nature study or social studies (where does food come from?).

 

If you want to get more formal, there's always Artistic Pursuits.

[lea_lpz]

Wee Folk Art preschool / k companion guides have a lot of fun crafts / art/ fun stuff for a child artistically inclined and it free! Just type it up online and you should be able to find it.

 

Or you could add in Fiive In a Row and that would add in enrichment activities. You could get most of the books from the library. I haven't used FIAR but am using BFIAR and have been able to find all the titles through the library. I've had to do inter-library loans for some of them. Rainbow Resource has a spiral bound book with vol. 1-3 plus the Christian supplement. You can get the cookbook their too.

 

FIAR focuses on a subject a day for a total of five days: art, social studies, math, science, & language / literature. You can also get their cook book and Bible supplement, lengthening the program a bit if you chose to. And there are a lot of free online resources, like lap books and additional craft ideas.

 

We use mfw k ( My Father's World Exploring God's World from A-Z) which includes "extras" like art, social studies, geography, history, science, music, and hands on math. It's a complete curriculum though, so this might not be what you are looking for, but we also have added Singapore early bird math b and BOB books to the program to reinforce math skills / reading. It's a very affordable program when compared to Sonlight at $124 for the basic package and $206 for the deluxe that has some fun "extras". It is a Christian curriculum but the themes covered are pretty generally applicable to all Christian denominations.

 

Hope you find something that works for you! Have fun!

[5Wizards]

My 4 year old LOVES doing Draw Write Now. She likes to copy the name of whatever we are drawing, and then I write whatever sentences we agree upon for her (older sibling copies the sentences herself). We all draw together, they color the pictures, and then we each say something positive about everyone's drawing (but it has to be specific - not "I like the whole thing," but "I like the colors that you used for X" etc... Next year as we progress she will physically write more herself.

[besroma]

My kids also love Draw Write Now.

 

They ask to do Atelier Art, which we bought in a group buy through HSBC.

 

We also have many Dover coloring books and Bellerophon coloring books that they make copies of, and then color. They do this almost daily. We have books on wild birds, backyard nature, Medieval tapestries, composers, Civil War dress, snakes, Amish farms, etc.