Preschoolers are developing the abilities to exhibit self-regulatory behaviors such as expressing emotions in a socially appropriate way instead of throwing tantrums or acting out aggressively. Use a naughty or nice Santa project to help your students think about their own actions and behaviors toward others during the last year. While it's somewhat unrealistic to expect a 3-year-old to reflect on the previous 12 calendar months, you can ask the kids to remember recent behaviors over the last month or so. Set a project goal that each child remembers at least two naughty (such as hitting a classmate out of anger) and nice (such as sharing a toy with a friend) behaviors. Also add a few art-related goals such as using the materials in a safe manner, naming the colors used that the project uses, or exploring the artistic process with minimal adult assistance.
During this project your students will create their own naughty and nice Santas using a paper collage technique. The primary materials that you will need are different colors and weights of paper. Make the base Santa shapes for the kids to collage together out of poster board paper. The weight of this paper stock will keep a glue-covered project from bending and curving too much at the edges. Choose a red paper for the nice Santa's suit and a dark blue or similar shade for the naughty version. Cut two basketball-sized circles of each paper, one for the top of the body and the other for the bottom of each Santa. Cut a third circle, with one for each Santa, out of a peachy paper for the face. You will also need tissue paper for the Santas' hair and beards, construction paper triangle-shaped hats, markers, index cards and glue sticks.
The naughty or nice Santa art project is a two-step activity. The first part of the project is a brainstorming or thinking activity. Set aside 15 minutes for the kids to think about their naughty and nice behaviors, writing down each child's ideas on index cards. Have your assistant or another adult help you to expedite the process. The second part is the actual art making. Invite the children to glue the two like-colored circles together, stacking them vertically. The kids can add a layer of glue at the top of the first circle and the bottom of the second to link them up. Repeat for the other Santa color. Add a circle head -- with a triangle-shaped hat on top -- in the same way to both Santas. Show the precshoolers how to tear white tissue paper into child hand-sized pieces. After the kids tear the paper, they can crumple and glue it to Santa's head as a beard and hair. Use the markers to make faces. This entire process should take between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on how fast the kids work. Finish the craft by gluing the two naughty and nice behaviors to the respective Santas.
While it's acceptable to give the students some suggestions or starters when it comes to naughty and nice behavior ideas, avoiding putting words in their mouths. It's tempting for the young students to follow the leader and go along with what you or a classmate says. Try to remind each individual child -- in the case that they are struggling to come up with ideas -- about a time when they showed a good or not-so-good action. After the art making is over, display the Santas on a prominent wall for the parents to see during drop off and pick up.