Have the children each decorate a page of a scrapbook. Write the child's name on his or her page. Tuck the book away until the end of the school year. Take pictures throughout the year and glue pictures of the children on their page. Give the children their pages at the end of the year.
Read "The Color Kittens" by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen. The book is about two kittens, Brush and Hush, who mix primary colors like red and blue to make secondary colors. Help guide the children through mixing colors to make new hues with tempera paint and craft paper. This is subtle way to teach children to look at the different colors around them, not only in the world, but in people too.
Ask the children to decorate shoe boxes with markers, glitter and other decorative items. The children will take these home, and with adult help, fill the box with five or six objects that are important to them or that represent who they are as people. They can share these objects at a show-and-tell.
Ask the children to draw a picture of themselves on a name-tag-size piece of paper. Provide markers and crayons for the children to use. Have an adult write the child's name on his or her tag and laminate the paper. Put a piece of double-sided tape on the tag and place the tag on the child's shirt.
Teach children "The Wheels On The Bus" song. Cut out templates of bright yellow school buses with black wheels and blue windows. Pass out circles of paper that are colored various skin hues to the children. Ask the children to draw faces on the circles and paste them on the windows of the bus.
Group projects can be a way to introduce shy students to the others. Give the children art smocks to cover their clothes. Spread large sheets of poster paper over a long table and provide tempera paint for the children. Ask the students to paint as a group.