Preschool Art Sessions

Success of your art session depends on you

Little kids enjoy the process more than the product. How does a teacher create a well thought environment for the kids to exercise their creativity?

Establish rules with your children concerning care and use of the preschool art projects materials.

Appropriate use of art supplies

Do not waste art supplies
Do not eat art supplies
Do not use paintbrushes to poke others
Do not use scissors to cut your hair
Do not push pencils...etc up your nose, ears...etc
Clean up immediately after spillage

Appropriate behaviour during preschool art sessions

Share the art supplies Pass the paints, glue...etc to someone who needs it after you
Wait for your turn to use the paints, brushes, glue...etc
Do not paint on walls, chairs or tables
Do not scratch the tables, chairs or walls
Do not criticize another's artwork

Yes, kids should be encouraged to help you to set up and organize the materials and supplies for your preschool art sessions, as well as clean up and put stuff away after the session. Every kid loves to be a little teacher helper.

Lay out art mats or newspapers to cover table tops
Distribute art aprons to all the children
Hand out paintbrushes, or glue, color pencils....etcPour paints into little containers
Prepare a bottle of water to wash the paintbrushes
Lay out some rags for cleaning spillage
Place a couple of garbage bins around

Here's what teachers should do before the art project sessions

Try out and familiarize yourself with the art supplies in advance so that you can assist the children in learning how to use it. There cannot be anything worse than a teacher who fumbles with the material and finds out that the supplies are wrong or not usable. Like dried up paints, rusty scissors, insufficient papers...etc

There should be ample supplies - though not too much - laid out in an orderly manner and within reach of the children.

Give clear instructions to the children helping in the preparation.


Don't stifle the child's creativity by presenting detailed steps to the end product. Allow the kids to express themselves with much flexibility.

Here's what kids can do after the art project sessions

Wash all used paintbrushes
Close all caps - markers, glue, paint bottles...etc
Return all art supplies to their appropriate boxes
Remove and hand aprons in the appropriate place
Discard unused scraps into garbage bins
Take the artwork to the dry area
Clean the table with a damp cloth, if necessary
Wash and dry hands

Here's how to organize kids during the art project sessions

If necessary, children could be divided into groups in order to have enough working space during the activity.

Allow plenty of time for art activities and avoid too many variety of art experiences in one project. Creativity takes time.

A place for finished products should be provided. For example, a drying rack for the paintings, wall for picture hangings, etc.

See Also:

Preschool Art Projects

Preschool Crafts

Preschool Activities

Preschool Cooking Activities

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