Preschool Art Lesson Plans – CLAY

As a part of our Preschool Alphabet Learning Series at HappyandBlessedHome.com, we are creating with clay. Clay is a wonderful art material, perfect for teaching preschoolers about fine motor skills through the use of small objects.

Learning how to grasp small pinches of clay and work them using their fingertips, preschoolers are burning new pathways in their brains that will help them develop pincher skills that will help them with handwriting later on.

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In this post, I’m sharing: Preschool Art Lesson Plans – CLAY including an instructional video and links to valuable resources, plus tips on easy clean-up.

Preschool Art Lesson Plans – CLAY YouTube Video

Preschool Art Lesson Plans – CLAY What you Will Need:

Everything I am recommending here includes the items we use at home. Kid tested, momma approved. As mentioned in the video, the only other things you’ll need are: wax paper, a wet sponge, a spray bottle or bottle “shaker”, a bowl of shallow water, and a wet washcloth.

• I selected this air dry Crayola clay because it is soft without being too squishy. And it is so easy to use – it wipes up fairly easily too!
• If you’re looking for a hardy pottery wheel, you’ll love this Made by Me My Very Own Pottery Wheel. I allow the boys to start and stop the wheel on their own and so far, this wheel has held up to preschool play.
• I use a Pampered Chef rolling pin with my kids, but this wooden rolling pin is nearly identical and is perfect for rolling out clay or pay doh.
• Wilton has created my absolute favorite variety of cookie cutters. With over 100 pieces you’ll find everything you need to create cookies for every holiday of the year AND you’ll have cookie cutters to match the capital letters of the English alphabet.
• Tips for Easy Cleanup – keep wet washcloths on hand and a shallow bowl of water to clean up clay.

 

Preschool Art Lesson Plans – Directions for Learning with CLAY:

1. Layer – Lay out wax paper to cover the play table.
2. Allocate – Separate a lump of clay equal to about one cup of clay. Massage the clay between your hands and use the palms of your hands to flatten it. Lay it down on top of the wax paper. and place another piece of wax paper over it.
3. Flatten – Using the rolling pin, roll out the clay until it is about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch think. Pull off the top layer of wax paper.
4. Instruct – Teach your preschooler to start at the edge. By starting at the edge of the clay, they can cut more shapes from the same roll of clay.
5. Fine Motor – Feel free to add beads, pipe cleaners and other small objects to the clay to enhance fine motor skills. Our family loves to add googley eyes, and pieces of construction paper to make faces.
6. Alphabet – Use the cookie cutter letters to cut out the child’s name or short  three letter consanant-vowel-consanant words.
7. Craft – Allow the clay to air dry and paint it with acrylic or washable paints. These pieces can be kept as keepsakes to commemorate preschool crafts and fun.
8. Wrap-up – Clean up is easy using a wet sponge, a spray bottle or bottle “shaker”, a bowl of shallow water, and a wet washcloth.

Preschool at Home

If you enjoyed this preschool art lesson plan for learning with CLAY, you’l love my preschool learning curriculum. Sign up now and you’ll receive the Letter A unit study with video, printables and guide absolutely FREE. Just click here or the image below to sign up! FREE Letter A Unit Study

What is your favorite art activity?