Artist Studio, Art and Colors Preschool Activities, Crafts, Lessons, and Printables

Colors, and Artist Activities, Rhymes, Printables, and Art and Artist Book Suggestions

Children love painting, drawing, and exploring colors. There are lots of benefits to engaging kids with art. Art activities help develop basic motor skills as well as encourage creativity, exploration, and innovation. While the smaller kids can experience and learn about shapes and colors, older kids can learn about famous artists and discover their artistic talents. Art enables kids to use their imaginations and to express themselves.

Art and Artist Centers

Paint Shop
Transform a corner of your room into a "paint shop." Children become painters. Provide paint chips, paintbrushes, paint rollers, painting caps, and mixing sticks. Ask parents to bring in home décor magazines. Add old shirts with paint stains.

Artist Studio
Attach butcher paper on the wall. Provide paint, paper, glue, etc., and let children create a collage. 

Create an artist corner with an easel and a paint palette.

Art Museum
Display different size frames on the wall. Let children create paintings on the easel and display in the frames. Every day look at the pictures together with children and let them talk about their artwork.

Sculpures
Provide paper rolls, Styrofoam cups, card stock paper, rubber bands, old CDs, play dough, sticks, glue, tape, etc. Let children use the items to create sculptures. 

Art and Artists Learning Centers

Paint Color Matching
Choose 11 pairs of paint color swatches (red, yellow, green, blue, orange, purple, brown, black, white, pink, gray). Make paintbrushes by gluing one swatch of each pair on a craft stick. Let children match the paintbrush to the matching color swatch.

Color Hunt
Let children choose a color swatch paintbrush and let them find an item with the same color. 

Paint Swatch Bookmarks
Let children choose a paint swatch. Invite children to draw on the swatch with Shapie markers. Use a hole punch to make a hole to one end of the paint swatch and tie a ribbon.

Color Matching Activity (Printables and activity available inside our KidsSoup Resource Library) 

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

I Love Colors!
Original Author Unknown

I love colors, yes I do!
Red and orange and green and blue!
I love colors, dark or bright,
Yellow, purple, black, and white!
I love colors, yes I do!
I love colors, how about you?

If Your Clothes Have Any Red 
(Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It)

If your clothes have any red, let me see
If your clothes have any red, let me see
If your clothes have any red,
put your finger on your head,
If your clothes have any red, let me see.

If your clothes have any blue, any blue
If your clothes have any blue, any blue
If your clothes have any blue,
put your hand on your shoe.
If your clothes have any blue, any blue

Additional verses:
If your clothes have any green, wave your hand so you are seen.
If your clothes have any yellow, smile like a happy fellow.
If your clothes have any brown, turn your smile into a frown.
If your clothes have any black,put your hands behind your back.
If your clothes have any pink, with your eyes give me a wink.
If your clothes have any orange, make a circle like an orange.
If your clothers have any purple, whisper the word purple.

Frame Pattern Coloring Page	My Artwork Draw and Color	Artist Color by Letter	Our Pinteret Board Time for Art

Mouse Paint Activities

Read the book Mouse Paint where three white mice get into mischief when they discover some paint -- red, blue, and yellow. Use this book as springboard for many color-related activities for your preschool and kindergarten children -- science, art, and felt board stories.

Mouse Paint Felt Board Story and Printables (Activity, printables, and patterns available inside our KidsSoup Resource Library.) 

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

Rainbow Colors Activities

Learning about the rainbow is a great opportunity to learn about colors.

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

Art Activities

20 open-ended art projects Open-ended projects are important because the most important part of experiencing art for a young child is the process, not the result. For toddlers, choose activities or projects that are short, but allow enough time for them to explore at their own pace.

1. Paint with nontraditional painting tools such as spoons, forks, spatulas, etc.
2. Reuse bubble wrap. Paint on it and make prints.
3. Outdoor painting: Paint with water or chalk paint. Provide paint rollers for some extra fun.
4. Finger paint. Children love to use their fingers to paint.
5. Paint something big: Create your own canvas.
6. Baggy painting. Try no mess baggy painting.
7. Roll things! Make paintings by rolling balls over a piece of paper.
8. Toy car painting. Use toy cars to print car tracks on a piece of paper.
9. Use your hands and fingers to make handprint art.
10. Blow paint with straws!
11. Use Q-tips as a painting and stamping tool. 
12. Kids love to squirt things! Try using a turkey baster and an eye dropper to drop liquid colors on to tissue paper. Great for fine motor skills.
13. Use a salad spinner and a paper plate to make spin art
14. Paint with frozen ice-cubes!
15. Colors in the snow: Purchase small spray bottles. Fill with water and paint. Go outside and have children spray on the snow.
16. Fruit and vegetable printing
17. Print with balloons.
18. Paint and stamp with pom-poms: Clip pom-poms on clothespins.
19. Shaving cream paintings: Mix shaving cream with blobs of colors and use Q-tips or craft sticks to create marbled artworks.

Art Picture Books

Art	The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse	A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin	Beautiful Oops!
The Dot (Irma S and James H Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature (Awards))	Frida Kahlo: The Artist who Painted Herself (Smart About Art)	I Am an Artist	Mouse Paint
White Rabbit's Color Book	Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars (Smart About Art)	Come Look With Me: Animals in Art	My Name Is Georgia: A Portrait by Jeanette Winter