A Pre-school arts & crafts activity you will enjoy too!
My Son Felix has just painted his first T-shirt! At almost 3 years old, he is the littlest of our Me-shirt makers but the 3 and 4 year old pre school age group has proved such a massive customer base for us that I was really excited to get him involved and see via my own children how the different age groups approach the activity.
As a child that barely sits still I was genuinely delighted to find he got as much as Amelie out of his pre school arts and crafts session. The differences between the approach and results of a 3 year old versus an 8 year old are vast but the enjoyment was absolutely the same. He was grinning throughout and really enjoyed having input in the colours and characters for his kit when he heard he was going to make his very ‘own T-shirt like Mummy’s work’.
As a pre schooler he reminded me of so many elements he was learning at nursery that became relevant as he was decorating. It was a great reminder for me that our kits have an educational benefit as well as being fun.
Arts and crafts with pre schoolers can be difficult if you don’t get the activity right but when you find the magic thing that your 3 or 4 year old enjoys and you have everything you need it can be so much fun. I recommend being realistic about how long they will want to do any arts and crafts session and not pushing it once they decide they have finished even if you were hoping they might stick at it for longer.
I have been amazed at our studio how long kids will spend on designing their personalised T-shirts, even at pre school age though and have only ever had a couple of children spend less than half an hour on their item.
For ages 3 and 4 - an arts and crafts session of 30-45 minutes feels good but I would go with whatever your child wants and follow their lead. A super happy proud pre schooler who has spent 20 minutes on their special T-shirt is just as good as a super happy proud pre schooler that has spent an hour on it!
These were my fave things about Felix’s personalised T-shirt painting experience
1) He was so excited to have his initial ‘F for Felix’ on his T-shirt - They have been learning about it in nursery recently so it was great timing. Phonics is a big thing from this age so it’s a great activity to reinforce what they’re learning. You don’t have to stop at one letter, you can get one of our word T-shirts with their whole name written out so they can learn all the letters.
2) He loved choosing and naming the paint colours - he chose the colours he wanted for his T-shirt then he talked through and named them as he was painting, just like they do at nursery. It’s a good idea to give your pre schooler choices over every part of the process, so if you’re ordering a kit get them to choose the contents, the colours and stencils, and when you get it out ask them to talk you through what they are doing.
3) He loved choosing the characters he wanted from our stencil collection and he named the parts of the spaceman’s body as he painted them - again, parts of the body learned at nursery!
4) He loved giving me jobs to do and it was so nice working together to create his dream T.
5) He spent ages washing the brushes up afterwards - haha. He loves washing up (for now!) - life skill, tick!
6) He was beyond proud wearing the T-shirt to nursery and couldn’t wait to show his teachers all the different bits on it
7) He wore it to nursery 2 days in a row!
8) The teachers at nursery were so excited to talk through his personalised T-shirt discussing the different colours and pictures, and the way he had used a brush and his fingers to add paint. It gave him a real sense of pride and achievement and he loved having a T-shirt different to everyone else to show off!
Felix geniunely opts to wear this T-shirt so often! He has one with his whole name on it too now, and a 3 one that I made up for him for his 3rd Birthday and they go on rotation to nursery
So if you want a pre school arts and crafts activity or gift idea, I hope we have given you some ideas of what to expect and what an age 3 or 4 year old might get out of it. You can have a look at all the kits we have below to find your perfect one!
