Children have an inherent tendency to explore the world that surrounds them and to represent it in designs and colours. As part of this need to express themselves artistically, children become familiar with the properties of materials and how to use them. They also discover that objects and situations have many different aspects, and they attribute new meanings to them as they work on them in practice and mentally to express themselves creatively through visual arts. For children, expressing themselves through art is not a luxury, but a necessity.
Making various things is a good way for children to use their time in an enjoyable and educational way. And of course, the main result of their work will be a feeling of joy at having created something all by themselves. We have suggested some things for children to build on our page. If you are going to build them, you can either follow our instructions faithfully, or you can change them by using your own imagination!
To make these you will need a scissors and a cutter. An adult should always be present to prevent injuries to young children.

1st Project: SEASCAPE
MATERIALS:
• white corrugated cardboard
• 16 blue sticks
• 1 transparent plastic
• paint for glass
• shells and shellfish from the beach
• glue, scissors, cutter

HOW TO MAKE IT
Arrange the blue sticks on the white corrugated cardboard as shown in the photograph and glue them with liquid glue to make the frame. Cut away the corrugated cardboard that is protruding out of the frame. Use the cutter to cut the outline of a fish out of the center of the framed cardboard. Next, draw the outline of the fish on the transparent plastic and colour it in using the paint for glass. Cut the coloured fish out of the transparent plastic, but leave room to stick it into the outline of the fish you cut on the corrugated cardboard, (stick it from the rear side of the frame). Finally, decorate your seascape by gluing on a selection of seashells and coloured starfish.

2nd Project: WINDMILL MONEY BANK
MATERIALS:
• blue and yellow Canson carboard
• 1 tin can
• white tempura paint
• paint brush
• glue, scissors, cutter

HOW TO MAKE IT
Begin your project by painting the tin can with the white tempera (remove the paper label on the tin by soaking it in water for a while). Draw a square with 8 cm sides on the yellow Carson paper and then cut it out. Also, cut a diagonal line from each of the four corners of the square into the centre, stopping each line slightly before the centre of the square. Take each edge of the square and joint them all in the center, sticking them together. Stick a small blue cardboard circle in the centre of the windmill. Glue the windmill onto the tin can. Finally, for the roof, cut a circle (diameter 10cm) from the blue cardboard. Next, cut a small piece out of the circle so you can make it into a cone shape and stick it to the top of the tin can. Of course, don’t forget to use the cutter to make a small slot in the tin so your children can use it to save up their money.

3rd Project: SUNNY MOBILE
MATERIALS:
• hard cardboard from a cardboard box
• yellow, red, blue, white and black tempura paint
• golden glitter glue
• gold ribbon
• scissors, glue

HOW TO MAKE IT
On the cardboard, draw a sun, a circle for the sun’s face, two large clouds, two smaller clouds, a swallow and two smaller wings. Cut them out, then colour them as shown in the picture. To give the mobile a sense of being three-dimensional, stick the smaller clouds above the bigger ones, stick the face in the center of the sun and the small wings above the wings of the swallow. Then decorate them with gold glitter glue. Finish off by fastening each piece onto the golden ribbon.

Good luck!

* Projects Suggested by Elena Alevizou Nursery