Our Curriculum › Art › Pre-K
Art Pre-K
A year of hands-on art for four-year-olds, led by a parent: color play, mark-making, painting, playdough and collage, looking closely at pictures, pretend play, and a small art show at home.
180 lessons
One a day for a school year
7 units
Each opens to its lessons
1 home art show
Plus a month of color play
Standards
National Core Arts Standards (visual arts)
What's taught, unit by unit
A month of colorDays 1–30
Finding, naming and sorting colors around the house and outdoors, and mixing red, yellow and blue into orange, green and purple with jars of water, sensory bags and ice cubes. Also simple big/small and same/different games.
- 1 · Meet the Colors: A Toy Color Hunt
- 2 · Red Day: Everything Red We Can Find
- 3 · Blue Day: Sky, Water, and Blueberries
- 4 · Yellow Day: Sunshine and Bananas
- 5 · Colored Water Jars: Red and Yellow Meet
- 6 · Orange Day: The Color Red and Yellow Made
- 7 · Green Day: Grass, Leaves, and Frogs
- 8 · Blue + Yellow Sensory Bag: Making Green
- 9 · Purple Day: Grapes, Plums, and Twilight Sky
- 10 · Red + Blue Ice Cubes: Watching Purple Melt In
- 11 · Rainbow Sorting Basket
- 12 · Big and Small: Sorting Colored Pom-Poms
- 13 · Same or Different? A Color Picture Game
- 14 · Colored Rice Sensory Bin
- 15 · I Spy Something... Colorful!
- 16 · Black and White: The Colors That Aren't Colors (Sort Of)
- 17 · Pink and Brown: Two More Colors to Know
- 18 · Full Rainbow Water Jars
- 19 · Color Sorting Race
- 20 · Nature Color Walk
- 21 · Color Memory Game
- 22 · Colorful Snack Sorting
- 23 · Layered Color Sand Jar
- 24 · Which One Doesn't Belong? A Color Odd-One-Out Game
- 25 · Colorful Bubble Wrap Popping by Color
- 26 · Colors in Our Clothes: A Laundry Sort
- 27 · Rainbow Free-Scribble Day
- 28 · Color Guessing Bag
- 29 · Color Hunt Around the Neighborhood
- 30 · Color Celebration: Our Favorite Color Memories
Making marksDays 31–60
Scribbling and line-following with chunky crayons, markers, sidewalk chalk and a soft pencil, on paper, cardboard, foil, fabric and the wall. Hand-strength warm-ups and telling a grown-up about the scribble.
- 31 · Meet the Big Fat Crayons
- 32 · Follow the Wavy Road
- 33 · Chunky Marker Discovery
- 34 · Sidewalk Chalk Adventure
- 35 · Tell Me About Your Scribble
- 36 · Finger Trails in Shaving Cream
- 37 · Cardboard Canvas
- 38 · Squeeze, Pinch, Draw
- 39 · Drawing on the Wall Roll
- 40 · Foil Scribble Shimmer
- 41 · Draw Something That Makes You Happy
- 42 · Small Chalk, Big Sidewalk
- 43 · Finger Paths in the Sand Tray
- 44 · Big Circles, Big Lines
- 45 · Marker Free-Dot Play
- 46 · Drawing on Bumpy Fabric
- 47 · The Scribble Story
- 48 · Follow My Chalk Line Outside
- 49 · Crayon Rubbings on Bumpy Things
- 50 · Easel Standing Time
- 51 · Squeeze Big, Draw Big
- 52 · Soft Pencil First Try
- 53 · Free Scribble Friday
- 54 · Following the Leader Line
- 55 · Chalk Walk: Draw What You See
- 56 · Shaving Cream to Paper Copy
- 57 · Cardboard Box Mural
- 58 · Tell a Longer Story With Your Marks
- 59 · Chalk Pinch Practice
- 60 · Our Month of Marks: Favorite Tool Day
Exploring paintDays 61–90
Finger painting, then brushes and sponges, stamping with bubble wrap, apples and potatoes, painting on rocks, foil and fabric, textured paint with sand or salt, and water painting. Ends with a look back.
