Ambulance Crafts for Preschoolers

Ambulance crafts do more than give your preschooler's teddy bear a ride to the bear doctor -- they also offer an opportunity to introduce the topic of community helpers to her. Often kids this age are scared of people in uniform, such as fire fighters, police officers or paramedics. Use the craft time to explain that these people are here to help and are safe to talk to when something goes wrong. Plus, once she finishes these crafts, her ambulance driving skills will drastically improve.

Instead of hoarding all of your shoeboxes in your closet, have some fun with your preschooler by creating a showbox ambulance. Tape the lid on that shoebox and wrap it in red construction paper. Cut four black circles for the wheels and some rectangles for the windshield and side windows. Use a glue stick to connect the windows and windshield in their respective places. Connect two popsicle sticks together in the middle to make the medic sign. Since these sticks are a bit heavier, you'll have to use hot glue instead of regular school glue. Just keep the hot-glue gun away from her while you do this so she doesn't get a burn boo-boo. Help her paint these sticks red once the glue cools and connect the medic sign with hot glue wherever your child thinks it should go. It's okay if it ends up on the bumper. Punch holes in the middle of the paper wheels and four holes in the box, two on each side, where the wheels will be attached. Attach the wheels to the box with brass brads or paper fasteners. Now she’s got an ambulance with wheels that turn and can be “driven” around on the floor to go around helping all the people and teddy bears in need.

What parent hasn't found her kid playing with a box more than the toy that came in it? You might as well make use of that expensive box by turning it into an ambulance. Find a cardboard box that is big enough for your preschooler to sit in. Fold the top flaps in or cut them off. Cut a door opening on one of the ends. Spread out a painting sheet or newspapers under you box. After your preschooler has put on her protective armor, also known as a paint shirt, allow her to paint the box completely white on the outside. After that dries, paint on a black windshield, windows and tires. She’ll also need a big red cross on one or both sides of her ambulance. Once the paint is dry, she can get in and start her new career of saving lives.

Start her medical training with her very own first aid kit. The sick teddy bears will thank you, although your dog might not. Buy some sterile adhesive bandages, gauze bandages and plastic pencil box with a lid and preferably a handle. Let your preschooler use a permanent marker to write her name the best she can on the pencil box. Hand her some stickers and sticky-backed jewels and let her decorate her first aid kit box. Let her stuff first-aid supplies inside the box and inform her that her favorite teddy bear is in need of first aid assistance. That bear will be in caring hands after that and will probably end up looking like a gauze mummy, but at least he will be healed and your little one will be occupied.

In case you're in need of a new refrigerator art piece, a paper ambulance could just be the thing that ties it all together. Grab some white, black and red construction paper, as well as a glue stick and some children’s scissors. Draw some basic ambulance shapes and, if you're feeling bold, hand the scissors over to your preschooler. Allow her to cut out the pieces of the ambulance and glue them on the white paper. Although the ambulance may resemble a vehicular accident, at least she was practicing her fine motor skills in the process.