Encourage children to make portraits of themselves. Set out paper, crayons, markers, different colors of yarn, glue and mirrors. Instruct children to look in the mirrors and to use the given materials to draw pictures of themselves. Prompt them to select a color of yarn that matches their hair to glue onto their pictures and to use a crayon or marker that matches their eye color when drawing their eyes. Through this activity, children are able to explore their facial features and create their own representations of what they see in the mirror. When they've finished creating their portraits, have them share their artwork with one another.
Provide children with a variety of different materials to use as paintbrushes. Items to consider using include pine branches, yarn, toothbrushes, cotton balls, foam pacing peanuts and toothpicks. Fill bowls with different colors of paint and set out pieces of paper. Encourage children to dip the items into the paint and to use them to paint pictures. While painting, discuss the effects that the different materials make.
Children explore their hand- and footprints with this art activity. Instruct children to trace their hands and feet onto paper, or have them press their hands and feet into finger paint and press the prints onto paper. Encourage them to use their imaginations to turn the prints into different things; they may cut out the prints and glue them onto pieces of paper, glue different materials to the prints and use markers, crayons and colored pencils to decorate their prints.
Have children use their creativity to make collages. Provide students with magazines, store circulars, pieces of different colored construction paper and crepe paper, beads, craft foam, pieces of fabric and any other material you can think of that can be used to create collages. Invite kids to glue the materials onto paper to create different types of pictures. They may make collages of random items or use the materials to make specific images, such as flowers or house; the choice is theirs. Allow them to share and explain the collages they have made.