AboutLaura Expertise I can give any ideas or suggestions need for children’s crafts. Anything from easy 5 minute crafts to weekend project crafts. I can also give you ideas about crafts for birthday parties and holiday. Not only can I answer children’s craft questions but also crafts that will engage the whole family.
Experience Working in Children Services for many years and running craft programs for children of all ages.
I am artist. I have been given an oppurtunity to do a 45 minute workshop with kids. Their age is 3-4 years.The idea is to do a sculptural project with them. I have done a few art projects but mostly with adults and youth. So this is my first time working with kids that young. I can only imagine but donot have a clear idea about what kind of art material can kids of that age handle. I dont know what is their attention span. What kind of art actvity do they enjoy participating in?
The kids will be doing a number of other actvities too that day. Do you think I should plan an activity which is relaxing or exciting?
What kind of things can I do to keep them interested?
Please feel free to give me any additonal suggestions that you think may help me, or any website or book references are welcome too.
Thank you very much for your time.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Puja
Answer Hi Puja!
Thanks for the question!
Sadly, I am very far from an artist, but I have taught several different classes for children of all ages, including art classes, so hopefully I can help!
First, I love the idea of a sculptural project, but as I’m sure you know, require a lot of work! Along with having very limited time, mess is a huge concern to consider. I will be the first to admit, having fun while making a mess is tons of fun, but if the children are doing several activities that day, minimal mess would be ideal! (For you and the children).
Another thing to take into place, is the attention span of children aged 3-4. A 45 minute time span is perfect for this age group but remember that the children need to stay stimulated that entire time! Even though you are doing an art workshop, having back pocket games/activities/songs are essential for this age group.
I have ran an art class with a clay theme before for children aged 3-5, and below is the program plan that I developed. Our theme was animals, but we worked mainly with clay.
• Welcome!!
• I used, premixed coloured clay, and gave the children several different colours
• There first project was to make their favourite animal out of clay
• Song break! http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/animal-rhymes.htm (for songs)
• While singing, our crafts were hardening, and after singing we went back to the table, and got the animals we made out again and added fun embellishments with glue (like sparkles, feathers, etc.)
Listed below are some additional website filled with FANTASTIC crafts for children! I would recommend having a theme, which will allow you to branch off slightly with time filler activities if needed. Trying to fill the extra time with more art is not necessarily the best of ideas because of mess, and children getting bored. (the first two are my personal favourite!)
