It happens to all of us. We carefully plan our homeschool days and weeks, but we are so busy trying to cover all of the things that we often skip the most fun thing – art! Yep, we have all done it.
By the end of the day, most of us have homeschooled multiple children in multiple grade levels, and we are tired, spent, and some days just plain over it. But what we are skipping could actually be the subject that refreshes and renews our souls. Especially those little bitty souls.
Early learners need lots of play-based learning and time creating. We have to make time for preschool art in our homes and homeschools. Art is essential to the mental, social, and emotional growth of our early learners. Art is also a fantastic way to satisfy children’s natural curiosity for exploration and experimentation.
How To Make Time for Preschool Art in Your Homeschool
So the question remains, how can we make time to include art? Here are 7 tips to help you plan and cover art in your preschool or homeschool each week.
1. No Pressure. Choose a realistic goal for how often you can include art. If daily seems like too much for you, no problem. Choose one project per week to include.
2. Incorporate Art In Your Homeschool Lessons. It’s common for preschool lessons to be thematic. Luckily, a program like You Are An Artist is designed to help you easily choose a project to include with each theme. For example, if you are learning about farm animals, you can pick preschool farm art lessons from You Are An Artist with hardly any prep at all.The easiest and most affordable way to do this is with a membership.
3. Easy Mediums. There are plenty of art mediums to choose from, but pick one that feels most natural to your family. One of the reasons that chalk pastel art is so simple to blend into your homeschool is that there is little to prep or plan on your part. You hardly need any supplies, and that makes art incredibly effortless when you don’t need to gather up a lot of supplies beforehand. With chalk pastels, you only need construction paper, an affordable starter set of chalk pastels, and optional baby wipes for quick clean up.
4. Make It Fun. An excellent way to add art into your home consistently is to choose a day that is always art day. In our house, we have “Fun Fridays” and almost always end up adding in a chalk pastel art lesson. We may include our art project into weekly poetry tea time or enjoy a seasonal or holiday art lesson for the day. Whatever you decide, designating an art day or a fun learning day each week is a great way to make sure it doesn’t get skipped each week.
5. Explore with Nature. Preschoolers naturally love nature study, everything from exploring in the backyard to learning all about the seasons are sure to excite your early learner. Incorporate chalk pastel lessons as you learn about all of these things.
6. Include The Family. If you have children of all ages in your homeschool, there may be few subjects that you can combine. Another one of the perks of using You Are An Artist is that the whole family can join in on the fun. Chalk pastel art has no age requirements, and mom can even join in on the fun! We highly recommend it.
7. Plan Outside Of The Box. There are no rules for teaching preschool or homeschool, for that matter. You can plan to add art at the beginning of the day, along with morning time, or on a Saturday. If you feel like you don’t have time to include art into your daily routine, think about planning art during another part of your day and week. Maybe dad would like to join in the fun after dinner on Friday night. Be flexible and plan outside of your typical box.
I hope these ideas are helpful to you as you begin to plan in more art for your precious preschoolers. Art time with Nana is a big deal around our house, and I know it will be in yours too!
Courtney
Preschool Curriculum Match Up Download
Be sure to download the free Preschool Curriculum Match Up to make planning preschool art time even easier!
Homeschool Preschool Companion Workbook for Clubhouse Members
You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse members not only get access to ALL of Nana’s Preschool Video Art Lessons but all 700+ at the Complete level! In addition, you have this beautiful resource as a companion to Nana’s preschool lessons.
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Courtney is a Jesus-pursuing, native Texan, homeschool mom of three, who believes homeschooling can be a peaceful and productive rhythm. At Grace, Grow & Edify she helps families create peaceful homeschooling atmospheres through faith, organizational strategies, and cultivating strong roots at home.