Lessons

Art Activities for All Ages

Art For Infants and One Year Olds

•An Icy Time
On a highchair tray or paper plate, place one or two partially melted ice cubes. Allow the child to touch and move the ice. Say, “The ice is cold! Brrrr!”

•Colored Mittens
Gather a supply of clean, brightly colored mittens and gloves. Put some of the mittens on your hands, and place other mittens on the child’s hand or even his feet. Use this activity to point out the color of the mittens or designs that may be on the mittens. If you are unable to find mittens, use a supply of clean, brightly colored socks instead.

•Fingerprints
Prepare circles from construction paper and several colors of tempera paint in shallow dishes. Show the child how to dip her fingers in the paint and make prints on the circle. Cover both sides with her prints and allow to dry. Punch a hole in the top and add a length of yarn. Send the fingerprints home to be enjoyed by the child’s family.

Art for Two and Three Year Olds

•Tearing Paper
Gather an assortment of small squares of wrapping paper and a small square sheet of clear contact paper. Peel the backing off of the contact paper and place on a smooth surface with the sticky side up. Let the child tear the wrapping paper into small pieces and stick on the contact paper. Cover the entire sticky side of the contact paper. Point out different colors, designs, or characters on the wrapping paper.

•Paper Plate Wreaths
Cut out the middle circle of a white paper plate. Provide small 1 inch squares of tissue paper. Brush on a thin layer of glue over the plate and show the child how to glue the pieces of tissue paper on the plate. Have the child tell you what color he is gluing on the plate.

•Icy Drawings
Spray a metal cookie sheet or cake pan with rounded edges with a fine mist of water and place in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours. The water will form a light frost on the metal pan. Provide a cup of water and paint brushes. Allow the child to “paint” with the water on the metal pan. The water will melt the frost on the pan and reveal the designs the child paints.

•Snowflakes
Fold a sheet of blue construction paper in half. Have the child squeeze a small amount of white paint along the middle fold. Re-fold the paper and have the child rub the paper together. Open the paper to reveal the snowflake design. Add white glitter to the snowflake.

Art for Four and Five Year Olds

•Marshmallow Snowmen
You’ll need a bag of large marshmallows, tempera paint, blue construction paper, and small paint brushes for this activity. Dip the end of a large marshmallow in a shallow dish of paint. On a blue sheet of construction paper, make three marshmallow prints in a row. Make sure the prints touch each other as this will form the snowman’s body. Let the child use other colors of tempera paint to add the snowman’s hat, eyes, mouth, nose, arms, and scarf.

•Paper Chains
Cut an assortment of 1” X 8” strips from construction paper. Demonstrate how to form a circle with one strip of paper by looping the paper over and gluing the ends together. Assist the child in forming a chain of these loops. You may want to make a pattern. Display the chains in your home.

Art For infants and One Year Olds

•Crayon Trio
Tape three jumbo-sized crayons together. Provide white drawing paper and allow the child to experiment with the marks the three crayons make. Say, “Look at the yellow crayon. It’s yellow like a duck.”

•Body Prints
On a warm day, take the child outside to a clean, safe area. Provide large sheets of paper (a papertablecloth would work well) and shallow plastic trays filled with a thin layer of non-toxic tempera paint. Wearing a diaper only, allow the child to crawl through the paint and onto the large sheet of paper. If the child is unable to crawl, place the child’s hands, feet, etc. in the paint and press onto the paper. Talk about this experience with the child. Say, “Look at your yellow hand! Look at your green foot!”

•Spring Collage
Purchase a supply of foam flowers or bugs from the craft department of your local store. Cover a sheet of paper with glue and let the child stick the flowers and bugs on the paper. Say, “Where is the butterfly? Where is the red bug?”

•Scribble Art
Attach a piece of paper to the floor with tape. Give the child a jumbo-sized crayon and show her how to make marks on the paper. If she does not scribble, demonstrate how by making a few marks on the paper with a crayon. Help her move her arm to make the marks. Name the colors she uses.

Art for Two and Three Year Olds

•Mudpies
In a shallow plastic bowl, mix dirt free of sticks and glass with a small amount of water to make a mud paste. Provide sheets of paper and have the child “paint” with the mud mixture. You may want to allow the child to dip their feet and hands in the mud to make prints on the paper. Use this experience to teach body parts. Say, “Point to your muddy hand on the paper. Point to your muddy foot.”

