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Ideas for Pre-K & Preschool Teachers

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Painting Activities for Pre-K

By Karen Cox 8 Comments | Affiliate Disclosure

A collection of painting ideas for Pre-K and Preschool children.

Find more art ideas on the Art Resource Page

Books

A list of art books for Pre-K children: Books

Mixing Colors

Children chose one tempera paint color to mix with black and white paint to create dark and light hues.

More Ideas for Mixing Colors:
Mix the 8 basic colors with white.
Mix the primaries (red, blue, yellow) with each other.
Mix the primaries with white.
Mix the 8 basic colors with a little brown or black.
Mix a primary color with a secondary color.

Mixing Paint Colors

Tree Painting

Children paint a representation of a tree with tempera paint.

Tree Painting

Flower Painting

Children paint a representation of a flower with tempera paint.

Flower Painting

Gourd Painting

Children had real gourds to use as models for their painting. They first drew outlines and details of their gourds with black ink pens, and then painted them with tempera paint. We had a variety of hues of paint, and the children matched the hues of paint to the hues of color on the gourds. We used our thinnest paintbrushes.

painting with gourds as a model

Wax Resist

Children drew pictures with oil pastels and painted over the paper with liquid watercolor. The first picture has night animals washed over with black paint and the second picture has ocean animals washed over with blue-green paint.

Wax Resist

Salt Paint

Children mix the salt paint themselves, and the paint is used for open-ended art.
Salt Paint Recipe:
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Liquid starch
A few drops of tempera paint
Mix ingredients together.

Salt Paint

Marble Painting

Children place a piece of paper in a pie pan, dip a marble in paint and roll it around the pan.

Marble Paint

Painting Drums

Wrap a piece of art paper around a nut can or drink mix can for children to paint.

Make a Drum

Coffee Filters

Children dropped liquid watercolor onto coffee filters with medicine droppers.

Coffee Filter Paint

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8 Comments

About Karen Cox

Karen is the founder of PreKinders.com. She also works as a full-time Pre-K teacher in Georgia. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. elizabeth h. tompkins says

    February 7, 2014 at 8:29 am

    I really am so relieved to have found your web page. It seems to be difficult to find art projects that I like for my pre-k students. You have given so many ideas that I will use as a jumping off point for my classes. Please ley me know when/if you update with new ideas. šŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      February 10, 2014 at 9:12 pm

      Hi Elizabeth, You can sign up for my email newsletter to get updates! Sign up here: https://www.prekinders.com/subscribe/

      Reply
      • Geetha says

        August 29, 2014 at 11:36 am

        Superb ideas.Thank you so much for sharing your ideas.Eagerly waiting for your next updates

        Reply
  2. Sandra K. Smith says

    October 18, 2014 at 2:54 am

    Awesome pre- k ideas….I love their masterpieces! Cherish!

    Reply
  3. Mamaw says

    March 14, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    Your website is absolutely awesome! I worked in Kindergarten as an assistant for 11 of my 20yr career and am seriously impressed with your expertise! Keep u the great work. I am now retired and homeschooling my 3yr old grandson. I cant get enough ideas from you. Thank you for all your hard work. I certainly appreciate it.
    Mamaw

    Reply
  4. Leticia says

    March 8, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    I feel like giving you a Brazilian hug!
    Thank you for sharing so many wonderful ideas!

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      March 10, 2016 at 7:36 pm

      Thank you! *Hugs* to you, too!

      Reply
  5. Raising Creative Children says

    March 18, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    Seeing the gourds made me think of gourd rattles. Do you ever have children paint the gourds themselves? Might make for an interesting project to let them dry out and then paint them for an art + music activity!

    Reply

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Welcome!

Glad you're here! You'll find hands-on learning activities, themes, and printables for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten kids. I'm Karen Cox, a Pre-K teacher in Georgia. I have taught 4-5 year olds my entire teaching career! Read More…

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Welcome!
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Don't worry - we never sell or share email addresses!
Welcome!
Would you like to join my FREE weekly update newsletter? Join 85,000+ subscribers!
We collect, use, and process your data according to our Privacy Policy.
Don't worry - we never sell or share email addresses!