Preschoolers love to explore with art supplies and crafts, making creative crafts fun projects. While it may seem challenging to come up with preschool crafts that are simple and safe enough for young children to do with little direction from adults, the less you interfere with a creative project, the better your child will be able to develop his creativity and sense of accomplishment. Try some of these simple activities that encourage young children to have fun while developing their artistic sides.
Stringing Necklaces
Stringing beads, macaroni, or cereal is an excellent task for preschoolers as it helps to strengthen their eye-hand coordination. Buy an assortment of beads and yarn or sturdy string. Preschoolers will do better without a needle; just fold one end of the string over and wrap it with masking tape. Make the end thick enough for the child to handle it, but thin enough to slip through the beads or food. Young children enjoy stringing uncooked macaroni too. They can even color the noodles with markers or use tempera paint and a brush to decorate them. Allow noodles to dry thoroughly before stringing. If you would like the necklace to be completely edible, string O shaped cereal on liquorice strings. Your preschooler will enjoy both making and eating this craft!
Ten in the Bed
Preschoolers love making these props and acting out the rhyme "Ten in the Bed." You will need ten Popsicle sticks or tongue depressors, which you can buy at craft stores. The wider ones work better for preschoolers. You will also need a medium-sized manila envelope which you have cut off the top of to make it look like a double bed. Children can then glue cotton balls on the top for pillows and cover the front with a folded-down piece of fabric to look like a blanket. Show your preschoolers how to use thin markers to make faces on one end of the sticks. Preschoolers can draw body and clothing details on the sticks to make them look like children, or use fabric and bric-a-brac to create ten little people. One of the sticks should be trimmed (by a parent) to be smaller than the rest. Now your preschooler can act out the rhyme as you say it together!
Felt Crown
All young children love to wear crowns, so making one is a fun craft project. Measure the front of your child's head from ear to ear, then cut a piece of brightly-colored felt to the appropriate size in the shape of a crown, with a point in the very center. Punch a hole at either end of the felt and attach a piece of elastic to keep the crown on your child's head. Let him decorate the crown with glitter glue, plastic jewels, and other baubles from the craft store.
Napkin Rings
This is a fun craft for preschoolers because the final product can serve as a useful tool on the dinner table. Collect about five cardboard toilet paper holders and cut empty rolls in half for your kids. Children can now decorate the cardboard using markers, crayons, or paint, or glue fabric or magazine pictures over the rolls. For a brightly-colored version, paint a layer of glue on the tubes and let your preschooler roll the tubes in confetti. Display the napkin rings at the dinner table when they have dried.
Veggie Man
Preschoolers can use healthy fruits and vegetables, and wooden toothpicks, to create veggie people. Use a pear for the body and a small apple for the head. Hold the apple and pear together by pushing each piece of fruit on the end of a Popsicle stick until they meet. Attach two baby carrots with tooth picks for arms. Celery stalks make great legs, while raisins, grapes, and olives are useful for creating faces and a banana peel can create the illusion of long hair. Preschoolers enjoy searching through the refrigerator and cupboards to come up with unique parts for building food people too. Take a picture of the final product because it won't last for long!
Creative Crafts for Preschoolers
In order to make the very most of your preschooler's crafting time, remember that it's not about the final product, but about the creative process. While you may have an image of the perfect vegetable and fruit person in your head, it's best to plant a seed about the craft project in your child's head, set up the necessary supplies, and then leave it to your child to be creative.
For additional craft ideas, check out this list of preschool art projects or these preschool craft ideas. Regardless of the project you start with your children, remember to let them exercise their creative talents and praise them afterwards for a job well done.
