These activities introduce preschoolers to the traditions of the holiday in an interesting manner. An activity during Christmas would be to have preschoolers help decorate another child as a Christmas tree. Divide your preschoolers into two groups. Give them tinsel, garland and other decorations. Each team has to choose one team mate as the tree and decorate him creatively. Provide a time limit of 5 or 10 minutes for the activity. The best decorated tree wins the prize. This activity exposes preschoolers to the concept of team work.
There are a variety of innovative methods to introduce preschoolers to art like blob art and eyedropper painting. Take tempera paints of different colors to work with. For blob art, ask the preschoolers to drop blobs of paint with a spoon on paper. Then get them to fold the paper and roll the rolling pin over it. This will produce interesting designs. For eyedropper painting, ask preschoolers make pictures on paper with paint drops using an eyedropper. Art activities are an ideal way to help preschoolers unleash their creativity. Research on early childhood programs in Reggio Emilia, Italy, suggests that children can express themselves artistically at a very early age.
Craft activities like making collages, cutting and sculpting help preschoolers develop their fine motor skills. Such activities are great fun too. You can help your preschooler make a cookie cutter birthday card. Ask the child to trace the cookie cutter shapes (heart or any other shape) on a folded paper. Let her then decorate the card with crayons and by gluing scraps of fabric, lace and glitter on it. Another activity is making a round bear. Cut out circles of different shapes in construction paper. Let your child glue the circles together on paper to make a bear. She can draw extra details like the eyes and nose.
Outdoor activities for preschoolers help their physical development. You could go on a nature walk with your preschooler. Encourage her to notice different trees, birds and bugs. Let her bring a pencil and book to draw what she observes. Such an activity enables the child to appreciate nature and also gives you an opportunity to bond with her.