Helpful Tips for Parents

• Stock a craft supplies box that children can access independently: paper, tape, glue sticks, scissors, crayons. Open-ended materials produce the most creative work.

• Fine motor skills developed through crafts directly support handwriting readiness. Scissors, glue, tearing, folding, and painting all build the hand strength writing requires.

• Process over product: the developmental value is in the making, not the thing made. Resist the urge to fix, redo, or "help" make it look better.

• Introduce new materials one at a time. A child overwhelmed by too many options often does less exploring than one given a single new material to investigate thoroughly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What craft supplies should every preschooler household have?

The essential preschool craft supply kit: washable crayons and markers, child-safe scissors, a glue stick (plus liquid glue for older preschoolers), white and colored construction paper, tape (painter's tape and clear tape), watercolor paints and brushes, playdough (homemade or store-bought), and a smock or dedicated art shirt. With just these supplies, hundreds of craft projects are possible. Secondary additions: natural materials (leaves, sticks, pinecones), recycled materials (toilet rolls, egg cartons, cardboard boxes), and foam sheets.

Related reading: See also our painting ideas and our salt dough projects for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 📐 Spatial Reasoning — Three-dimensional crafts — paper folding, cardboard construction, clay sculpting — develop the spatial intelligence children need for geometry, engineering, and understanding how physical objects relate in space.
• 💬 Vocabulary Expansion — Craft activities introduce rich domain-specific vocabulary: fold, crease, overlap, layer, press, symmetrical, transparent. Children who acquire craft vocabulary develop stronger descriptive language across all contexts.
• 🧠 Pre-Writing Skills — Drawing, tracing, and mark-making with a variety of tools develops the grip strength, pencil control, and visual-motor precision that handwriting requires — making craft time genuine writing preparation.
• 🖐️ Fine Motor Skills — Cutting, gluing, folding, and manipulating craft materials directly exercises the small hand muscles and finger precision required for handwriting and other fine-detail tasks.

Preschool Snowy Stocking Cap

The Preschool Snowy Stocking Cap is a just-for-fun stocking cap your preschooler will love to wear. Felt snowflakes, white marabou, and special snow-like glitter make this craft fun and easy. Your preschooler will want to dress for cold weather with his/her special Preschool Snowy Stocking Cap .

Materials you will Need

1 dark blue, black or other dark-colored pointed stocking cap

Marabou

Precut felt or foam snowflakes

Iridescent white glitter

Fabric glue

Foam glue or other glue that sticks to plastic

1 2-inch white pompom

1 inexpensive disposable paint brush

Triangle shaped cardboard about have the size of the hat

Waxed paper

How to Make It

**Step 1:

**Lay out a sheet of newspaper or a large piece of butcher paper to catch the excess glitter.

Step 2:

Lay the snowflakes on the paper. One at time, paint the foam of plastic glue over the snowflakes then sprinkle or spoon on iridescent glitter.

**Step 3:

**Allow to dry completely.

**Step 4:

**Shake excessive glitter off snowflakes over paper. Set snowflakes aside. Save the excessive glitter for later. Lay the paper back on the surface.

Step 5:

Cover the cardboard with the waxed paper and slide it between the front and the back of the hat.

**Step 6:

**Glue half of the snowflakes onto the front of the hat. Put dots of glue between snowflakes and sprinkle on some of the excess glitter. Add more if it isn't enough. Allow to dry completely. Shake off excess.

**Step 7:

**Repeat on opposite side. Allow to dry then shake off excess and remove cardboard.

Step 8:

With fabric glue, glue marabou around the band of the hat.

**Step 9:

**Glue pompom on the tip of the hat.

Alternative Ways to Make Preschool Snowy Stocking Cap

Alternative 1:

If you cannot find precut snowflakes, use a snowflake stamp, white fabric paint, and felt to match the hat. Let the child do the stamping, but you may need to assist in the cutting out. Then use the snowflakes as stated above in the instructions.

**Alternative 2:

**Add a jingle bell to the top of the cap by putting a small piece of yarn though the loop at the end of the bell then gluing it to the cap.

Alternative 3:

Some you can use silver glitter instead of white.

Alternative 4:

Add precut winter shapes such as snowmen, sleds, and pine trees. These are often available at craft or fabric stores.

Helpful Tips for Parents

**Tip 1:

**Be sure to use the paper under this project. Not only will it save a mess, but the paper can be bent and used to pour the left over glitter into a container to be saved for another use.

**Tip 2:

**It's cheaper to buy glitter in large amounts, but harder for your preschooler to use. If you want to buy glitter in large amounts, you can try spooning small amounts into a salt shaker to make it easier for your preschool child.

Tip 3:

Be very sure to put the waxed paper covered cardboard between the front and back of the hat so you don't glue the front of the hat to the back.

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Preschool Crafts is Copyright 2006 - Margaret Studer

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