Tag: Painting

Animals, Spring

Egg Carton Ladybug Craft

Jennifer

Turn a cardboard egg carton into a cute little ladybug craft! This egg carton ladybug craft requires minimal supplies, is low prep, and tons of fun to make.

egg carton ladybug craft

Supplies Needed:

  • cardboard egg carton
  • scissors
  • nontoxic red and black paint (I like to use Crayola Washable Paints)
  • paintbrush
  • googly eyes
  • black construction paper
  • glue
  • black marker
  • paper plate (optional)

How To:

To make an egg carton ladybug, an adult needs to cut one of the cups off your egg carton to be your ladybug (or cut off several and make a lot of ladybugs!).

Next, set out a paper plate (optional, but I like to have my child paint on top of a paper plate to help catch spills). Now its paint time! Grab a paintbrush and let your child paint the egg carton cup red. Let it dry. Once the red paint is dry, your preschooler can dip their finger into the black paint and add spots to the ladybug. My son loved adding the spots 🙂

While the spots are drying, cut a circle out of black construction paper. We traced a cup on a black paper to make out circle shape. Cut your circle in half — now your have 2 wings!

Glue your wings onto the back of the egg carton ladybug. We glued them slightly askew so that it looked like our bug was about to take flight. My son loves googly eyes, so he added two of those to the front of the egg carton cup. Our ladybug looked kind of grouchy, we used a black marker to draw on a smile to complete the ladybug craft.

Check out my crafts page for more ideas. My son and I also made a cute bug crown that has a ladybug on it, and we made ladybug stick puppet too!

ladybug

I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support!

Winter

Fingerprint Winter Tree

Jennifer
Fingerprint Winter Tree Craft
Fingerprint Winter Tree Craft

Enjoy a snowy winter scene without having to leave your warm home with this fingerprint winter tree craft! My 4 year old really like using his finger as the paint brush for this activity. We don’t get snow at our home in the winter so my kiddo has to be content with pretend snow until we can make a trip up to the mountains. I paired this craft with a snow-themed book, The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett. It was fun to read about snow and do a snow project together!

Supplies Needed:

I love low prep activities that I can quickly pull together without having to delay the fun or make a trip to the craft store! This project is quick and easy to get started with minimal supplies.

You Will Need:

  • construction paper (I used light blue)
  • black marker ( I used a Sharpie, but I think any black marker would work)
  • white washable paint
  • paper plate or paint pallet

How To:

First–draw an outline of a barren tree. I didn’t fill in my tree trunk, but feel free to color it in however you like. Maybe draw a hole and your child can pretend there’s an animal hibernating in there! 

Second–pour a small amount of white paint onto a paper plate or a paint pallet. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints. They are easy to wash off which is fantastic since we somehow seem to get paint everywhere.

Third–have your child dip their finger into the paint and then make “snowy” fingerprints on the tree. Be creative with your snow placement!

Fourth–make a snowy ground by dripping some white paint at the bottom of the tree and letting your child smear it all around with their fingertip.

Fifth–let your project draw before showing it off!

More Winter Crafts:

Check out more winter crafts that my son and I made: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/preschool-winter-crafts/

There is a cute and sparkly snowflake, a fuzzy candy cane, a handprint peppermint craft, and more fun things to make with your preschooler.

Uncategorized

Cotton Ball Ice Cream Painting

Jennifer

Get creative with your paintbrushes and try cotton balls with a clothespin for painting a picture of an ice cream cone. Pinch a cotton ball in the clothespin and then dip it in paint to make a fun paintbrush! Cotton ball ice cream painting was a lot of fun! My son enjoyed using the cotton balls as a paintbrush and it remined him of his dot pens.

Cotton Ball Ice Cream Painting
Cotton Ball Ice Cream Painting

Supplies needed:

  • cotton balls
  • clothespin
  • washable paint (I like to use Crayola Washable Paints )
  • paper plate
  • paper (preferably card stock or construction paper)

How To:

Painting the Cone

First, pinch a cotton ball in your clothespin. I knew we were going to use 3 different paint colors, so I had my son use 3 cotton ball clothespin brushes. If you only have 1 clothespin, it is easy to change out the cotton balls.

