Take children outside to gather inspiration.
Making art projects encourages your kindergartners to develop their creativity, and every brushstroke or squeeze of the glue bottle strengthens their motor skills. If the weather outside is frightening, art projects also keep children occupied on long days indoors and can brighten up your classroom on dreary days, putting everyone in a happy mood.
Snow
Making snowflakes gives you a chance to talk about how no two children are the same, just as no two snowflakes are the same. If you have snow outside, spread a few handfuls out on a dark cloth and let children investigate them. Help kindergartners design their own snowflakes on black paper using glue and glitter or pass out white or silver pipe cleaners. Each child can form her own snowflake by tying several pipe cleaners together and spreading and bending the ends into shapes. Hang them up in the classroom so that children can admire each other's creativity.
Snowmen
Snowmen are cheerful and friendly, perfect for any classroom full of kindergartners. Children can use any number of items to form their own snowmen. Pass out marshmallows, frosting and small candies for children to make edible snowmen with, or use foam balls from a craft store. Help children attach three balls together using toothpicks, then pass out buttons, felt, fabric scraps and glue so that each child can decorate his snowman. Take the creativity challenge further by asking each child to make up a name and story for his snowman and present it to the class.
Animals
Winter gives you an opportunity to teach kindergartners about how different animals live and adjust to the changing seasons. Talk about animals that hibernate during winter and illustrate the lesson by asking kindergartners to make shoe-box dioramas showing hibernating animals. To compare the way different animals live in winter, ask kindergartners to make books showing various types of animals during this season. For instance, a child might draw a dog that stays inside on one page and a bird that flies south on another page.
Outdoor Art
If your area has snow on the ground, using it as a canvas for art projects will excite all your kindergartners. Fill spray bottles with water and food coloring and help each child carefully lie down in the snow and stand up again. Each child can use the spray bottles to decorate her own snow print, giving it a face and clothes. Passing out birdseed and chunks of vegetables lets children add additional details to their creations, and the local birds and wildlife will appreciate finding a snack during the cold winter months. In warm weather, take kindergartners outside with sketch books to draw the bare trees.
Tags: animals live, different animals, different animals live, each child, kindergartners make