Preschool Crafts

19 January Crafts for Preschoolers (Easy Ideas)

19 January crafts for preschoolers, each with a picture and simple steps. Easy ideas for ages 3 to 5 using paper, paint, and glue.

Kindergarten Prep Team
Oct 11, 2026

January is the month the house stays shut, and the craft drawer earns its keep. Here are 19 January crafts for preschoolers, each with a picture, supplies, and steps, and most use paper plates and cotton balls.

A three-year-old glues cotton balls into the three circles of the cotton ball snowman and stamps fork-painted fireworks for New Year. A five-year-old snips a coffee filter snowflake and hangs the pinecone bird feeder outside, then checks the window all afternoon. The snowman ends up on the fridge.

Start here: three January crafts that always work

Cotton ball snowman, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Cotton ball snowmanCotton balls and glue, a three does it aloneFork painted fireworks, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Fork painted fireworksA fork and paint, the easiest New Year craftHandprint penguin, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Handprint penguinOne handprint, a penguin in ten minutes

19 January crafts for preschoolers, with pictures

Coffee filter snowflake, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

1. Coffee filter snowflake

The child folds a coffee filter, snips notches from the edges and opens it up, optionally colouring it blue first.

Fits January: Winter and Coffee filter.

Folding

You need: 1 round coffee filter, blue marker, water in a small cup, spoon or dropper

How to make it
  1. Your child scribbles on the coffee filter with the blue marker.
  2. Drip water on it so the ink spreads into soft blotches. Let it dry.
  3. You fold the dry filter into a wedge.
  4. Snip small triangles from the folded edges.
  5. Open it up flat.
Craft stick button snowflake, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

2. Craft stick button snowflake

The child paints craft sticks, crosses them into a star and glues buttons or sequins along the arms.

Fits January: Winter and Christmas.

Build it

You need: 3 craft sticks, light blue poster paint, 7 white buttons, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the 3 craft sticks light blue. Let them dry.
  2. Cross the sticks over each other at their middles and glue them to make a star with 6 arms.
  3. Glue 1 white button flat on the center.
  4. Glue 1 white button on the end of each arm.
Cotton ball snowman, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

3. Cotton ball snowman

The child glues cotton balls inside three drawn circles on blue paper, then adds a paper hat, carrot nose and stick arms.

Fits January: Winter and Snowman.

Easy for 3sCollage

You need: light blue paper, cotton balls, black paper, orange paper, 2 small black buttons, black marker, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child glues cotton balls in 3 round clumps, one above the other: small on top, medium in the middle, large at the bottom.
  2. You cut a black hat and a small orange triangle. Glue the hat above the head and the triangle on the head as a nose.
  3. Glue the 2 buttons on the middle clump.
  4. Draw 2 dot eyes above the nose and 2 stick arms out from the middle clump.
Handprint penguin, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

4. Handprint penguin

The child prints or traces a black hand as the penguin body, then adds a white belly, eyes, beak and feet.

Fits January: Winter and Handprint.

Handprint

You need: black paint, white paper, 2 small googly eyes, orange paper, glue, light blue paper

How to make it
  1. Paint your child's hand black. Press it in the middle of the paper with the fingers together pointing up and the thumb out to the side. Let it dry.
  2. You cut a small white oval and glue it on the palm as the belly.
  3. Glue the 2 eyes on the fingers above the belly. Cut a small orange triangle and glue it below them as a beak.
  4. Cut 2 small orange feet and glue them right below the palm.
Paper plate polar bear, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

5. Paper plate polar bear

The child covers a paper plate with cotton balls or torn white paper and adds ears, eyes and a black nose.

Fits January: Winter and Paper plate.

Collage

You need: 1 white paper plate, about 20 cotton balls, 2 white paper half circles, 2 large googly eyes, 1 black pom pom, glue

How to make it
  1. You cut 2 half circles from white paper. Glue them behind the top rim, one on each side, as ears.
  2. Your child glues about 20 cotton balls all over the front of the plate.
  3. Glue the 2 eyes on the plate in the upper half.
  4. Glue the black pom pom in the middle as a nose.
Paper plate penguin, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

6. Paper plate penguin

The child paints the rim of a plate black, leaves a white belly and glues on eyes, an orange beak, feet and flippers.

Fits January: Winter and Penguin.

Paint and glue

You need: 1 paper plate, black paint, black paper, orange paper, 2 googly eyes, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the rim and top part of the plate black, leaving a white belly in the middle. Let it dry.
  2. You cut 2 black flippers, an orange beak and 2 orange feet.
  3. Your child glues the 2 eyes near the top on the black part, and the beak below them.
  4. Glue a flipper on each side pointing down, and the feet at the bottom edge.
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Paper plate snowman, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

7. Paper plate snowman

The child joins two or three paper plates and adds a paper hat, scarf, buttons and a carrot nose.

