Educational Developmental Preschool Activities
Reinforce Color, Shape and Size Recognition Skills with Collages
Crafting color, shape and size collages is a fun and educational tool for preschoolers.
Supplies Needed for Collage Activities:
- Magazines
- Kids' safety scissors
- Glue
- Construction paper
Color Collage
Create a colorful rainbow of collages to reinforce kids' color recognition skills. Preschoolers’ creative juices will flow as they search through magazines to find representations of their favorite color, cut out pictures and glue them to construction paper to create a unique collage of colors. Not only will creating a color collage help kids with color recognition skills, but the cutting process is a great way to work on hand-to-eye coordination, motor skills and scissor control.
Have kids flip through the pages of the magazine and identify blue objects or whatever single color the preschooler chooses. After a blue object or an object of his/her chosen color has been identified, have him/her cut it out. Once all of the pictures have been cut out, have kids glue them to a piece of construction paper. Hang the completed color collage on the wall or refrigerator so it can be looked at often, reinforcing color recognition skills.
Don't stop at one collage. Make a collage for every color of the rainbow, stapling each color collage together to construct a unique book of colors that preschoolers can read through over and over again to reinforce color recognition skills.
Shape Collage
Take preschoolers on an adventurous “hunt” for shapes. Use old magazines for the kids' hunting grounds. Preschoolers will get a kick out of identifying shapes (circles, squares, triangles and rectangles) in magazines, cutting them out and creating a collage masterpiece to proudly display on the wall or refrigerator. Not only will the shape collage activity help kids with object recognition, but the cutting process helps preschoolers to develop and tune fine motor skills.
Have preschoolers flip through the pages of the magazines and identify the four most common shapes: circle, square, rectangle and triangle. After kids identify a shape, have them cut it out. Younger children may need assistance with cutting. Once a few pictures of each shape have been cut out, have kids glue them to a piece of construction paper. Use a single sheet of construction paper for each shape group, and then staple the pages together to create a large poster that can be hung on the wall and looked at whenever the whim strikes to reinforce shape recognition skills.
Size Collage
One size doesn't fit all. Teach kids to recognize the difference between big, small, short and long by creating a size collage for each concept. Preschoolers will enjoy searching through magazines to find pictures that capture the essence of each principle, and crafting a small poster to represent each size. And the repeated cutting portion of the exercise will help preschoolers continue to hone their motor skills, preparing them for Kindergarten.
Instruct children to browse the pages of the magazines and cut out a variety of objects that are big, small, short and long. Once a handful of pictures have been identified for each concept, kids can create a collage that represents each size by gluing all the big pictures on one piece of paper, all the small pictures on another piece of paper, etc. Display each size collage by hanging it in a prominent spot in the home or classroom so that preschoolers can view the art projects often and continue to reinforce their size recognition skills.
Learning about colors, shapes and sizes is an important part of every preschooler's educational development. Crafting collages to denote each concept is a fun and effective way to reinforce kids' color and object recognition skills.
For more educational preschool activities, read Sensory Activities for Preschoolers on Suite 101.
Color Collage
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Shape Collage
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