Pick a paint color for your ice cream cone. Pour a little paint on a paper plate. Pinch a cotton ball in a clothespin to use as a paintbrush. Gently dip the cotton ball into the paint and then stamp it onto the paper in a triangle-shape to make the cone. If your child is having trouble with this step, lightly draw a triangle shape for them to fill in with paint.

Next pick a color for your first scoop of ice cream. My son chose blue, which is also the color of the ice cream he usually picks! I poured a little blue paint onto the paper plate and he stamped his cotton ball into the paint and then onto the paper. He made his first scoop pretty big and we didn’t have much room for the second scoop.

For his second scoop, my kiddo chose purple paint. He had to squeeze his second scoop onto the top of the first scoop and quickly ran out of room on the paper. His cotton ball ice cream painting still turned out cute, even if his second scoop wasn’t very tall.

Cotton ball ice cream painting preschool craft

OPTIONAL: I think it would be fun to add fingerprint “sprinkles” onto your ice cream cone.

For more ice cream fun, check out my ICE CREAM post! It contains cute book recommendations and ice cream recipe so that you and your preschooler can make ice cream together at home.

STEM

Paper Plate Shape Weaving Activity

Jennifer
Paper Plate Shape Weaving Activity

This paper plate shape weaving activity is great for preschooler’s fine motor skills and shape recognition. Kids get to paint and wrap yarn! As they wrap the yarn, talk about how many sides the shape has and how many points it has. Ask you child what their favorite shape is!

Supplies needed:

  • paper plate
  • watercolor paints
  • paint brush
  • cup of water
  • scissors
  • yarn
  • tape

How To:

Pick a shape you would like to make. There are so many possibilities — square, triangle, heart, circle, a star, and more! My son made a star as part of our Learning Letter S Week.

Start by drawing a shape in the center of the plate and cutting it out.

Kids can paint the plate with a variety of watercolors; be creative! My preschooler loved using paints and had a lot of fun with this activity. Let your plate dry before wrapping it with yarn.

Pick out yarn or string to wrap around your plate. I had some of this rose colored yarn left over from a crochet project, so we used it for this craft. I suggest cutting a 36-inch piece of yarn. You can always cut off any excess yarn when your child is done weaving.

Tape one end of the yarn to the back of the plate and then let your child start wrapping. When you are finished wrapping yarn, cut the yarn (if you have extra) and tape the end to the back of the plate.

You can repeat this paper plate shape weaving activity with other shapes and make a whole bunch. Be sure to make your favorite shape!

Looking for more shape ideas?

-Make shapes out of plastic cups and craft sticks: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/2021/07/27/lets-make-shapes/

-Basic Shapes Penguin Craft: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/2022/01/17/basic-shapes-penguin-craft/

-Worksheet — Matching Shapes: draw a line connecting all of the matching shapes.

-Worksheet — Shape Shadow Matching: draw a line from the shape to its matching shadow.

Spring

Spring Wreath Preschool Craft

Jennifer
Spring Wreath preschool craft
Spring Wreath

I love making floral wreaths for our home, and enjoy having my family help with the project. Unfortunately, other than help pick out flowers, there isn’t a lot my son could help with because he is so young. I wanted a wreath that my son could make on his own (that didn’t involve a hot glue gun) so we created a paper spring wreath. My son picked out the pictures–a bunny, carrot, and flower–and created his own craft!

Craft Supplies Needed:

How To:

1. Cut out the center of your paper plate to make your wreath.

2. Paint your wreath green. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints (Amazon Affiliate link*) because they easily wash off of my kid’s hands and our table.

3. While your wreath is drying, print out the spring wreath pictures template (free PDF) and color them.

4. Cut out your spring pictures.

5. Once your wreath is dry, arrange the pictures how you like them on your wreath and then glue them on.

6. Finish your spring wreath craft by tying a ribbon on so that your kiddo can hang their project! I used a hole punch, but you can also just loop your ribbon through the wreath and hang it that way.

*I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support!

More Spring Crafts

Looking for more craft ideas? Check out my Spring Crafts page for inspiration and instructions!

