Yesterday, March 14, was Children’s Craft Day! Doing arts and crafts isn’t just a fun activity to do with your kids, it’s also important for kids to develop their fine motor skills and stretch their imaginations. Crafts are especially important for preschool kids because they are at an age where they are learning a lot about themselves and the world around them.
Here are three craft ideas to try with your preschool age kids at home to celebrate Children’s Craft Day!
Paper Plate Animals
This craft is a lot of fun because there are a lot of ways to get creative with it. Cut out animal shapes from paper plates and let your kids paint or color them. Use more craft supplies like googly eyes or pipe cleaners to decorate your animals if you like. You can also attach popsicle sticks to your paper plate animals to turn them into puppets. If you’re feeling really creative, use half a paper plate to make an animal mask. Cut out eye holes and use construction paper and pipe cleaners to make ears and whiskers.
Finger Painting
We all know kids love being messy, and finger painting lets them make a mess—and be creative!—in a controlled environment. Get a big roll of paper and cover your kitchen table or the floor. Then you can pull out the finger paints and let your kids free! If your kids need a little direction, encourage them to create patterns or draw pictures that use simple shapes, like houses or flowers.
Homemade Play Dough
Play dough is great for letting kids get tactile sensory input. And it’s even more fun when you make your own. There are many easy recipes for making your own play dough online. Here’s one from the Kids Activities Blog that we like. Once you’ve made the dough, you can let your kids help work in the food coloring. However, an adult should make the actual play dough because it involves boiling water. Forming play dough into shapes encourages kids to be creative and helps them with spatial reasoning.
Encourage creativity in your preschool kids!
At Wollaston Child Care Center, our program promotes all aspects of your child’s well-being and development. Contact us at 617-773-7217 to learn more about our program and what we can do for your child.