- 61 · Welcome to Paint Exploration: Finger Painting on Paper
- 62 · Whole-Hand Painting on a Tray
- 63 · No-Mess Painting in a Zip-Top Bag
- 64 · Meet Your Big Chunky Paintbrush
- 65 · Brush Dabbing: Making Dots and Blobs
- 66 · Brush Swiping: Long Lines and Big Swoops
- 67 · Two Hands, Two Brushes
- 68 · Sponge Painting with Kitchen Sponges
- 69 · Stamping with Bubble Wrap
- 70 · Apple Stamp Painting
- 71 · Potato Stamp Painting
- 72 · Toy Car Tire-Track Painting
- 73 · Leaf and Nature Stamping
- 74 · Painting on Cardboard
- 75 · Painting on Aluminum Foil
- 76 · Painting on Fabric Scraps
- 77 · Painting on Smooth Rocks
- 78 · Sandy Paint: Adding Texture
- 79 · Salty Paint: A Sparkly Surprise
- 80 · Rice Paint: Bumpy and Textured
- 81 · Water Painting on the Sidewalk
- 82 · Water Painting on a Chalkboard
- 83 · Ice Cube Painting: Watching Color Melt
- 84 · Paint to Music: Moving While We Paint
- 85 · Autumn Leaves and Falling-Color Painting
- 86 · Free Choice Painting Day
- 87 · Mixing Tools: Sponge and Brush Together
- 88 · Big Paper, Big Body Movements
- 89 · Our Favorite Textures: A Painting Review
- 90 · Celebrating Our Painting Journey
Squishing, tearing and buildingDays 91–120
Playdough (including making it), cutting with child scissors, torn-paper and shape collage, nature and pasta pictures, block and box building, kinetic sand, and a recycled-materials robot.
- 91 · Sculpting Hello: First Squishes with Playdough
- 92 · Pinch, Poke, Press: Playdough Texture Exploration
- 93 · Make-Your-Own Playdough Day
- 94 · Rolling Pins and Cookie Cutters: Tool Time with Dough
- 95 · Snip and Slice: Cutting Playdough with a Plastic Knife
- 96 · Tear It Up: Paper Tearing for Little Hands
- 97 · Torn-Paper Collage: Gluing Our Torn Pieces
- 98 · Shape Collage: Gluing Pre-Cut Shapes onto a Background
- 99 · Nature Collage: Gluing Leaves and Petals
- 100 · Cotton Ball Clouds: A Soft and Fluffy Collage
- 101 · Pasta Picture: Gluing Pasta Shapes
- 102 · Building Blocks Become Art: Our First Block Sculpture
- 103 · Pattern Play: Arranging Found Objects into a Picture
- 104 · Box Town: Building a Structure from Boxes and Tubes
- 105 · Fringe Fun: Snipping Paper Edges with Child Scissors
- 106 · Dig In: First Kinetic Sand Sculpting
- 107 · Molds and Scoops: Kinetic Sand Tool Play
- 108 · Tube Towers: Building with Cardboard Tubes
- 109 · Combine and Create: Playdough Meets Natural Materials
- 110 · Snip and Stick: Cutting Fringe and Gluing It Down
- 111 · Snake, Ball, Snail: Shaping a Simple Playdough Creature
- 112 · Press and Print: Texture Rubbings in Playdough
- 113 · Pom-Pom Pile-Up: A Textured 3D Collage
- 114 · Tallest Tower Challenge: Building as Art
- 115 · Mosaic Moment: A Torn-Paper Mosaic Picture
- 116 · Cookie Cutter Creatures: Shaping Dough with Tools
- 117 · Treasure Walk: Collecting Nature for a Sculpture
- 118 · Nature Sculpture: Building with What We Found
- 119 · Robot Friend: A Recycled-Materials Assemblage
- 120 · Our Sculpture Museum: A Month of 3D Art Together
Looking closelyDays 121–150
Slow looking at a Monet bridge painting (revisited several times), family photos, storybook pictures and nature. Shape hunts for circles, squares, rectangles and triangles, plus big/small and spot-the-difference games.
