According to the Education website, melting crayons "creates beautiful, vibrant pools of color that your preschooler will love mixing and swirling to create fun and fascinating designs." In hot weather, the crayons can be left in the sun to melt, but during the cooler months, bake crayons in the oven to melt them. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place a piece of matte board or cardboard on top of it. Then, place peeled crayons on the board, stacking them if desired. If the preschooler wishes, add rocks, shells and other items to the peeled crayons. Place the cookie sheet in the sun or in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until the crayons are melted. Allow the cookie sheet to cool, and then give the preschooler a craft stick to swirl the melted wax into a design. When the wax has hardened, display the design.
Use this hand art activity, featured on the Preschool Express website, to bring some springtime cheer into the preschool classroom. Pour yellow tempera paint into a small cake pan until there is a layer of paint approximately one quarter of an inch deep in the pan. Have a preschooler dip one hand in the paint and press a handprint onto a sheet of paper. Let children repeat the action, moving the paper and pressing their palms in the same places, but with their fingers facing different directions, until the shape of a flower with petals has been formed. Allow the yellow paint to dry and then let preschoolers paint the center of the flowers brown.
According to the Education website, "This sunny summer sky collage will help your child learn about artistic processes, develop an art vocabulary, refine fine motor abilities, and increase general knowledge about the seasons and weather." Take a preschooler outside and ask the child to observe the weather. Ask, "What do you see?" and follow up questions such as, "Are there clouds in the sky?" or "Is the sun out?" This helps the preschooler begin to observe the weather. Back inside, allow the child to choose materials for a collage that reflect the observations just made. Offer an array of colorful materials, such as felt pieces, construction paper, tissue paper, cotton balls and craft foam. Encourage the preschooler to use different shade and texture combinations. As explained on the Education website, "A plain blue sky does not have to look the same the whole way around; instead it can be bumpy from fabric, smooth from metallic paper, and soft from felt." Help the child cut or tear collage materials into smaller pieces and glue them to a sheet of paper.