Prepare the elements of the project before art time so preschoolers can get right to work on a polar bear collage. Draw and then tear a polar bear shape from white construction paper for each child. Tearing the shape takes more time than cutting, but provides a fuzzy effect. Assemble an array of white collage items. Choose cotton balls, sequins and bits of craft foam. Give each child a 9 by 12 inch sheet of blue construction paper, a white crayon and a glue stick. Let the children draw a snowy landscape with the crayon, and then glue the polar bear and collage items to the arctic scene. Give the children black crayons to draw eyes, a nose and mouth on the polar bear.
Show your preschool class how to make a polar bear picture from paper circles. Cut a 6 inch-diameter circle and three, 4 inch-diameter circles from white construction paper for each bear. Cut one nickel-sized black paper nose per-bear. Give each child a sheet of black, 9 by 12 inch construction paper and a glue stick. Pass scissors so children can cut two of the 4 inch circles in half. Ask the children to glue the large circle to the black paper as the body of the bear. Tell them to glue the small circle to the body as the head. Glue four half circles to the body as the front and hind legs. Attach the black polar bear nose to the face with glue and give each child two plastic wiggle eyes, available at craft stores. Glue the eyes above the nose.
Make an igloo from an egg carton, cotton and paint with four and five year-old preschoolers. Give each child the bottom of an egg carton and scissors. Ask them to cut the cups apart. An adult should use a hot glue gun to glue the egg-cups into a stack, resembling an igloo. Let the children paint the igloos white. When dry, use liquid glue to attach cotton ball "snow" to the structure. Make a polar bear head. Attach two white mini-pom-poms to one white jumbo size pom-pom with glue. Glue two small wiggle eyes and a black mini-pom-pom nose to the polar bear's face. Glue the pom-pom polar bear to the base of the igloo to appear as if it is peeking out of the igloo.
Create a polar bear puppet, just right for little hands. Give preschoolers a white foam drinking cup, white construction paper and glue. Pass scissors so the children can cut a circle for the polar bear's head. Turn the cups upside down on the paper and trace around the rim. Cut out the resulting circle. Glue the circle to the front of the overturned cup so it extends 1 inch from the top. Ask the children to cut polar bear legs from the scrap construction paper and glue them to the sides and bottom of the foam cup. Glue plastic wiggle eyes to the face. Glue a black, mini-pom-pom to the center of a cotton ball. Draw a mouth with a black marker below the black pom-pom. Attach the cotton ball "snout" under the eyes with glue.