•Sticker Collages
Look at your local dollar store for inexpensive packs of stickers. Give the child one or two sheets of stickers and a piece of paper. Let her place the stickers on the paper to make a collage. Point out colors, designs, or characters found on the stickers. Ask the child to point to a red sticker, a green sticker, etc.

•Watermelons
Cut a paper plate in half. Provide crayons, markers, or paint. Let the children color the plate like a watermelon. While the plates are drying, provide a snack of watermelon slices. Save the seeds to glue onto the watermelon paper plates as a final touch. Talk about how the watermelon feels as tastes and what colors it is.

•Planting Flowers
At a dollar store, purchase an assortment of silk flower stems of various colors and types. Provide cans of clay. Have the child “plant” the flowers in the cans of clay. Let her pretend to water and pick the flowers.

Art for Four and Five Year Olds

•Coffee Filter Flowers
Gather a supply of coffee filters and washable markers. Stack three coffee filters together and have the child use the markers to color the top filter completely. Place on a stack of old newspapers and use a small spray bottle to dampen the filters until the color have bled through all three layers of filters. Leave the filters to dry for 2 to 3 hours. When dry, gather the filters by the center and wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle. Fluff out the layers to form a flower shape.

•Sponge Painted Eggs
Cut a supply of egg shaped cut outs from white paper. Add a small amount of white paint to red, blue, yellow, and purple paint to create pastel colors. Cut a supply of clean kitchen sponges into long strips. Let the child dip the sponges into the paint and decorate the egg.

•Handprint Flowers
You’ll need tempera paint and construction paper for this project. Have the child dip her hand in shallow plates of tempera paint. With her fingers pressed together, have her stamp her handprint on the construction paper. Repeat this process with two different colors. These will be the flower blooms. With a paint brush, have the child paint stems, leaves, and grass on the paper.

•ABC Frames
Have the child glue four large popsicle sticks ends together to form a square. When dry, paint both sides with tempera paint. Allow the child to sort through a bowl of alphabet cereal to find the letters in his name. Help him glue the letters on the popsicle sticks to spell his name. Attach a picture of the child inside the frame and put a magnet on the back. What a great Mothers’ Day present!

Art For Infants and One Year Olds

•Rainbow Ribbons
Cut 12 inch lengths of different colored ribbons. Tie on a coat hanger and suspend over the child’s crib. Make sure the ribbons are out of the child’s reach but easy to see. Blow on the ribbons to make them move or shake the hanger to wiggle the ribbons. Talk to the child and say, “Look at the pretty ribbons. See them moving? They are red, yellow, and purple.”

•Colored Ice
Fill an ice cube tray with water. Before putting the tray in the freezer, place a few drops of different colored food coloring in each cube. After the water has frozen place the ice cubes on a tray. Encourage the child to touch and move the ice. Say, “The ice is so cold! Do you see the red ice?”

•Sunshine Yellow
Gather a supply of yellow paper. The paper may be construction paper, notebook paper, or gift wrap paper. Hand the child pieces of paper to crumple or tear. Demonstrate crumpling and tearing the paper. As the child experiments with the paper, talk to her about the color she sees and the sounds the paper makes.

•Seeing Double
You’ll need an unbreakable mirror and an assortment of seasonal items such as flowers, sunglasses, and different colored towels. Place the child in front of the mirror. As the child looks in the mirror, point to and name his body parts. Use the seasonal items to keep his attention. Wrap the towel loosely around his shoulders or put the sunglasses on his face. Hold up flowers in the mirror and talk about their colors.

Art for Two and Three Year Olds

•Water Painting
You’ll need shallow buckets of water and paintbrushes for this activity. Fill the buckets with a small amount of water. Invite the child to dip the brush into the water and “paint” on the sidewalk, trees, fences, or even the house with the water.

•Chilly Painting
This is a great activity for the hot days of summer! Place small containers of finger paint in the freezer for 45 minutes. Give the child a sheet of paper and have her use the cold paint to finger paint.

•Fireworks
Give the child a bottle of white glue and a sheet of construction paper. Invite him to use the glue to draw lines or shapes with the glue in random patterns on the paper. Sprinkle multi-colored glitter over the glue and you’ll have a night’s sky full of fireworks.

