Gather recyclable objects, such as paper towel tubes, egg cartons, milk cartons, plastic bottle caps, and yogurt cups. Give your preschooler a stiff piece of paper, and have him construct a cityscape by gluing the recyclables to the paper. Use markers to turn cardboard tubes into tall buildings, egg cartons into buses and cars, and plastic cups into people to live in the city. Have him recreate the city you live in, or create an entirely made-up city of his own design.
Pasta art projects are a classic for younger children. Gather all different types and shapes of dry pasta, such as bow ties, wheels, elbow macaroni and tubes. Provide your preschooler with an outline of a fun shape on a piece of paper, or have her draw her own. Give her a glue stick, and let her go to work filling in the shape with the pasta. Let her build the pasta up as much as she wants, creating a tactile work of art.
Modeling clay is an attractive art medium that preschoolers love to work with. Have preschoolers create animals, people and objects out of polymer clay, then follow directions on the packaging to bake the clay and make permanent sculptures. One art project idea is to ask your preschooler to make the wackiest animal he can think of, then give it a name and come up with a story about where it lives, what it eats and what it likes to do.
Painting and decorating rocks is a simple and creative 3-D art project for preschoolers. Go on a walk with your preschooler to gather rocks she'd like to decorate, and clean them up with water and soap at home. Give your preschooler paints, pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes and any other art supplies you have on hand to turn that rock into a piece of art. Preschoolers can make rock animals and people, or just decorate rocks with paint.