All About Me in Pre-School Art Activity

All About Me Hand Mirrors 

All about me is the theme in pre-school this week. The goal of this unit is for young children to learn about themselves, each other, and their families. It’s important that they recognize their unique characteristics that make them special and different than others.

But pre-schoolers also need to understand that we all have thoughts and feelings inside of us that we can’t see on the outside. Children this age are learning to communicate with peers and form friendships.

Materials

For this week’s “All About Me” art project, students created a design on a mirror. Since I only have 10 – 15 minutes with them, I pre-made the mirror portion of the project. To create it you will need:

• Tracer
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Glue Stick
• 2 Thick Sheets of 8″x10″ Cardstock Paper
• Large Tongue Depressor
• 5″x7″ Tinfoil
• Sharpie Marker
• Sequins, Gemstones, Woodsies, and Other Small Decorations

Download the Tracer

 

STEP ONE

Trace and cut out two identical mirrors. These will be the front and back of the design. 

Tip: I use binder clips to hold paper in place when cutting multiple items simultaneously. It keeps the paper from shifting while cutting.

STEP TWO

Fold one of the two mirrors in half vertically and draw a tall rectangle starting from the fold.

Cut out on the line. This will become the front of the mirror.

STEP THREE

Glue the entire backside of the front mirror. We have glue sticks at my school. But if you don’t, I recommend using little cups of glue with brushes. It’s a great way for pre-school children to paint on the glue. They love it!

Center the tinfoil over the opening and flatten down the edges with more glue. Be careful not to rip the foil.

 

STEP FOUR

Place a lot of glue on both sides of one end of the tongue depressor and place on the bottom edge of the mirror.

 

STEP FIVE

Place the back of the mirror on top, lining it up to the front. Smooth it so they adhere to one another.

STEP SIX

Decorate!

I teach the younger ones about “Dot, dot, dot and not a lot!” I will demonstrate using Mr. Glue to make baby dots of glue around the edge of my mirror. Then we practice developing our pincer grasp by picking up and placing the small sequins and other items onto the dots of glue. I always had a bag of these Woodsies on hand for projects like this. 

All About Me Hand Mirror Conclusion

When they’re done, I write their name on the handle of their All About Me hand mirror. It makes passing them out at the end of the day so much easier for their teacher.

Because it’s a pre-school class and I’m allowed 10-15 minutes for the project, I make the mirrors in advance. This idea can be modified for kindergarten. But I would give them the pre-cut mirrors and tin foil and have them put that part together alongside of me.

I would also pick a principle of design like repetition and instruct on how to repeat shapes in the design. And depending on time, I would even consider having them draw some things they like on the frame before gluing anything on there. This would help to personalize it.