- 121 · Looking Closely at a Real Painting
- 122 · Circle Hunt Around the House
- 123 · What Do You See in This Photo?
- 124 · Squares and Rectangles All Around
- 125 · Same or Different? Two Toys Side by Side
- 126 · A Closer Look at Storybook Pictures
- 127 · Triangle Treasure Hunt
- 128 · Big and Small, Side by Side
- 129 · Back to the Bridge: What Colors Do You Notice?
- 130 · A Shape Walk Outside
- 131 · Looking at Nature Up Close
- 132 · Sort the Shapes Game
- 133 · What's Happening in This Picture?
- 134 · Shapes Hiding in Your Toy Box
- 135 · The Bridge Painting: How Does the Water Feel?
- 136 · Spot the Difference, Pre-K Style
- 137 · Circle and Square Double Hunt
- 138 · Looking at Faces in a Family Photo
- 139 · Shape Sorting Basket
- 140 · Telling the Story of a Picture
- 141 · Rectangle Round-Up
- 142 · Which One Is Bigger? A Picture Game
- 143 · One More Look at the Bridge
- 144 · An Outdoor Shape Scavenger Hunt
- 145 · Looking Closely at Animals in a Picture
- 146 · Match the Shape to the Object
- 147 · A Close Look at a Book Cover
- 148 · The Great Four-Shape Challenge
- 149 · Saying Goodbye to the Bridge Painting
- 150 · Looking and Noticing: A Celebration Day
Dress-up, puppets and pretend playDays 151–170
Costumes, sock and paper-bag puppets and a family puppet show, then drawing a story in pictures. Pretend restaurant, post office and zoo, each with a drawn menu, stamps, letter or tickets.
- 151 · The Dress-Up Box: Becoming Someone New
- 152 · What Should Our Character Wear? Costume Planning
- 153 · Draw Your Costume Before You Wear It
- 154 · Sock Puppet Friend
- 155 · Give Your Puppet a Name and a Voice
- 156 · Paper Bag Puppet Pal
- 157 · Puppet Show Rehearsal: What Will Happen?
- 158 · Puppet Show for Family
- 159 · Draw Your Puppet's Portrait
- 160 · Tell Me About Your Drawing
- 161 · A Story in Three Pictures
- 162 · Welcome to Our Pretend Restaurant
- 163 · Draw Your Restaurant Menu
- 164 · Today's Special: A Sign for the Restaurant
- 165 · Welcome to Our Pretend Post Office
- 166 · Draw Some Stamps
- 167 · A Letter for Someone You Love
- 168 · Welcome to Our Pretend Zoo
- 169 · Draw the Animals at Your Zoo
- 170 · Zoo Tickets and a Grand Opening
The year's art showDays 171–180
Choosing a favorite piece, framing it, practicing how to talk about it, making invitations, setting up a home gallery and holding the show, then a thank-you picture and a closing celebration.
- 171 · Choosing Your Favorite Piece From the Year
- 172 · Making a Simple Frame for Your Favorite Picture
- 173 · A Gift From the Heart
- 174 · Practice Telling the Story of Your Art
- 175 · Art Show Invitations for Family
- 176 · Setting Up Your Art Gallery at Home
- 177 · Art Show Day! Sharing Your Work With Family
- 178 · Painting or Playdough? Looking Back at Favorite Activities
- 179 · A Thank-You Picture for Someone Who Helped You Make Art This Year
- 180 · Goodbye, Art Pre-K! A Celebration of Your Whole Year
By the end of the year, your child can
- Name common colors and mix red, yellow and blue to make new ones
- Make marks with crayons, chalk, markers and paint, using fingers and tools
- Squish, roll, pinch and cut playdough and paper, and glue pieces into a collage
- Spot circles, squares, rectangles and triangles in everyday things
- Say what they notice in a picture and tell a short story about their own drawing