Preschool Crafts

6 Shape Crafts for Preschoolers (Easy Ideas)

6 shape 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 14, 2026

Circles make a caterpillar, squares make a quilt, three craft sticks make a tent, and a child who glues them says the shape names. Here are six shape crafts for preschoolers, each with a picture, supplies, and steps, built from circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles.

A three-year-old stamps circles with a potato masher and lays squares side by side on the paper quilt. A five-year-old sorts the shapes first, then cuts and builds a fire truck and a school bus. The jack-o'-lantern waits for October.

Start here: three shape crafts that always work

Stamped circle caterpillar, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Stamped circle caterpillarStamp circles in a row, donePaper quilt, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Paper quiltSquares and glue, nothing to cutShape fire truck, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5Shape fire truckRectangle, square, circles, a truck

6 shape crafts for preschoolers, with pictures

Stamped circle caterpillar, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

1. Stamped circle caterpillar

The child stamps a row of green circles with a sponge, pom pom or potato masher and one red circle for the head.

You need: white paper, round sponge, green and red paint, black marker

How to make it
  1. Your child dips the sponge in green paint and stamps circles in a row across the paper, each touching the next.
  2. Stamp one red circle at one end as the head.
  3. Let it dry.
  4. Draw 2 dot eyes and a small smile on the red circle, and 2 short antenna lines above it.
Paper plate jack-o-lantern, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

2. Paper plate jack-o-lantern

The child paints a plate orange, adds a green stem and glues on black shapes for the face.

You need: 1 white paper plate, orange poster paint, green paper, black paper, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the plate orange. Let it dry.
  2. You cut a small green rectangle. Glue it on the top rim as a stem.
  3. Cut 3 black triangles and a crescent. Glue 2 triangles in the upper half as eyes and 1 in the middle as a nose.
  4. Glue the crescent in the lower half as a smiling mouth.
Craft stick tent, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

3. Craft stick tent

The child glues craft sticks into a triangle tent on paper and decorates the paper or fabric tent flaps.

You need: 3 craft sticks, orange paper, dark brown paper, blue marker, light blue paper, glue

How to make it
  1. You cut an orange triangle. Your child decorates it with blue marker dots.
  2. Glue it in the middle of the light blue sheet as the tent.
  3. Glue the 3 craft sticks along its 3 edges as a frame, overlapping the ends at the corners.
  4. Cut a small brown triangle and glue it at the bottom middle as the door.
Paper quilt, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

4. Paper quilt

The child glues coloured paper squares side by side on a backing sheet to make a patchwork quilt pattern.

You need: 1 square sheet of white paper, coloured paper, black marker, glue stick

How to make it
  1. You cut 9 paper squares in a few colours.
  2. Your child glues the squares on the white sheet in 3 rows of 3, with no two neighbours the same colour.
  3. Draw dots on one square, stripes on another, and a zigzag on a third.
School bus craft, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

5. School bus craft

The child paints a milk carton, box or row of craft sticks yellow and adds black wheels and paper windows.

You need: jumbo craft sticks, yellow paint, 2 black paper circles, white paper squares, 1 sheet of light blue paper, glue

How to make it
  1. Your child paints the craft sticks yellow. Let them dry.
  2. Lay the blue paper sideways. Glue the sticks one above the other, touching, to make a long yellow rectangle.
  3. Glue white squares in a row across the upper part as windows.
  4. Glue the 2 black circles at the bottom edge as wheels, one at each end.
Shape fire truck, an easy shape craft for preschoolers ages 3 to 5

6. Shape fire truck

The child builds a fire truck from a red rectangle, square cab, circle wheels and a paper ladder.

You need: 1 sheet of light blue paper, red paper, white paper, black paper, yellow paper, black marker, glue

How to make it
  1. You cut a large red rectangle, a red square, a small white square, 2 black circles and a yellow strip.
  2. Your child glues the red rectangle across the middle of the blue sheet as the truck body.
  3. Glue the red square at one end as the cab, with the white square as a window.
  4. Glue the 2 black circles along the bottom edge as wheels.
  5. Glue the yellow strip along the top as a ladder and draw short rungs across it.
Free · 30 questions · about 4 minutes Is your child on track for kindergarten? Answer 30 questions about what your child does today, and you get a report like this one: Every area at a glance: strong, on track, or worth a little time The one or two areas to focus on first Simple things to do at home for each area How many months you have until kindergarten starts Get my child's free report → Example kindergarten readiness report with a bar for each area: language, social-emotional, math, thinking, fine motor and literacy

Shape crafts for 3 year olds

One of these a young three can do almost alone: Stamped circle caterpillar. No exact cutting, no small pieces, and the glue stick does the rest.

Shape crafts: naming shapes while the glue is out

Cut a pile of shapes in advance from colored paper and keep them in a bag. Then the paper quilt, the fire truck and the jack-o-lantern face are glue-only crafts for a three year old.

Name the shape each time it goes down. 'A circle for the wheel, a square for the window.' A five year old can tell you the shape before you do.

The stamped circle caterpillar needs the least setup: a sponge or pom pom, green paint on a plate, one red for the head. Count the circles when it is dry.

The craft stick tent takes an adult to hold the sticks while the glue sets. Tape works if the glue is slow.

Free · 30 questions · about 4 minutes Before you go: see where your child is for kindergarten A report with every area at a glance, what to focus on first, and things to do at home. Get my child's free report →

More crafts for preschoolers
Preschool Crafts

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