Art activities help kindergartners learn about the world around them. Exploring colors, textures, shapes, and contrasts opens their eyes to details big and small. Kindergarten art projects allow kids to work on their hand-eye coordination through cutting and tracing. They teach about primary colors and color mixing. More importantly, they encourage kids to be creative and embrace the creativity they see in others around them.
We partnered with one of our favorite art teachers on Instagram, Ms. D. (@art.party.with.ms.d), to bring you this incredible list of ideas. Her projects are inspired by a wide variety of artists, while also making connections to the time of year and what students are studying in other subjects. “Beautiful art + happy students + teaching about a wide range of artists will always be a winner for me!” she says. Visit this talented teacher’s page for more photos, details on the projects shown here, and even more ideas for primary art students!
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Art Portfolio Templates
This bundle contains art portfolio cover sheets for preschool to grade 5, as well as a template that works for any grade. The bundle also includes an art project planning sheet and an artist study worksheet.
Kindergarten Art Projects
Courtesy of @art.party.with.ms.d
Crazy Art Crowns
Ms. D notes that while she likes to start off each school year by covering art room rules and expectations, she also likes to get kids creating right off the bat. These paper crowns give students practice putting their names on projects and trying out some of the supplies. It’s an easy first-day art project for kindergartners.
Art fans will instantly recognize these fun cats by the contemporary street artist Chanoir. Students will love re-creating the bright colors and cheery expressions.
Harper’s paper collages often look as if they’ve jumped straight off the pages of a children’s picture book. Kindergartners will relate to it instantly as they put together their own Harper-style collages.
Start by sculpting simple owls from air-dry clay, decorating them with tempera paint. Then, use oil and chalk pastels to create the perfect nighttime background scene.
Kindergarten art students will recognize Robinson’s style from his illustrations of books like Last Stop on Market Street. Assembling their own Robinson-style collages will take some time and patience, but the results are so cool!
Ms. D does annual projects for #internationaldotday, like this one inspired by the work of Takashi Murakami. The circles are made of diffusing paper, with pen and ink flower designs over the top.
Don’t underestimate what kindergarten art students can do! These Chinese vase still life pieces start with a template, but students use guided drawing with markers, pastels, and watercolor pencils to create the rest.
Black American artist Gilliam’s Drape paintings “freed the canvas” as he displayed his painted fabrics without stretcher bars or frames. This kindergarten art project encourages young students to do the same with their own diffusing-paper creations.
Celebrate fall by reading How To Make Friends With a Ghost. Then, take inspiration from illustrator Rebecca Green’s charming pictures and have students create a stamped background for their own friendly little ghosts.
Here’s another wonderful project inspired by a picture book: Grandpa Green. Students sponge green and yellow paints to create the topiary look, then trace and cut out the animals from templates.
Need a quick Valentine’s Day project? Take a look at educator and artist Alma Thomas’ work, then have students make their own colorful heart paintings.
How adorable are these little hedgies? Students create them via a directed drawing session, focusing on the basic shapes and lines they need to bring their hedgehogs to life.
Take the stress out of sculpting by starting with a simple rolled clay slab. Kids add details with tools, then use paints and inks for color. Finish with some adorable pipe cleaner and pom-pom earmuffs!
If your kindergarten art students love The Leaf Thief (and who doesn’t?), they’ll get a kick out of creating these little guys using warm colors and stamping techniques.
To Marta Minujín, “Everything is art.” What an amazing thing to teach kids! These paper sculptures are a tribute to her unique soft sculptures, in eye-grabbing colors that will draw kids in.
Ms. D loves to use origami with her students, combining it with a variety of backgrounds for incredible displays. Here, the paper puppies pop against a scrap paper collage accented with circles made by stamping with empty toilet paper tubes.
These realistic paintings were part of a larger series about endangered animals. Each class focused on a different species, discovering more about it while learning techniques to capture its likeness on paper.
Ms. D tied these animal collages in with her kindergarten students’ unit on zoology. She also took inspiration from the book Becoming a Good Creature, choosing a few different animals for her students to re-create in multimedia projects.
Roy Lichtenstein’s style is instantly recognizable. This cool project introduces kids to his pop art style, encouraging them to think creatively about themselves and the world around them.
Here’s another self-portrait project, this one in the style of Christian Robinson (who also appears earlier on this list). It’s a bit more realistic but still leaves plenty of room for color and personalization.
Ms. D created these stiffened felt and wire bracelets with her students for Lunar New Year. But you could use them any time of the year, especially to tie in with a unit on reptiles or similar creatures.
Snowmen are great, but kids will be even more excited by snow dinosaurs! This project teaches kids the watercolor resist technique along with several others skills.
Cave’s “Soundsuits” series features wearable art pieces full of color and life. This unique kindergarten art project riffs on the concept, giving students a chance to create their own wearable masterpieces with paper and other materials.
Click the button below and fill out the form on this page to receive our free printable bundle with art portfolio cover sheets for every grade. Plus, you’ll get an art project planning sheet and an artist study worksheet.
