Add materials to tempera paint, such as coffee grounds, baking soda, oatmeal, salt, sand and ground spices, for a variety of interesting textures. Add the items to the paints before the children arrive. Mix them into various colors. Have the children paint a rainbow with their fingers; each color will have a different texture. Ask the preschoolers what each paint feels like.
Bring a selection of textured materials for the class to paint on. Give each child a small piece of each material, such as burlap, velour, cotton, aluminum foil and polyester. Have the preschoolers use finger paint to draw letters and pictures on the materials. Not all of the fabrics will absorb the paint, and some will absorb it unevenly. Ask the children how the fabrics felt, which they liked and which they did not like.
Create a cloudlike fluffy paint for the preschool class. Combine 2 parts school glue, 1 part tempera paint and 2 parts shaving cream in a cup. Mix them with a paintbrush. Give each child three or four colors of fluffy paint and a paintbrush for each color. Have the children create with the paint as they would regular paint. The paint will dry in a fluffy way and produce a textured painting.
A glue painting is a two-day sensory art activity. Children squeeze white school glue onto a piece of construction paper in a design. The designs need to be swirly and linear rather than large spots of glue. Let the glue dry overnight. The next day, return the papers to the children. Give each child a palette of watercolors or tempera paint and have them paint across the raised designs. Ask them to observe how the paint accentuates the texture of the glue.