Valentine's Day, Winter

Fingerprint Heart Craft

Jennifer
fingerprint heart craft
Fingerprint Heart Craft

Supplies Needed:

  • construction paper in 2 different colors
  • scissors
  • paint (I like to use Crayola Washable Paints)
  • paper plate or paint pallet

How To:

Instead of using an entire sheet of paper, I cut it in half so it would be less to finger paint. I was worried that my son would get bored if the fingerprinting took a long time. Originally, I cut out a large heart shape from one of the halves. However, my son had trouble seeing it since it was the same color as the paper he was painting. I recommend cutting the heart out of a different color than than the one you will be painting. Once your heart is cut, place it in the middle of the half sheet.

Dip fingertips in paint and then stamp them into your paper. I poured a litte paint of each color on a paper plate for my kiddo to dip his fingers into. I also keep babywipes next to us to quickly clean off fingers!

Surround the heart in fingerprints. Adults might need to help hold the heart in place while kids stamp around it. Be creative and mix and match paint colors. It is ok if fingerprints overlap or touch the heart.

When you are finished adding fingerprints around the heart, gently remove the heart from your paper. Let your project dry.

blue heart image

Thanks for crafting with me 🙂 You can make this fingerprint heart craft for any occasion by swapping the heart for a different shape. Keep this in mind for Christmas and use a tree shape! Check out my crafts page for more ideas.

I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support!

Winter

Secret Snowflake Painting-

Jennifer
Secret Snowflake Painting
Secret Snowflake Painting

Channel the magic of winter with this secret snowflake painting activity. Make this fun winter snowflake craft together and watch as your child is surprised when the secret hidden snowflakes are revealed by the watercolor paints. This is a quick and easy, joint parent-child craft, but it turns out pretty cool. The kids have no idea that snowflakes are going to appear!

Supplies Needed:

  • white crayon
  • white paper (I used cardstock)
  • watercolor paints
  • paint brush
  • water cup

How To Make a Secret Snowflake Painting:

Grownup — First, draw snowflakes onto the paper using the white crayon. I know it’s hard to see what you’ve drawn. Try angling the paper toward the light so you can see a slight shimmer reflect on the crayon. Draw snowflakes, snow dots, and spirals all over your paper.

After you have drawn your “secret” snowflakes on the paper, ask your child to paint the paper with watercolors. I told my son we were making a winter picture and suggested that he use blue and purple. He was amazed to see the secret snowflakes appear on the paper as he painted!

Ta-da, now you have your own super cool, secret snowflakes! Let your project dry before showing it off too much. Fortunately watercolors dry pretty quickly 🙂

sparkly craft stick snowflake
sparkly craft stick snowflake

Pair this craft with Ezra Jack Keats’ book, The Snowy Day. The book is full of beautiful snowflake illustrations! It might just inspire your child to make more snowflake paintings or make a sparkly craft stick snowflake!

Christmas, Winter

10 Preschool Christmas Crafts

Jennifer

Christmas is just around the corner and kids are getting so excited! Help channel that excitement into some fun Christmas crafts. We rounded up our favorite 10 preschool Christmas crafts to share with you.

preschool Christmas Crafts
Preschool Christmas Crafts

10 Preschool Christmas Crafts:

Decoupage Santa Hat: make a Santa hat out of craft sticks and red tissue paper.

Christmas Owl Craft: adorable owls made from empty toilet paper rolls and construction paper.

Paper Plate Peppermint: a cute, winter handprint craft to make with your preschooler.

Christmas Cookie Cutter Coloring: a fun way to use cookie cutters without the calories!

Candy Cane Craft: quick and easy candy cane craft out of construction paper and cotton balls.

Mosaic Gingerbread Man: use pieces of construction paper to make a cute gingerbread man craft.

Christmas Fireplace: make a festive Christmas fireplace for your toys!

Christmas Wreath: cute little wreath out of a paper plate that combines painting and coloring for lots of fun.

Candy Cane Reindeer: make a cute and yummy candy reindeer by adding pipe cleaner antlers, googly eyes, and a pom pom nose!

Fingerprint Snowy Tree: draw a barren tree with a marker and then your preschooler can paint on the snow with their fingerprints.

Craft Supplies:

I try to make crafts with supplies I already have at home because I hate having to put a project on hold to run to the store and get supplies. So if anytime you don’t have one of the things I mentioned, feel free to substitute it with something you have at home — there’s no wrong way to craft!

