I believe most children can identify with the helpless, small, insignificant caterpillar, and they rejoice with it when it turns into a beautiful butterfly. It is an affirmation to all children. It says: I too can grow up. I too can unfold my wings and fly into the world. – Eric Carle Young children learn…
Painting
Salt Dough Ornaments
Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas. ― Peg Bracken Salt Dough Ornaments make adorable little gifts! Younger children will enjoy manipulating the dough and relish the sensory feedback they are getting, especially from their tactile sense! Squishing, rolling and cutting the dough are fun activities by…
Thanksgiving Canvas Banner
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward For Thanksgiving we focused on themes of sharing and caring, community and compassion for each other. We practiced saying ‘thank you’, discussed how we can make each other feel good and tried to remember who helped us…
Halloween Games and Activities
We always have much fun celebrating Halloween! Here are some of my favorite activities and games you can use with your preschoolers and kindergarteners. Face Painting Face Painting never fails to excite children, especially when they get to paint their own faces! We had much fun celebrating our strengths and special powers of who we…
Pumpkin Pour Painting
October is an exciting time of the year: Sweater weather, all things Halloween, songs about wind, falling leaves and lots of talk about costumes, candy and decorating pumpkins! Make sure to give Pour Painting a try if you’re looking for a fun, easy, open-ended and REALLY engaging pumpkin project for your children! Young children really relish the…
Leaf Banners
After observing and talking about the changes outside in nature and reading various books about autumn, the children started to notice how many different leaves there are and wondered more about leaf veins and why leaves fall off the trees. Their thoughts and questions about autumn are constantly present while playing and creating. Through art projects…
Tape Resist Painting
Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. – Hans Christian Andersen Tape-resist is a simple and fun process art technique for young children. You can create any design, make open-ended abstract masterpieces or explore and create spring flowers like we did. Materials: Watercolor Paper Painter’s Tape Liquid watercolors Thick…
Mother’s Day Banner
Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. – Marion C. Garretty Ever since seeing Meri Cherry’s lovely Mother’s Day Banners (head over to her website for a full list of materials and instructions) I wanted to give them a try myself, adjusting them slightly to suit a younger…
Scrape and Squeegee Paintings
Scrape and squeegee paintings are wonderful art activites. As toddler’s are growing and searching for new experiences, they really like exploring a wide range of materials. Art projects like this will support your toddler’s growing independence while also lending themselves to beautiful creations. All materials can be handled easily which will empower children to create,…
Snow Play
A high fun, low cost toddler activity for the winter is playing and painting with snow. This is guaranteed to hold your toddler’s attention span and will keep your children engaged for hours. Yes, seriously! Materials Snow Kitchen utensils (trays, scoops, spoons, pans etc.) Optional: Large storage container filled with snow (or better: your summer…