You know that moment when your preschooler looks up at you with those big eyes and says they’re bored? Then five minutes later, they’ve dumped every toy they own onto the living room floor and still can’t find anything interesting to do.
Preschoolers have endless energy and curiosity, but keeping them engaged takes creativity. They need activities that hold their attention, let them explore, and result in something they’re proud to show off. That’s where simple, hands-on crafts come in.
Good craft activities do way more than just kill time. They help little hands develop fine motor skills, teach kids to follow simple instructions, and give them confidence as they create something all their own. Plus, craft time gives you a peaceful moment while they focus on cutting, gluing, and decorating.
The best preschool crafts use materials you already have around the house and don’t require a degree in art education to pull off. Let’s look at ten craft ideas that actually work with the attention span and skill level of three to five year olds.
1. Paper Plate Animals That Come to Life
Paper plates are the ultimate preschool craft supply. Grab some paper plates, paint, construction paper, googly eyes, and glue. Let kids paint their plate whatever color matches the animal they want to make.
While the paint dries, cut out ears, noses, whiskers, and other features from construction paper. Once everything’s dry, kids glue on features and add googly eyes to bring their animal to life.
2. Handprint Art That Captures This Moment
Handprints are magical for preschoolers. They love seeing the shapes their own hands make and turning them into creatures or objects.
Set up with washable paint in a few colors, paper, and wet wipes for cleanup. Show kids how to press their painted hand firmly onto paper to make a clear print.
The basic handprint becomes the body, and everything else builds from there. Handprints turn into turkeys by adding a face to the thumb and colorful feathers around the fingers. Save these handprint crafts in a special folder or frame them. Years from now, those tiny handprints will make you tear up a little.
3. Collage Creations Using Whatever You Have
Collages teach kids about texture, color, and composition without requiring any particular artistic skill. Everything goes on the page, and it all works somehow.
Gather materials from around the house. Fabric scraps, old magazines, tissue paper, aluminum foil, cotton balls, buttons, yarn pieces, whatever you’ve got. Give kids glue sticks or white glue in bottles and a piece of cardboard or thick paper as their base.
Turn them loose to create whatever they imagine. Some kids go abstract with colors and textures. Others try making recognizable objects like houses or rainbows. Both approaches are perfect.
4. Painted Rock Garden Friends
Rock painting combines nature, art, and decoration into one satisfying project that kids can actually use afterward. Go on a rock hunting adventure first. Look for smooth, flat rocks about the size of a child’s palm. Wash and dry them completely before starting.
Set up with acrylic paint or poster paint in bright colors. Give each kid a rock and let them paint it however they want. Once the base coat dries, add details with markers or smaller brushes. Googly eyes glued on top bring characters to life.
5. Popsicle Stick Puppets for Imaginative Play
Popsicle stick puppets turn craft time into playtime. Kids make the puppets, then use them for storytelling and dramatic play.
Stock up on popsicle sticks, which you can buy in bulk for cheap. Add construction paper, markers, glue, and any decorative bits like yarn for hair or fabric scraps for clothes.
Kids draw and color characters on construction paper or cardstock. These might be people, animals, favorite story characters, or completely made up creatures. Cut out the characters and glue them onto popsicle sticks.
6. Nature Suncatchers That Bring the Outdoors In
Suncatchers turn ordinary windows into colorful displays while teaching kids to appreciate natural materials.
Take a nature walk to collect materials. Look for small flowers, interesting leaves, petals, and thin plant materials that will look beautiful with light shining through them. Cut clear contact paper into manageable squares or circles. Peel off the backing and lay it sticky side up on the table, taping corners down so it doesn’t move around. This part’s important because contact paper loves sticking to everything including itself.
Kids arrange their collected nature items on the sticky surface however they like. When they’re happy with their design, place another piece of contact paper on top, sticky sides together, sealing the natural materials inside.
Trim the edges and hang these in sunny windows. The light shining through creates beautiful shadows and highlights the colors and shapes of each leaf and flower.
7. Cardboard Tube Creatures From Recycling Bin
Empty toilet paper rolls and paper towel tubes are craft supply gold. Never throw these away when you have preschoolers around.
Paint tubes in bright colors as the base for different creatures. Green makes a caterpillar, orange works for a tiger, brown becomes a monkey. Multiple tubes stuck together become longer animals like snakes or trains.
While paint dries, cut out features from construction paper or foam sheets. Ears, tails, legs, wings, spots, stripes, whatever the creature needs. Pipe cleaners work great for antennae or curly tails. Add googly eyes because everything’s better with googly eyes.
8. Cotton Ball Clouds and Sheep
Cotton balls are perfect for preschool crafts because they’re soft, safe, and easy for small hands to work with.
For fluffy cloud pictures, kids draw or paint a simple sky scene on blue construction paper. Then they glue cotton balls onto the sky wherever clouds should go. Pulling cotton balls apart slightly makes them look more cloud-like and covers more area with less material.
Cotton ball sheep are another favorite. Draw or print a simple sheep body outline on paper. Kids glue cotton balls all over the body, leaving the head and legs clear.
9. Tissue Paper Art
This craft creates results that look way more impressive than the effort it takes.
Cut black construction paper or cardstock into frames with shapes cut out of the center. Simple shapes like hearts, stars, or geometric patterns work perfectly. You can do this prep work ahead of time.
Cut tissue paper into small pieces in various colors. Kids brush glue onto the back of the black frame, then stick tissue paper pieces across the open spaces, overlapping colors to create new shades where they meet.
10. Pasta Necklaces and Jewelry
Threading pasta onto string is a classic preschool activity that never gets old because kids love making jewelry they can actually wear.
Get dried pasta with holes through the middle. Rigatoni, penne, and ziti all work great. Dye some pasta ahead of time by mixing it in ziplock bags with rubbing alcohol and food coloring, then letting it dry on paper towels.
Give kids yarn or string with one end wrapped in tape to create a stiff end that’s easy to thread through pasta holes. Tie a piece of pasta to the other end so pieces don’t slip off while they work.
Kids choose pasta pieces and thread them onto their string in whatever pattern or random order appeals to them.
Keep It Simple and Fun
The best preschool crafts are the ones kids can mostly do themselves with just a bit of adult help. Set up materials, give basic instructions, then let their creativity take over. The messy, imperfect results are always the most precious.
Stock up on basic craft supplies and keep them accessible. Construction paper, glue sticks, child-safe scissors, markers, crayons, and paint cover most projects. Add recyclables like cardboard tubes and egg cartons. Collect natural items during walks outside.
Pick a craft that sounds fun and give it a try this week. Watch your preschooler’s face light up with pride when they show you what they made. That’s what craft time is really all about.
