Art & Craft
Art and craft activities encompasses drawing, painting, cutting, sticking, threading beads, making cards and lots of other things.
Art and craft gives children the opportunity to be creative, and gives them the freedom to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings.
These hands-on-activities can harness children's holistic development including:
- Strengthening the muscles in the fingers and hands
- Improving eye and hand coordination
- Learning language and new vocabulary
- Making friends, sharing materials and learning to take turns
- Gaining a sense of achievement which will give them confidence
- Feeling happy
Have a look at some of the art and craft activities below:
Making cards for festive or special occasions
Aim is to encourage children to be creative and harness learning and development.
Age: 2 - 5 years
Equipment/ materials:
Paint or crayons of different colours
paint brushes and paint tray,
construction paper,
coloured paper and feathers,
glitter,
safety scissors,
water,
apron,
paper towels for wiping hands and spillages,
plastic table mat.
Site: Indoors and on low table top
What to do:
- Lay the materials out on the table.
- Put apron on child and get them seated comfortably.
- Ask child what he/she wants to create.
- Support child by talking to them while making the cards.
- Ask questions and introduce new words during their experience.
- Give child space to collect their thoughts and to engage with other children.
- When finished, praise and show the child's work to the other children.
Making colourful musical shakers
Aim is to encourage children to be creative and harness learning and development.
Age: 2 - 5 years
Equipment/ materials:
Empty transparent plastic jars or water bottles with lids,
rice and lentils,
sparkling glitter,
food colouring,
2 shallow trays,
large spoon,
apron,
paper towels
What to do:
- Lay the materials on the table
- Put apron on child
- Support child to divide the rice into two trays
- Ask them to add red food colouring in one tray of rice and blue colour in the other tray
- Interact with child and encourage child to name the colours and describe the rice.
- Get them to use the spoon to mix the colouring
- Allow the coloured rice to dry
- In the mean time, get child to use a funnel to empty the lentils from a packet into the plastic jar
- Ask child to place the lid on tightly and then shake the jar
- Once the coloured rice has dried, ask child to use a ladle to pick up the rice and place in the plastic jar with the lentils.
- Close the lid tightly and shake the jar
- Encourage child to sing a few words whilst shaking the jar:
Shake, shake, shake
1,2,3
Shake, shake, shake
A,B,C
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