Preschool Art Projects & Simple Crafts for Letter C

Even though you’re seeing this post at the start of spring, we created these projects in cold, cold January.  We’re talking single digits here — too cold to play outside! So all four of my kids had fun creating a giant set of preschool art projects and simple crafts for letter C.

Preschool Art Projects & Simple Crafts for Letter C

Cup Caterpillars

This is a great open-ended art project, as you can see by the very different pictures that each of my big kids created.  We used paint-rimmed cups to create the caterpillars and plastic forks dipped in paint for the grass.  The next day my two preschool boys and my first grade daughter had fun decorating their caterpillars.  We found this caterpillar project at one of the very best early childhood blogs: Teach Preschool.

C is for Car

This was a great way to use the scribbles that my One (almost two years old) loves to make.  I like having him draw on my lap on a paper plate because it keeps the lines from going on the table. We also used a piece of cardstock (which works well when I place it on newspaper).

He’s a big fan of toy cars, so this was a fun way to use artwork.  Older kids might enjoy painting the pieces.  You’ll also want to call attention to the “C” shape at the top of the car.  We found this C is for Car Craft at Projects for Preschoolers.

Cactus Creations 

I am in love with this prickly cactus art idea from Tippytoe Crafts! As my kids were creating them I knew this was going to be their favorite project of the bunch.  I drew the cactus outlines for my preschoolers. My daughter did her own.  The kids learned that you should color the sky all the way to the ground — although my Five decided not to.  (And I just noticed it says he’s four in the picture.  Whoops.)  You can see that we used plastic forks for the spines, and we added tissue paper saguaro blossoms.

The kids enjoyed looking at pictures of saguaros online — and I enjoyed sharing memories of these and other desert plants from my years of teaching in Arizona.

Clothespin Cotton Ball Painting

I couldn’t believe how long my kids were happy painting with cotton balls clipped to clothespins!  My husband snapped this picture of my One painting on my lap.  We had a counter full of wet pictures by the time I needed to clear the table for supper!  I saw this fun painting activity over at Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas.

Cardboard Comb Painting

My Five really got into this cardboard comb painting that I found at Learn with Play at Home.  We used finger paint on finger paint paper so that it would be easy to make lines.  Browse Learn with Play at Home’s arts and crafts posts for countless other open-ended activities.

Paint with Toy Cars

As you can see my almost-Two had a great time painting with cars.  I just put a big glop of paint in the center of his paper and let him get to work.  He’s my little vehicle lover, so I knew this would keep him busy for a long time.  He loves to put his head close to the floor and watch the tires move. You can see that he was fascinated by this project. 🙂

Marker Drawing with Toy Cars

The big kids enjoyed driving cars around their papers with a marker attached. (My One was distraught at markers being taped to his beloved cars and had a screaming fit the entire time we were doing this!)  I learned to tape the marker on at an angle so that it would be sure to touch the paper.

C is for Cookies

This was a very simple project that my Five enjoyed.  He drew a letter C on a paper, cut out brown circles with our large circle punch, and decorated them to look like chocolate chip cookies.  I saw this in a collection of Letter C activities at Frugal Fun 4 Boys.

Handprint Crab

This is one of my personal favorites which I saw at Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.   I helped my Three make two red handprints.  Another day he added googly eyes.  Since we were buried under snow (and below zero temperatures!), I did not venture to the sandbox for real sand.  Instead, we put glue on the picture and he dumped raw sugar on it.  You could also try yellow cornmeal.

Handprint Campfire

My Three dipped his hand in three different colors to make the fire.  Another day he cut out logs for the fire.  Then I broke a wooden skewer in half and we stuck a cotton ball on the end for a marshmallow.

Shape Clown

My Six saw this shape clown on my Letter C Pinterest board and wanted to make it.  (She was home from first grade because the schools were closed on account of the cold.)  I gave her no help at all, but with preschoolers you could pre-cut the shapes if needed.

Paper Plate Clown

Aren’t these adorable?  My Three and Five traced and cut out their hand prints, made paper hats and noses, and glued googly eyes and pipe cleaner mouths onto paper plates to make these cheery clowns.  The pipe cleaners were stubborn but finally stuck when I used my hot glue gun.  We were inspired by these clowns from Urban Moms.

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