•Bug Prints
Cut several large potatoes in half and prepare small plates of red, black, green, and yellow tempera paint. Encourage the child to dip the potato halves in paint and stamps them on the paper. Have him use paint brushes to add legs, eyes, and antennas to the prints to make unique and original bugs.

•Sidewalk Chalk
Large, multi-colored sidewalk chalk can be found at most dollar stores. Purchase a set and allow the child to draw on outside play surfaces. Discuss the chalk colors and images the child draws. When art time is over, spray the surface with a water hose or wait for a summer rain shower. The chalk washes away easily and the surface will be ready for another art session.

Art for Four and Five Year Olds

•Fancy Fish
You’ll need a small paper plate, 1 inch by 1 inch squares of different colored tissue paper, construction paper, glue, and large wiggle eyes for this project. Have the child cover one side of the paper plate with glue. Press the squares of tissue paper in the glue and brush on a second layer of glue to make the tissue paper squares lay flat. Cut fins and a tail from the construction paper. Glue on a wiggle eye.

•Shape Collages
Pick a shape to study for the day. Provide blunt ended scissors and old magazines. Have the child go through the magazine and find certain shapes. When they find a shape, have him cut out the shape and glue it on paper. Label each collage with the name of the shape. Refer to the collage often when talking about shapes.

•Spray Bottle Painting
Tape a large piece of paper to a flat outside surface. Prepare several spray bottles filled with water and a few drops of non-toxic food coloring. Provide protective clothing for the child to wear and invite the her to spray the bottles on the paper to create different colored designs.

Fall Art

Art For Infants and One Year Olds

•Paint a Pumpkin
Purchase a small pumpkin and wash thoroughly. Provide short brushes and a small container of water. Show the child how to dip the brush in the water and paint on the pumpkin. Say, “Look at you! You’re painting the orange pumpkin!”

•Pudding Painting
Prepare a box of instant vanilla pudding. Add drops of red and yellow food coloring to the pudding to give it an orange color. Put small amounts of the pudding on the infants clean high chair tray. Demonstrate finger painting with the pudding. Say, “Look at the orange pudding! It’s cold and tastes good!”

•Colored Leaves
Prepare small cups of non-toxic tempera paints. Provide small brushes and paper with a large leaf outline. Help the child dip the brushes into the paint and swirl the brush around on the leaf outline. Let the paint dry and cut along the outline of the leaf. Hang the leaves above the child’s crib. Make sure the leaves are out of the child’s reach, but close enough so she can see them clearly. Say, “Look at the pretty leaves. They are red, yellow, and orange. See them swirl?”

Art for Two and Three Year Olds

•Tearing Paper
Gather red, yellow, and orange construction paper. Prepare a white leaf-shaped cut out. Demonstrate tearing the construction paper into small pieces. Help the child apply glue to the leaf cut out and glue the torn pieces of paper to the leaf. Say, “Your pieces are little. Here is a red one. Here is a yellow one. Here is a red one.”

•Paint a Pumpkin
Provide small containers of fall colored tempera paint and a washed pumpkin. Let the child dip a paint brush into the paint and paint on the outside of the pumpkin. The paint will wash off and the activity can be repeated.

•Clay Prints
Place a ball of play dough on a clean surface which the child can easily reach. Provide an assortment of non-toxic fall leaves. Help the child flatten the play dough and use the leaves to make prints in the play dough. Say, “Look at the leaves in the play dough. The leaf is big and orange!”

•Leaf Dance
Cut an assortment of leaves from fall colored construction paper. Punch a hole in each leaf and tie a string through it. Loop the other end of the string around the child’s wrist. Play lively music and twirl and fall like leaves with the child.

Art for Four and Five Year Olds

•Fall Windsocks
Cut 4” by 6” rectangles of fall colored construction paper. Loop the ends of the paper together and staple to create a circle. Gather fall leaves with the child and glue on the paper. Glue fall colored streamer to the bottom and tie a string through the top. Display the windsock so the child can easily see it. Talk about the experience of finding the leaves and gluing them with the child.

•Pumpkin Sponge Painting
Cut pumpkin shapes from clean, new kitchen sponges. On a piece of art paper, show the child how to finger paint to create the vines for the pumpkins. Dip the sponges into orange paint and stamp on top of the vines.