Click here to read Look What I Did! Draw a Self Portrait Activity for Preschoolers on Hands On As We Grow®
Boost your preschoolers self confidence while they draw a self portrait with this super easy activity you can do at home!
Meet Sherrie Rose. An amply-qualified nanny to two children in California since the summer of 2020.
She lovingly cares for a 5 year old little girl and a 2 year old boy.
Sherrie Rose has been working in preschools for the past 18 years. She switched to in-home care at the start of the pandemic.
“Initially, it was a bit because the pandemic had just started, and there was no preschool. Her preschool was closed. And that was part of why they hired me as their nanny. They wanted somebody who had a preschool background. So, I wanted to provide that for her with learning. And I believe in hands-on, play-based learning and these activities are perfect for that.”
“So initially it was the learning piece. Now, I think it still continues to be the learning piece. But also it’s a nice bonding time. It’s a special thing that we’ve planned just for her. Or, now it’s for the little one, it’s something we plan just for him. They both get really excited about it. They’re like, Activity! They both love it.”
An At-Home Friendly Learning Solution
With Sherrie Rose’s experience as a preschool teacher she has had plenty of experience with providing activities for children.
However, she also had access to all the types of materials a school would have.
“I sought out The Activity Room. I’ve been aware of it for maybe the year previous to that. And I knew that The Activity Room was more geared for parents. I thought it would be perfect, because I knew that I’d be working in a home. And I would have more types of materials that are in a home and not really a full school worth of materials.”
“This is a little girl who had been going to preschool before March 2020, and then suddenly wasn’t and was stuck at home. And I wanted to provide educational activities for her and make it something that I knew we would have the materials for at her house.”
Sherrie shares a self portrait activity below for preschoolers to draw a full body picture of themselves and decorate it if desired. You will want to check it out as it’s a perfect example of simple activities with supplies you would have at home.
Sherrie-Rose tells us that the parents were quickly on board when they heard she wanted to use Room with their kids.
“I started in June 2020. But I was hired by them in April. I was still working virtually, doing virtual preschool at the last school that I was at before the big change. And I knew through the interview process, and through talking with them, that they were looking for me to provide these types of things. So I told them about The Activity Room, that I had found this group, and that they provide all these wonderful things. That I thought that that would be a great resource for us. And they immediately were totally on board. They were like, oh, that sounds great! Wonderful. Go for it!”
Bonding Isn’t Just for Parents
The idea of joining The Activity Room as a Nanny, and not as a mom, left Sherrie-Rose with a few questions. She pushed through and gave it a go.
And she tells us she is so grateful she did!
“The only thing I was a little nervous about when I was first learning about it was like, Here I am, I’m not a parent. And, is that gonna be okay?”
“[ROOM] is something that’s for parents to bond with their kids. But, you know, now having been a nanny for the last year and a half, I see a nanny needs to bond with the kids also just like the parents need to bond with kids. So making these memories together with a nanny is hopefully just as valuable as it is for making it with their parents.”
“Then it seemed like it didn’t really actually matter that I was a nanny. And now that I’m in, I see that. I’m in the Facebook group and I’m active in there.“
In the self portrait activity Sherrie shares with you below there is plenty of room for bonding with your preschoolers as you draw together. take a moment to share the things you love about them and ask them to tell you what they notice about you.
Any activity can be a wonderful opportunity to bond and create memories!
More than Just Plans in An Email
Sherrie-Rose tells us how Room has benefited them. And, how it has become so much more to her than just a schedule in an email.
“I just love it. And I feel now, in The Activity Room, that my life is so much easier. I really can’t imagine our lives without it. I feel so welcomed in the Facebook group, everybody’s so positive. Everybody is everybody else’s cheerleader, and I love seeing other people’s posts and being able to cheer them on.”
“Especially in this time, you can feel really isolated. Both moms now are working outside the home, which wasn’t true in the beginning. So now I really am the only adult around myself most of the day.”
“It’s so welcoming to have this whole community of people. It’s not just this weekly activity plan that I have in my email. It’s also all these other people that are doing it too.”
Making it Work For You
“In the beginning, it was fitting it into the schedule and getting it to be a part of the routine. At that time, the little boy was three months old, so he wasn’t really doing activities yet. But the little girl was three and so she was like prime age for it.”
“She’s definitely a creature of habit and routine, like to the nth degree. So we slowly found ways to incorporate it. Like, we’re gonna have a time of the day on our schedule. It’s not time based, but schedule based. So we made it a part of the routine. It was just getting her used to it, that we were gonna do these things, and we’re gonna have a special time for it. But it didn’t take very long before she was super into it.”
“In terms of scaffolding it for the different ages, I think, not to dumb it down, but just make it simpler. It’s always open ended, to not expect that he’s gonna have the same result she’s gonna have from an art project or their engagement with something.”
Here is an example.
“We did the sticky sensory art this week. She did it when he was asleep. And then we put it up in the window. And then he gets to engage with it too, because it’s on his level. He can touch it and feel it and see it. He’s over there counting things and talking about the shapes of the different gems she put on. So they both get to engage with it, but maybe it’s a different engagement.”
The self portrait activity below is designed for preschoolers, but you can easily adapt it for a toddler by having them point out things about themselves and then draw them together.
