Free Art Preschool Lesson Plans
Having well-structured preschool art lesson plans makes creative activities more engaging and purposeful. With the right preschool lesson plans, teachers can design art experiences that support fine motor development, self-expression, and early problem-solving skills.
The right resources make it easier to provide meaningful, hands-on experiences for young learners. Check out these easy ideas for incorporating art into your preschool classroom, and dare I challenge you to do a complete art themed weekly preschool theme!
Do you have a budding artist in your midst? If your preschoolers are anything like mine, all they have to do is see fun art materials out on the table, and they are ready to dive right in!
Why not infuse that excitement and interest into a whole theme! An art theme for preschool is perfect any time of the year and can be extensive or as simple as you need it to be! Incorporate learning about famous artists, different art techniques, and/or process art.
We’ve also put together the ultimate guide to process art so you can help your preschoolers focus on oral language and art skills in a completely individual and unique way!
Art Activities for Preschoolers with Art Lesson Plans
Grab the whole bundle which includes over 46 different learn at home preschool lesson plan themes, all wrapped up in a convenient bundle!
Grab our Weekly Thematic Activity Plans
Engaging, hands-on themes that complement your math and literacy curriculum.
Preschool Activities for an Art Theme
We’ve chosen engaging art activities that cover academic areas and invite preschoolers to experiment with different mediums, read about art, and practice colors too! Children learn fine motor skills, build their attention span, and develop creativity with every piece of art.
Literacy Activities for an Art Preschool Theme
Tape Resist Art with Letters or Names – Staple a few pieces of black construction paper together to make a booklet. You want twice as many front to back pages in the booklet as the name of your preschooler. Draw out the letters of the child’s name on contact paper.
Be sure to draw out the letters in big blocks, on the paper side of the contact paper (so, not on the actual plastic sticky side). Next, cut the letters out and place them like giant stickers in the booklet. Invite your preschooler to paint, use oil pastels, or bright crayons to color over the page. Once the paint is dry, you can peel off the contact paper to show the letter resist!
Learn Colors with Elmer – Go to YouTube and read Elmer by David McKee. After reading, invite your preschooler to stamp their own Elmer using sponges cut into squares and dipped into colorful paint. Your preschooler will love making their own Elmer art!
Art Themed Children’s Books!
One of the best ways to teach preschoolers about any theme is by hand-selecting the highest quality picture books! This is a book list for our best-loved picture books for an art theme.
- Hardcover Book
- Vere, Ed (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Hardcover Book
- Manning, Mick (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- O’Connor, Jane (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 03/18/2002 (Publication Date) – Grosset & Dunlap (Publisher)
- Hardcover Book
- Hodge, Susie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- McClave, Amy (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 25 Pages – 08/19/2024 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
- Hardcover Book
- Steptoe, Javaka (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
Math and Science Activities for an Art Theme in Preschool
Shape Art – Grab some kraft paper or large construction paper and draw shapes all over. Invite your preschoolers to paint, color, or stamp the shapes to create their own unique shape art masterpieces.
Ice Cream Cone Fingerprint Counting – How many colorful flavors would you like? Draw cones on a piece of construction paper and invite your preschooler to add fingerprint ‘scoops’ on top and count how many fingerprints they made. Write that number on the cone. Use different colors for different flavors!
Oil and Water Science Art – Using liquid watercolor and vegetable oil, this art technique uses science to see how the two liquids resist each other and end up creating a marbling effect on paper!
Preschool Art Activities for Art Preschool Theme
Playdough Sculpting – Grab (or make) some playdough and practice making a 3D animal or object. Invite your preschooler to come up with an idea and work together to sculpt and create!
DIY Nature Crown – Head outside and find some natural art! Invite your preschooler to gather some favorite nature/art materials and add them to your nature crown. You can use liquid glue, contact paper, or the adult can use hot glue to add the items.
Doodle Art – Using wavy or straight lines, doodle all over a piece of paper. Make sure to cross over some lines to create shapes within the picture. Invite your preschooler to try and then color the different sections different colors! This process art activity leads to beautiful and unique art!
Social-Emotional Activities for an Art Preschool Theme
Mistakes Can Be Beautiful – Go to YouTube and read the story, Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg. Invite your preschooler to make predictions about each page and discuss how something that went “wrong” turned into something quite lovely. Share about a time when something didn’t go as planned in your own life. Was there a way to look at that event in a different way? Sometimes it’s all a matter of perspective.
Emotion Puppets – Create emotion puppets using craft foam, googly eyes, and popsicle sticks. After making different faces to model different emotions, hold up a popsicle puppet and ask your preschooler what emotion each puppet is feeling.
Can your preschooler make the same face to show the emotion? Grab a mirror and have fun making faces together to show each emotion – make sure to exaggerate each expression for even more fun! Read the story, The Emotions Book by Liz Fletcher and use your emotion puppets to find the various feelings in the story.
Fun Art Activities for Preschoolers
Balloon Painting – Inflate colored balloons (think rainbow) just enough for little hands to hold onto. Draw a rainbow on a piece of paper and put some rainbow colored paints on a plate. Dip the balloons in the paint and make rainbows!
Salty Rainbows – Using liquid watercolors and water droppers, your preschooler can create a colorful art project with an unusual medium – salt! Simply lay out the salt and squeeze the colored dye over top and watch the colors spread out.
String Art – With household supplies like a book, paper, string, and paint, you can create abstract and unique string art.
Online Activities for an Art Theme
Online Story – Go to YouTube and listen to the book, Maybe Makes an Artist by Carr Fullager. After reading, invite your preschooler to find their own ‘maybe’. Invite them to come up with a list of ‘maybe’ art ideas. No idea is a bad idea! Using any arts and craft materials they like, create an art session based on creativity and fun!
Primary Colors Song – Learn the three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue with this song and video and watch how mixing the primary colors make new colors!
We Call it Art Song – Get up and moving with this fun art song about kids painting and being creative!
Preschool Art Materials
Sometimes (not always), what turns a great preschool theme into an exceptional one is having some extra special materials specific to that theme. These are some of the __ toys and activity kits I like to use with my preschoolers.
- 100 LOOSE SHEETS OF PRACTICE WATERCOLOR PAPER – Don’t Settle for 20, 40 or even 60 Sheets. This…
- SPECIFICATIONS: Each Sheet is 9″x12″, 190 GSM White Color with a Hint of Blue/Grey Tint; Acid Free,…
- 4 TEXTURES FOR LITTLE PICASSOS — These paint texture tools feature grippy, plastic handles with 4…
- JUMBO SIZE = BETTER GRIP — At approximately 5.5″ long and with a tapered handle diameter of up to…
- Cooler Crafts – Broaden your creative palette with 330 exciting, colorful yards of masking tape….
- Bigger and Brighter – Worried about running out of tape before you’re finished? 990 feet of…
- Prevent spills and messes with these dual-lid multi-colored No Spill Paint Cups
- Pour paint in and snap on the outer air tight lid to keep paint fresh in between art sessions
- Vibrant And Bright – Our 12 basic colors paint sticks is washable, can be overlapped and mixed, with…
- Easy Drawing And Quick-drying – The solid paint sticks contain beeswax that makes glide as smooth as…
- 30 ASSORTED COLORS- this vibrantly colored mosaic square tissue set comes with 30 wide range of…
- PRE-CUT SQUARE TISSUE- each square tissue paper was pre-cut into 2inch*2inch/5.08cm*5.08cm. They are…
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I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.