Kindergarten Art Activities
From painting to collage, drawing to stamping, kindergarten art activities give kids the chance to explore their creativity, practice sharing materials and build fine motor skills. With all the English Language Arts requirements and math standards we need to meet these days, it can be hard to find time for art. The California Kindergarten Association is committed to helping you find ways to weave art into your curriculum! Check back soon – new activities are being added frequently.
Chicks and Chickens – Integrate Science, Art and Kindergarten Writing all into One Lesson!
Today’s Tuesday Teaching Tip is once again brought to us by CKA co-president Debra Weller. She begins by reading the book Chicks and Chickens by Gail Gibbons to her class. To make the project, you will need: tan construction a paper scissors glue sticks feathers small red, yellow, and white construction paper rectangles lined paper a chicken shaped stencil (could easily be created by printing out a chicken shape, then cutting it out and tracing it) Debra begins by modeling the writing of the facts about chickens on the white...
read moreLove Makes the World Go Round
Did you already have your Valentine’s Day activities planned? You’re going to want to get out the eraser when you see this awesome bulletin board from CKA Board Member, Kimberly DeMille! Kimberly’s students drew themselves, and helped to make the tear-art Earth – which is such good fine motor practice! Then they each were matched with a partner and wrote a special message to their “secret sweetie” on their heart using the frame ” I like________ because________”. Do you have special plans...
read morePipe Cleaner Snowflakes Blend Math and Fine Motor Skills with Kindergarten Art
These colorful snowflakes are a great chance to review patterns, and improve fine motor skills all while creating a winter art project any kindergartener would enjoy. Best of all, these are easy to prep – which is perfect for this busy time of year! No time to sneak this activity in before the break? No problem! These would work just as well in the new year. :) You’ll need some pipe cleaners (1.5 for each child – we used white, but silver or pale blue would work great, too), and some beads. How many beads depends...
read moreHand Print Turkeys – A Thanksgiving Art Activity
This quick and easy art activity comes with a super cute poem sure to make any parent thankful. Simply provide a small piece of brown construction paper for each child. (Half a regular sheet of construction paper should be enough). It’s often tricky for kindergarten children to trace their own hands, so it can help to have a partner to work with. Of course, pretty much anything is more fun with feathers to decorate it. Add a face and legs/feet with crayons. You could also paint the children’s hands and have them press...
read moreCotton Swab (Q-Tip) Skeletons
These q-tip skeletons are an easy and fun Halloween art activity. Cutting the q-tips is easier than you might think with adult scissors – especially if you buy the generic ones. :) Arranging the “bones” to form a body is also trickier than you might think – and it’s lots of fun to see all the neat arrangements kids will come up with! Just to wait till you hear some of the “personal histories” of those skeletons! All you’ll need is these printable skulls. There are eight to a sheet of...
read moreThis is Me in Kindergarten – an Easy, Adorable Memory Book
Children grow and learn so much during a year – particularly when they’re really young. CKA Treasurer and veteran Kindergarten teacher, Heather Hardaway Morrow shares this sweet way to track that progress and create a beautiful memory book at the same time. On a half sheet of paper, students draw a self-portrait. The page says “This is me in September” and then students write their name. The page gets glued onto a 9×12 construction paper that has been made into a book with binding combs. On the other...
read moreSee How Your (Kinder) Garden Has Grown!
The kids seem to have sprouted up over night, and the end of the year is just around the corner. Here’s a fun project that makes for an adorable bulletin board and could easily work as a Mother’s Day present. To make the flowers you’ll need some small paper plates and some colored paper (colored copy paper works great). Have your students trace their hands several times over on brightly colored paper, then glue them around the edges of the paper plate. Glue a close up photo of each child (printed out onto regular...
read moreFor Every Season There is a Tree
Seasons of trees In spring The trees Are a beautiful sight Dressed in blossom Pink and white. In summer The trees Are full of treats Apples and pears And cherries to eat. In autumn The trees Are red and gold And the leaves fall down As the days grow cold. In winter The trees Are bare and plain Waiting for spring To dress them again. Julie Holder Review the seasons of the year and their impact on trees with this cute project. The samples in the photo were made using die cut trees, but you could certainly have students tear strips of...
read moreValentine’s Day “Stained Glass”
This simple art activity works great hung in front of the window – where the sunlight streaming through adds a rosy glow that’s perfect for this time of year! To prepare them – simply trace or draw a heart shape onto construction paper. (The hearts in the picture are on 12″x18″ construction paper since the bottom half was being used for a February calendar). To create a template to trace, simply print out a clip art heart the size you’d like it to be onto tag board. Cut it out and you’re ready...
read moreWintery Trees Weave Math Into Art
Here’s a quick and easy way to weave some math practice into an art activity. You’ll need a sheet of 9×12″ blue construction paper and three squares per student out of plain white copy paper (of course, construction paper will work, too, but it’s not necessary). You can vary the sizes depending on how big you’d like the trees to turn out, but the ones pictured were 5″, 4″ and 3″. That’s IT! You’ve now finished prepping this activity! Have your kids cut the squares in...
read moreOur 31st Annual Conference
We are thrilled to announce that our 31st conference in January, was a huge success! We are so thankful to Jim Gill, Peggy Campbell Rush and all of our great presenters who made it a fabulous time. It was wonderful to see so many of you there! We hope you're planning to join us in 2014!
ART Really Teaches