3 Simple Steps, We Can Do That
“I love the weekly plans like that are all set up. It’s just made my life so much easier.
“I just love the ease of The Activity Room. That they just make it easy to do it. It doesn’t have to be a big hard thing. I definitely have been in the world of looking at Pinterest and seeing something and you think it’s gonna be easy, and then it doesn’t come out at all like what it looks like in the picture.”
”I love getting the weekly plans, I love the ease of it. And I love that it’s broken down into three steps. It makes it feel easy. Like, we can do that. It always feels doable.”
“I think if I hadn’t joined The Activity Room, because of my background, I do think that I would have been able to still provide some forms of activities. But I do think that I would have spent a lot more time on the planning piece. And I feel like I would have maybe worked harder instead of smarter. So I think that The Activity Room has really saved me time in that respect.”
Let’s Meet Sherrie Rose
How many kids do you have and how old are they?
I am a nanny to two children: a 5-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy.
Why do you love doing activities with your kids?
Because I know they are learning through these playful, hands-on activities while also having fun and making positive childhood memories.
How long have you been in The Activity Room?
May 2020
What is your favorite activity you’ve done in The Activity Room?
It’s so hard to choose just one favorite! We really love sensory bins. I think our favorites have been the Apple Pie Sensory Bin and the Pasta Sensory Tub. Both of these activities have engaged the children for hours.
Don’t forget to check out the draw a self portrait activity for preschoolers that she shares at the end!
What’s your favorite thing to do with your kids when you get a few moments?
I love to engage them with sticker art, play dough, and getting them out in nature. Both kids love splashing in puddles and creeks when it’s rainy!
What’s your best tip for doing activities with your kids?
I like to plan activities for the coming week on Saturdays. I have a notebook where I write out what activities I will do with each child and I print out the instruction sheets and note what materials we will need so I feel ready for our activities during the week.
If you were to tell a friend about The Activity Room, what would you say to them?
The Activity Room is invaluable to me. Before The Activity Room I was a preschool teacher and director for 18 years and I had a lot of tools in my toolbox when it comes to school-appropriate activities. Now that I’m nannying for one family, The Activity Room provides me with home-appropriate activities. Sometimes they are things that would have worked in preschool as well and sometimes they are definitely home-based activities.
And sharing our activities and cheering on others who are doing activities in the Facebook group is a true joy. The Activity Room is more than an activity program – it’s also an incredibly supportive community!
Share your favorite quote
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” ~George Bernard Shaw
Download FREE Week of Activities for Preschoolers! (3-5 year olds)
Drawing Self Portraits Activity for Preschoolers
This is a self-portraits, or drawing of yourself activity perfect for preschoolers! And also fun for toddlers to try too.
To Draw Your Own Self Portrait, You’ll Need
- Blank White or Light-Colored Paper
- Markers/Pens/Pencils
- Flat Surface where your child can comfortably perform writing tasks
- Googly Eyes (Optional)
- Yarn (Optional)
- Glue (Optional)
- Scissors (Optional)
Setting Up This Drawing Self Portrait Activity for Preschoolers
I had the paper and markers set aside beforehand.
I also told her that she would be drawing a picture of herself for today’s activity.
That way I was prepared and I had her wheels turning too.
Optionally, if you plan to have the extra craft items to add to the self portrait drawing activity, then you’ll want to grab those for your preschoolers as well.
For younger kids you may want to pre-cut the yarn for them.
How To Do a Self Portrait Activity with Preschoolers
Ask your child to draw a full-body picture of themself.
Ask them to include as many parts of themselves as they can.
If your child does not want to draw themselves, encourage them to draw another person whom they know personally.
Like you!
Give your child time to draw.
Ask your child to tell you about the picture.
Optionally, have your preschoolers glue on googly eyes, and yarn for hair to their self portrait activity.
You can also have preschoolers cut out the picture of themselves for some extra scissors fine motor practice in your activity.
”Look What I Did!” Self Portrait Activity with Preschoolers
Drawing pictures that look like what she says they are is a struggle for the little girl.
Before we got started, when I told her she’d be drawing a picture of herself for today’s activity.
She told me she didn’t know how to do that and that she would just draw a line and be done.
I was accepting of this and kept moving forward with our drawing activity.
Once we were actually seated at the table and I told her it was time to draw a full-body picture of herself, she suddenly happily complied and drew a full-body self-portrait for the first time!
She was very proud and held up the paper when she was done, saying, “Look what I did!”
This was quite the surprise!
I fully expected her to do what she said she was going to do and just draw a line and be done.
I was pleasantly surprised when this little preschooler turned the activity around and made a successful self portrait.
During the whole activity, she was fully engaged and concentrated hard on what she was drawing.
And after the activity, she was so proud of her work.
I think she surprised herself with her drawing ability!
My favorite part was definitely when she held up her self portrait with a big smile saying, “Look what I did!”
I love that she was able to be successful with something that is usually difficult for her, that she persevered through that feeling, and that she ended up with a sense of pride and satisfaction.
A Few Final Thoughts from Sherrie Rose
I love being a part of The Activity Room! With the weekly activity plans, the online activity library, the fun challenges, and the supportive Facebook group, I feel like the annual membership fee I pay is a steal! There are just so many benefits!!
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