Fits January: Winter and Christmas.

Cut and glue

You need: 2 white paper plates, black paper, orange paper, 1 piece of red ribbon, 3 large black buttons, black marker, glue

How to make it
  1. You cut the ridged rim off one plate, leaving the flat middle as a smaller head.
  2. Glue the head so it overlaps the top edge of the whole plate.
  3. Cut a black hat and glue it on the head. Glue the red ribbon across the join as a scarf.
  4. Cut an orange triangle and glue it on the head as a nose. Draw 2 dot eyes and a dotted smile.
  5. Glue the 3 buttons in a column on the body.
Pinecone bird feeder, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

8. Pinecone bird feeder

The child spreads nut or seed butter on a pinecone, rolls it in birdseed and hangs it outside.

Fits January: Winter and Fall.

Nature

You need: 1 large pinecone, sunflower seed butter, mixed birdseed, 1 piece of twine

How to make it
  1. You tie the twine around the top of the pinecone and knot it into a hanging loop.
  2. Your child spreads seed butter over the scales of the pinecone.
  3. Pour the birdseed on a plate. Your child rolls the pinecone in it until seeds stick all over.
  4. Hang it outside from a branch.
Fork painted fireworks, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

9. Fork painted fireworks

The child stamps a fork dipped in bright paint outward from a centre on black paper to make bursting fireworks.

Fits January: 4th of July and New Year's.

Easy for 3sStamping

You need: 1 sheet of black paper, 1 fork, red, blue and yellow paint, gold glitter

How to make it
  1. Dip the back of the fork in paint.
  2. Your child presses it again and again on the black paper, prints pointing outward from one centre point, to make a round burst.
  3. Make more bursts in the other colours.
  4. Sprinkle gold glitter over the wet paint.
Fork painted polar bear, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

10. Fork painted polar bear

The child stamps white paint outward with a fork around a face on blue paper to make shaggy polar bear fur.

Fits January: Winter and Bear.

Stamping

You need: light blue construction paper, white paint, metal fork, 2 googly eyes, black marker

How to make it
  1. Pour a little white paint on a plate.
  2. Your child dips the fork and presses it on the blue paper, with each print pointing outward from one center spot.
  3. Keep stamping round and round until a shaggy white circle about a hand span wide forms, thicker in the middle.
  4. Add 2 small tuft prints at the top as ears. Let it dry, then glue on the eyes and draw a black nose and a smile.
Toilet roll stamped snowman family, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

11. Toilet roll stamped snowman family

The child dips the end of a cardboard tube in white paint and stamps stacked circles to build a family of snowmen, then draws faces and arms.

Fits January: Winter and Christmas.

Stamping

You need: 1 sheet of dark blue paper, white paint, 1 cardboard toilet paper roll, black marker, orange marker

How to make it
  1. Dip the open end of the roll in white paint. Your child stamps rings on the blue paper.
  2. Stack the rings into snowmen of different heights, side by side. Let it dry.
  3. On each top ring, your child draws 2 dot eyes and a smile in black marker and a carrot nose in orange.
  4. Draw 2 black stick arms from each middle ring.
Ice painting, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

12. Ice painting

The child paints with frozen coloured ice cubes on sticks, or paints watercolour onto a block of ice.

Fits January: Winter and Five senses.

Easy for 3s

You need: thick white paper, coloured ice cubes, tray

How to make it
  1. You colour water red, blue and yellow with food colour and freeze it in an ice cube tray with craft sticks in them, ahead of time.
  2. Lay the paper flat on a tray. Your child slides and rubs the ice over it while holding it like a brush.
  3. Watch the colours run together. Let the paper dry flat.
Paper lantern, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

13. Paper lantern

The child decorates a sheet of paper, it is folded and snipped along the fold, then rolled and a handle added.

Fits January: Christmas and Chinese New Year.

Folding

You need: red construction paper, 1 strip of red paper, gold star stickers, gold marker, clear tape

How to make it
  1. Fold the red sheet in half lengthwise. You snip straight lines from the fold toward the open edge, stopping before the edge.
  2. Unfold it and roll it into a standing tube.
  3. Tape the red strip across the top as a handle.
  4. Your child sticks gold stars on the top and bottom bands and draws a wobbly gold line along the top.
Paper plate snow globe, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

14. Paper plate snow globe

The child draws or glues a small winter scene on a plate, sprinkles on paper snow or glitter and adds a paper base.

Fits January: Winter and Christmas.

