Preschool Arts Crafts

Preschool Arts Crafts

Between Valentine's Day and Easter there's a little day in mid-March when everyone dons green and acknowledges their inner Irish spirit: Saint Patrick's Day. With Saint Patrick's Day around the corner, here are some easy preschool crafts to help show a little Irish pride with leprechauns, shamrocks, and rainbows ending in the ever-ubiquitous pots of gold.

Little Leprechauns

How can children not love leprechauns? They serve as a mascot for the most sugary of cereals, they're comparable in size to the children themselves, and following them leads to fun things like rainbows and pots of shimmering gold. Since the leprechaun serves somewhat of an unofficial mascot of Saint Patrick's Day, try one of these easy preschool crafts to decorate the classroom.

This first craft is called "Leprechaun Children". Show the children pictures or images of leprechauns and have each draw or paint one of their own. After the picture has dried, cut out a thumbprint-sized photo of each child's face to glue onto the leprechaun. This craft can easily be converted into a magnet to hang on the fridge by laminating it with waxed paper.

The leprechaun hat is the central to the overall image of the leprechaun. A simple leprechaun hat can be made from paper plates and paper bowls. Cut a hole from the center of the paper plate just a bit smaller than the rim of the paper bowl. Attach the paper bowl to the hat with glue or staples, and have children paint and decorate their leprechaun hats.

Rock the Shamrock

Another image central to Saint Patrick's Day is the three-leaf clover or shamrock, since it serves as the official symbol of the republic of Ireland. The shamrock is generally said to bring good luck. While the shamrock doesn't lend itself quite as well to easy preschool crafts, since it's a pretty difficult shape to draw, there are a few ways of incorporating it into arts and crafts time.

Tape three soup cans together in a cluster and dip them in green paint for an excellent shamrock stamp. Just add the little tail with a stroke of paint and the children can make shamrocks to decorate with glitter or paint.

For another great shamrock craft, try this one where the children make fake stained glass shamrocks to hang in their windows. Using a stencil, have the children cut a simple shamrock out of contact paper or wax paper. To make the stained glass effect, place a piece of tissue paper on the contact paper. Use glue if using wax paper.

Everyone Loves Rainbows

Finally, the image of the rainbow features prominently in Saint Patrick's Day iconography. Here's a fun rainbow craft that turns out looking really cute and colorful. To begin, cut a cloud from white construction paper. Have the children glue strips of crepe paper in a variety of colors to the bottom of the cloud. If desired, they can add a pot of gold cut from construction paper to the bottom of the rainbow. Give these easy preschool crafts a try for a fun St Patrick's Day celebration.

Mary Robinson has been teaching preschool for well over a decade. You can get instant access to her preschool activities, crafts, and lesson plans by visiting her website:

http://www.preschoolwhiz.com

For a limited time, all visitors to Mary's site will also get a free copy of her special report: "The 7 Biggest Mistakes Preschool Teachers and Parents Make". Go get your free copy today!