Preschool children like to color and paste. Print out a picture of a fox. Select a picture in which the fox’s tail is prominent. Talk to the preschool children about foxes, what they do, where they live and their colors. Provide crayons and let the children color the picture. You can also let the children use markers or paint to color in the picture. Cut out lengths of faux fur or fleece and let them glue the lengths onto the tails of the foxes in their pictures. Add a step by cutting out the tail in the picture and gluing the fur to the back of the paper so that it shows through the front of the picture.
Read stories to the preschool children about foxes. Ask the children to retell the stories with fox puppets inspired by the stories. Glue a fox face onto a paper plate, color and glue or tape a short dowel rod to the back so that the preschool child can hold the plate up. Use paper bags as puppets, adding the upper face of the fox above the fold of the unopened bag. Add the bottom of the jaw below the fold so that the children can stick their hands into the paper bag to make the fox puppets “talk.” Print out pictures or illustrations of foxes on cardstock for the children to cut out. Glue craft sticks to the back.
Show pictures of different foxes. Talk about what foxes are really like and the part they play in the cycle of life and environment. Ask the preschool children to draw a fox on a piece of paper. They can then color around the edges to make a frame. A variation on this is for the preschool children to draw their foxes and cut out fleece pieces to glue onto their drawing to give their foxes fur. The children can create a natural environment by cutting out trees and bushes and gluing them onto green construction paper. Once the habitat is prepared the children add their foxes.
Foxes are known for their lush tails. Let the children have fun creating a moving tail. Print out fox figures showing the side view and tail of a fox. If the figure wasn’t printed out on card stock, glue it onto a heavy-weight paper. Let the preschool children color the fox and cut it out. Cut the tail from the rest of the body. Punch holes onto the end of both the fox and the tail. Line up the holes and fasten together with a brad. The preschool children now have a fox with a movable tail. Instead of fastening together with brad, glue a 1-by-3 inch strip of cardboard to the end of the fox’s tail. Cut a 1 1/2-inch slit into the back end of the fox where the tail is supposed to go. Slip the cardboard strip into the slit. From the back of the fox, the preschool child can move the strip up and down to wriggle the fox’s tail. They can also take the tail out and put it back in the slit as the tail is not secured.