Provide each student with a black and white picture of a frog clinging to the branch of tree. Instruct students to color the picture with finger paint. Use green, red, yellow and brown paints, but provide only one color at a time and assist preschoolers to wash their fingers in between colors. Use non-toxic, washable paint, as students are bound to make a mess.
Make a canopy tree with a toilet paper roll and piece of green construction. Fold an 8 1/2-by-11-inch piece of paper in half vertically (hot dog fold). Cut strips along the folded edge, leaving about 1 inch along the folded ledge; help students with this step, for safety reasons. Accordion-, or fan-, fold the paper and stick the folded end into the paper roll. Peel the layers apart, folding down to create a canopy or umbrella. This project symbolizes the canopy layer of trees in the rainforest.
Give students a coloring page with the image of a rainforest animal, such as a frog, toucan, leopard or python. Allow students to choose which animal they want to use for their project. Instruct the students to color the animal with crayons. Then, assist the students to cut the image out of the paper and glue to the end of a wooden stick, making a puppet.
Teach the layers of the rainforest with a craft activity that features the emergent, canopy, understory and the forest floor. Draw with a permanent marker a simple sketch of a rainforest with trees and brush of different layers. Provide the the students with crayons to color the picture. Explain that the floor is very dark, as little light penetrates to this part. Give the students stickers of insects, frogs, birds and other rainforest-dwelling species. Have them place the stickers to make the rainforest come to life.