This craft activity not only teaches children about volcanoes, it also promotes recognition of the sound the letter "V" makes. On paper, draw a large uppercase letter "V." Discuss the letter with children and ask them if they can identify the sound the letter makes. State the word "volcano" and ask children if they can hear the sound of the letter in the beginning of the word. To create a craft, instruct children to turn their letters upside-down, creating the look of a volcano. Provide children with crayons and encourage them to color in the letter "V" brown and to use red crayons to create the look of lave flowing out of it.
Use clay as a medium for creating volcanoes. Set out brown and red clay and encourage children to use the clay to form volcanoes. Show them how to roll the brown clay into snakes and then coil the snakes to create the look of a mountain. For lava, have children roll small pieces of red clay into snakes and then stick them onto their clay mountains. You can set the clay volcanoes in an oven to harden them, or just let them sit out in a sunny window.
Have your students use construction paper to create volcano crafts. Draw the shape of a triangle on brown construction paper for each student and instruct students to use safety scissors to cut the shapes out. Have them glue their triangles onto another piece of construction paper -- the triangle will serve as the mountain of the volcano. For lava, provide kids with red and orange tissue paper and encourage them to tear the paper into pieces and glue it to the top and along the front of their volcanoes.
Kids can create volcanoes with finger paint. Fill bowls with red, orange and brown finger paint and set them out. Provide students with pieces of art paper and encourage them to use the finger paint to create a painting of a volcano. Kids can create one large volcano, or perhaps a series of volcanoes. The aim of this craft is to have children use their imaginations to showcase their interpretations of volcanoes.