A common theme for preschool is the potty. One of the first projects to make with preschoolers is a potty chart to follow the child's progress while learning to use the potty. A simple piece of construction paper with a grid drawn can serve as a chart. When the child successfully uses the potty, he can put a sticker inside the corresponding box.
Another art project for the potty theme is to create a book that stars the child. Use heavy-weight paper bound to make a book, and write a sentence along the bottom of each page. Then, have the child draw or color a picture that depicts the sentence. The child will have a great keepsake even after he has mastered the potty.
Farm themes are popular with children because they love animals. Help the kids make a stage and finger puppets so they can act out farm life. Either make a barn shape from cardboard or cut the bottom off a shoebox and cover it inside and out with red paper or paint. Farm animal finger puppets can be made from felt and pipe cleaners. One way to improve fine motor skills is to dip animal-shaped cookie cutters into paint. Then, press the cookie cutters onto paper to make outlines. After the paint dries, the kids can color the animals, add tails of yarn or string and paste a paper or twig fence along the paper.
Construction equipment of any size is enough to hold a preschooler's attention. By adding a little bit of paint and construction paper to pint-sized construction equipment, you create tire art. Let the kids drive toy cars through the paint and onto the paper to see how the tires make different designs. Help your preschooler create an entire city just the right size for their toy cars. Show them how the dump truck would help the crane to construct buildings and roads. Print out coloring pages with construction-themed items for the kids to color. Let them cut out and glue the pictures to a sheet of construction paper. Now, add cotton balls as smoke, painted cotton balls to look like gravel or sand to make the picture stick out.
Preschoolers are just learning that everything grows, from people to plants. Help them learn by creating measuring flowers. Take a bit of green paper about two feet long and one inch wide. Next, help the kids attach paper plates to the wall, about one foot from the floor. Next, use the paper plate and tissue paper to make blooms, and place them at the top of the green strip to make a flower. Every month, measure the kids against their flowers to see how much they grow over time in the class. Teach kids how real flowers grow by letting kids decorate cups and plant a seed. Line them in a window and each day let the kids look to see if their flowers have sprouted.