My go-to supplies are: construction paper, craft sticks (popsicle sticks), tissue paper, pompoms, Crayola glitter glue, paper plate, crayons, water color and Crayola Washable Paints, white school glue, and a glue stick. I’ve joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to help cover the costs of my site. So if you click on a product that I have on my site and buy something on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for support! I don’t ever recommend anything that I have not personally used and loved 🙂

Christmas, Winter

Christmas Wreath Craft

Jennifer
preschool Christmas wreath craft
Christmas Wreath Craft

My kiddo who was anti-coloring for so long, now wants to color! And all of the time, too. So we made this fun little Christmas wreath craft together that is perfect for kids of all ages. Toddlers can scribble to their hearts’ content; preschoolers can carefully choose their colors for each pictures; and older kiddos can add glitter and sequins.

Craft Supplies Needed:

  • white paper plate
  • Christmas pictures template (free PDF)
  • green paint — we used water colors
  • glue stick
  • scissors
  • ribbon
  • hole punch (optional)

How To:

1. Cut out the center of your paper plate to make your wreath.

2. Paint your wreath green. We used water color paints, but any green paint will work. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints, but we couldn’t find them in our messy craft cabinet (grrr), so we opted for water colors.

3. While your wreath is drying, print out the Christmas pictures template (free PDF) and color them.

4. Cut out your Christmas pictures. They were a little too complicated for my kiddo to cut out, so I did it. As you can see, I left a little bit of a white border around them.

5. Once your wreath is dry, arrange the pictures how you like them on your wreath and then glue them on.

6. Finish your preschool Christmas wreath craft by tying a ribbon on so that your kiddo can hang their project! I used a hole punch, but you can also just loop your ribbon through the wreath and hang it that way.

More Crafts

I love making crafts with my kiddo, and since Christmas crafts are just so cute, we’ve made quite a few together. Check out my Winter Crafts Page for more fun crafts that you and your little one can make together. We’ve traced cookie cutters and made paper cookies, decoupage Santa hats, fluffy candy canes, and more!

Christmas, Winter

Decoupage Santa Hat Craft

Jennifer
Decoupage Santa hat craft
Decoupage Santa Hat Craft

December is here and I am so excited to make Christmas crafts! My son and I each made a cute decoupage Santa hat craft together 🙂 We had previously made a decoupage Star of David for Hanukah, and had a lot of fun so we decided to decoupage again!

Supplies Needed:

-white glue

-red tissue paper

-3 craft sticks

-small cup

-paint brush

-water

-cotton balls or other decorations

-paper plate (to protect your surface)

How To:

First glue the craft sticks into a triangle shape. Let them dry.

In the small cup, mix a little bit of water with some white glue. Stir until it looks milky.

If your tissue paper is not already in small pieces, cut your tissue into 1-inch squares.

To protect your surface, make this craft on a paper plate. The red color will run once you start to paint the glue/water mixture onto the tissue!!!

Paint the glue/water mixture along the craft sticks. Lay your tissue onto the craft sticks. Begin to layer your tissue paper across the triangle, filling in the entire triangle. As you add a piece of tissue, paint your tissue with the glue/water mixture. It’s okay for the whole piece to be wet. It will dry. Don’t worry if your tissue paper hangs over the sides of the triangle because we will fold it over later. Once your entire triangle is covered in red tissue paper, brush some of the glue/water mixture along the tissue paper’s edges and corners.

Let your triangle dry.

Once your tissue is dry, flip your triangle over. Paint the glue/water mixture along the craft sticks. If any of your tissue paper from the front is sticking out, now is the time to fold it along the craft sticks before layering on more tissue paper. Now repeat the process of layering on tissue and brushing the glue along the edges and corners as you did previously.

Let your project dry completely before adding any decorations.

Once your Santa is dry, you get to add fun decorations. My son used 4 cotton balls to decorate his hat. He glued one to the top of the triangle and 3 cotton balls along the bottom of the triangle. His looked like a traditional Santa hat 🙂 I used a sparkly pompom and some silver sequins to decorate mine.

ORNAMENT: I think you could turn this into an ornament by taping a loop of red and white baker’s string along the back of your decoupage Santa hat craft.

Read Santa Stories to go along with your craft: check you library for my book recommendations.

More Crafts!

Christmas Cookie Cutter Coloring–use your cookie cutters as stencils and made paper cookies!

Paper Plate Peppermint Craft–make a peppermint out of a paper plate and use your little one’s handprints to be the wrapper.