If you’ve read any of my other blog posts about kids activities then there’s a possibility that I say this every time… BUT doing this art themed week for my in-home daycare was one of my favorites!
One reason why it was my favorites – it required little prep on my end and allowed the kids to be as creative with it as they wanted. Plus, since I did this with my daycare kids, I put on an art show for their parents at the end of the week. All of their art was on display throughout my living room and I had the kids make cookies and lemonade to serve at it.
However, you do not need to run an in-home daycare to do these art projects… and likely won’t have purchase as much doing them with your own kid(s).
How I started:
I started by researching different kinds of arts. From that long list I picked five kinds of art that would be simple enough for two, three and four year olds to be able to do.
For the five different kinds of art, we learned about one each day. Along with learning about the type of art, the kids also did that type of art (of course).
Types of Art:
Modeling Clay –
Typically this would be used with clay that you have to bake and then can paint, but that’s not ideal with young kids. Instead, I purchased this air dry modeling clay kit that was fairly cheap and came with lots of colors!
I let each kid pick four to five colors from the pack and make whatever they wanted with it. The four year olds got more creative actually creating creatures with their clay whereas the younger kids made more of blobs. Pictured above is my son’s creation and he was three at the time.
I let these air dry over night and they were ready to go. If the older kids placed small pieces that were hanging off, those did tend to fall off when being handled, but otherwise stayed together nicely!
Painting with Watercolor –
This type of art is simple, cheap and easy to do. I personally went to Michael’s and purchased fun canvas that came with watercolor paints.
The watercolor paints are the ones that usually come in small plastic circles and the colors are all attached to each other. Or they come in a plastic pad with shallow circles with different colors in each one. The kids dip their paint brush into the water and then the paint.
This project could be done on a fun outline canvas like I did or: blank canvas, blank paper, coloring pages, on a ceramic or wooden object. The possibilities are endless. It comes down to how much or little you want to spend.
Collage Work –
Depending on what you have in your house – this may be a cost free activity. Collage’s can be made from pretty much anything. And the kids can help cut things out and glue them on a blank piece of paper or cardboard.
Ideas to use for to make the collage:
- scrapbook paper
- magazines
- coloring book pages
- stickers
- pieces of fabric
- sticky notes
- fake flowers – petals
- cotton balls
- q-tips
- pom poms
- pipe cleaner
Photography –
I used a polaroid camera for this form of art. However, you could also use your phone or any other type of camera for this.
I wanted each kid to take two pictures – one inside my house and one outside. I gave them little instruction. They could take a picture of whatever they wanted in the surrounding area they were in.
Once one kid took pictures of themselves the other kids followed suit. It made for some fun pictures that are worth keeping!
Drawing –
Drawing (when looking up art) is suggested to be used with a pencil. I had the kids use colored pencils and gave them blank paper. Once again, I told them they could draw/do whatever they wanted on the paper.
Painting with Acrylic Paint –
Similar to painting with water color you can do this one a number of ways. I found this pack of mini canvas that came with wooden easels at Target. I picked 4-5 acrylic paint colors for the kids to choose from and again – let them paint however and whatever they wanted.
Details of the Art Show:
I made the labels to place by each art work myself. I created the shape I wanted and did a thick border then inserted a text box. You could also print labels to cut back time on shaping. Then I taped them on brown/tan card stock. The color was just what I had at home already. I cut the card stock sheet into strips and then folded them like a tent.
I placed all the art work all around my living room along with the labels next to them so parents knew whose art it was and what kind of art.
I had the kids help me make cookies and lemonade that we served during the art show.
Since I run an in-home daycare and not a formal preschool, I didn’t want to set a time for the art show and make parents leave work early. I let them know that the art show would be set up by a certain time and that they could come anytime after that/before the time I closed.
The kids loved showing off their artwork and the parents enjoyed be able to walk around to look at it all. I highly recommend doing this at least once if you run your own daycare or preschool!
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