Cut and glue

You need: 1 white paper plate, light blue poster paint, green paper, brown paper, cotton balls, white paper, red paper, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the flat centre of the plate light blue. Let it dry.
  2. You cut a green triangle and a small brown square. Glue the triangle in the middle of the blue circle, with the square under it as the trunk.
  3. Pull cotton balls flat. Glue them along the bottom of the blue circle as snowy ground.
  4. Your child glues small white dots around the tree as falling snow.
  5. Cut a red trapezoid and glue it under the bottom rim of the plate as the base.
Paper plate winter wreath, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

15. Paper plate winter wreath

The child glues snowflakes, mittens and other winter cut-outs around a paper plate ring.

Fits January: Winter and Christmas.

Collage

You need: 1 paper plate, light blue paint, red paper, white paper, cotton balls, 1 red ribbon bow, white glue

How to make it
  1. You cut out the middle of the plate to leave a ring.
  2. Your child paints the ring light blue. Let it dry.
  3. Cut red mittens and white snowflakes. Your child glues them and the cotton balls around the ring, spaced out and mixed up.
  4. Glue the red ribbon bow at the top.
Paper plate dragon twirler, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

16. Paper plate dragon twirler

The child paints a paper plate, it is cut into a spiral and a dragon head is glued to the end so it spins when hung.

Fits January: Chinese New Year and Letter D.

Paint and glue

You need: 1 paper plate, green paint, green paper, red paper, 2 googly eyes, 1 short piece of string, tape and glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the plate green. Let it dry.
  2. Cut the plate in one long spiral from the rim to the middle.
  3. Cut a green oval and glue it on the outer end as the head, with 2 googly eyes and a small red paper flame at the tip.
  4. Tape the string to the middle of the spiral.
  5. Hold up the string and watch the dragon twirl.
Shaker noise maker, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

17. Shaker noise maker

The child fills a bottle or two taped paper plates with rice or beans, seals it and decorates it with streamers.

Fits January: New Year's and Letter N.

Build it

You need: 1 small clear plastic bottle with cap, dry rice, dry beans, tape, dot stickers, short ribbons

How to make it
  1. Your child pours rice and beans into the bottle until it is about one third full.
  2. Screw the cap on and wrap tape around it to seal it.
  3. Stick dot stickers on the outside of the bottle.
  4. Tie short ribbons around the neck so their ends hang down.
Sponge print igloo, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

18. Sponge print igloo

The child stamps white paint rectangles with a sponge in a dome shape on dark paper to build an igloo.

Fits January: Letter I.

Stamping

You need: 1 sheet of dark blue construction paper, white poster paint, 1 small rectangular sponge, black paper, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child dips the sponge in white paint and stamps a row of blocks near the bottom of the dark blue paper.
  2. Stamp more rows above it, each row shorter than the last, so the blocks build a dome. Let the paint dry.
  3. You cut a small black arch and glue it at the bottom centre of the dome as the doorway.
Potato masher penguin, an easy January craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

19. Potato masher penguin

The child stamps a potato masher or halved potato in black paint for the body and adds a painted belly and paper details.

Fits January: Penguin.

Stamping

You need: 1 potato masher, black paint, white paint, 1 small sponge, light blue paper, orange paper, 2 googly eyes and glue

How to make it
  1. Your child dips the masher in black paint and stamps a tall oval body on the light blue paper, twice, overlapping.
  2. Dab a white oval tummy on with the small sponge. Let it dry.
  3. Cut an orange triangle beak and 2 orange feet. Glue the 2 googly eyes near the top and the beak between them.
  4. Glue the 2 feet at the bottom.

Easy january crafts for preschoolers: the 3 a young three can do

These 3 need no exact cutting and no small pieces, so a young three can do most of it alone: Cotton ball snowman, Fork painted fireworks, Ice painting.

Doing January crafts with a 3 year old

First week: the fork painted fireworks for New Year and the cotton ball snowman. Both take one sheet of paper, one kind of paint or a glue stick, and no cutting. A three year old does both alone.

The coffee filter snowflake and the paper lantern need an adult for the folding and the first snips. Fold together, then hand over child scissors. A five year old can snip the notches alone and open the snowflake up.

Ice painting is the one to save for a cold afternoon. Freeze colored water with a craft stick in each cube the night before, lay a towel down and let your child paint with the ice on thick paper.

Hang the snowflakes in a window and line the penguins and polar bears up on the fridge. The pinecone bird feeder goes outside, and your child can watch from the window for birds.

What you need for January crafts

Most of these use the same handful of supplies: glue, black paper, orange paper, googly eye, black marker, light blue paper, cotton ball, black paint. Everything else is named on the craft it belongs to.

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