If you’ve been hunting down some fun and creative ways to bring holiday cheer into your preschool classroom, then you’ve landed on the right page. We’ve carefully compiled five of our favorite holiday art activities that will encourage interactive, hands-on learning, spark imagination, and get everyone into the celebrations of the holiday season.

Each of these activities fits with our approach at Inspiring Minds Preschool. They are child-centric and tailored to help children develop in art, play, fine motor skills, cognitive and language skills, as well as to nurture the child as a whole. We are mindful of the fact that each child is unique, and their self-expression needs the opportunity to grow without pressure. Don’t forget to praise and celebrate when a child creates something awesome – this always boosts self-confidence!

1. Sparkly Holiday Cards

Gather all your festive decorating goodies. Think stickers, stamps, holiday shapes in different types of materials, glitter, glitter glue, sequins, markers, and anything else you can find or get. Make sure you have glue sticks and blank folded cards for each learner. Set up your sparkly holiday card stations for everyone, and encourage them to design a card to give to a family member or friend.

Through this activity, we aim to nurture the child’s social-emotional development as well as their creativity, and how to turn something they can imagine into something real. Consider sharing the concept of kindness and generosity with the children, too, as part of the holiday spirit.

2. Handprint Holiday Tree

For this activity, you want to make sure each child has red, green, brown, and white paint to dip their hand into and get a good, full print. Give each child a big piece of brown paper and lightly outline a Christmas tree onto each one.

Get them to dip their hands in the green paint and then make hand prints all over the inside of the holiday tree outline until it’s all covered up. Use the brown paint to make the tree stump. Add ornaments onto the trees using the red paint in dots, and sprinkle some glitter on the tree so it sparkles.

This activity is great for fine motor skills development and encourages self-expression. Remember to let each child know how awesome their work is when they’re done.

3. Shimmering Sun-catchers

To get started with your shimmering sun-catchers, gather laminating sheets, sequins, glitter (anything else you can find that shines and shimmers), colored tissue paper, and holiday-themed wrapping or craft paper. Cut the tissue paper and other paper types into small squares; you can also tear them to create some more texture. Get children to stick their choice of colors, textures, and decorative items onto their own sheet of the laminating paper.

Once everyone has finished, seal their masterpieces with another piece of laminating paper. Hang them up in the sunlight, and watch the colors and sparkles glitter in the sunlight.

We want to combine art and science with this activity, contributing to a STEAM educational and fun experience. Through creating these shimmering sun-catchers, preschool children learn about how colors mix and create new colors, as well as transparency, patterns, and textures.

4. Salt Dough Ornaments

This activity is a firm favorite in almost every household. We know some families love to do this each year with their kids, especially hand and foot prints as a reminder of how small they were over the years. It’s a beautiful keepsake and also makes a wonderful gift for family and friends.

Mix 1 cup of salt, 2 cups of flour, and 1 cup of water into a soft dough. Roll it out, and use a cookie cutter to cut out a special shape for each child’s ornament (make sure they are big enough if you are doing hands or feet!). Poke a small hole into the top and then make sure each child has one, and a hand or a foot ready to print. You can also do different things like writing their names or a special message instead of the prints; there are no limits.

When everyone is done, bake the ornaments in the oven at 250°F for 90 minutes; flip, then bake another 90 minutes. Once they’re hard and cool, you can sprinkle paint and glitter on them to decorate. Tie a ribbon through each one so they can easily hang on the Christmas tree.

This activity is great for sensory development and fine motor skills while boosting creativity and the patience that comes with a process. When they see their ornaments complete they have a great sense of achievement.

5. Snowman Window Collages

If you want to brighten up your preschool classroom over the months before the holiday season, then these snowman window collages are the way to go. We love a bright, colorful, and cheerful space, and it makes learning more fun too.

You’ll need to provide white tissue paper, pre-cut shapes for the usual snowman features such as eyes, buttons, scarves, and a carrot nose. Help each child assemble their snowmen directly onto a cut-out snowman-shaped piece of clear contact paper. Press on the white tissue paper in the body sections, and add on the other decorative features where it makes sense. Once everyone has covered up the contact sheets and made their snowmen come to life, hang them all up in the classroom to enjoy.

This one is amazing for hand-eye coordination, encouraging creativity and imagination. Once children are done with their creation, and it’s hanging up, it creates a sense of confidence as we all enjoy their version of the snowman. Self-expression is one of the best ways to encourage early learning.

Celebrate Holiday Creativity This Season At Our Tamarac Preschool!

At Inspiring Minds Preschool, we know that each child has a unique imagination and it deserves to shine, as unique as their fingerprints! Our intentional, holistic approach to early learning and child development sets us apart. We do everything we can to ensure our children learn, grow, feel safe and seen, and are able to express themselves in a warm and nurturing environment.

Find out more about how our preschool curriculum brings joy to each stage of growth and development, ultimately building a strong foundation and love for lifelong learning. Schedule a visit to our school or register your child today and see if we are the best fit for your family. Give us a call today at 954-933-2982.