Books

• Read books about quilts to the children. "The Name Quilt" by Phyllis Root talks about a quilt that has names from a little girl's ancestors. "The Kindness Quilt" by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace is about a little rabbit who makes a quilt square for each act of kindness she does. Kay Chorao's book, "Kate's quilt," is about a little girl who wants a doll for her birthday, but gets a quilt instead. For preschoolers learning to count, "Quilt Counting" by Lesa Cline-Ransome counts the various supplies needed for making quilts.
  
  

Paper

• Any type of paper can be used for a paper quilt, but a quilt made from one piece of paper is easier for a very young child to complete on his own. Use a piece of butcher paper or art paper from a roll and draw squares or blocks in which the child can draw. Alternatively, give each child a piece of plain white paper or colored construction paper or cardstock.
  
  

Drawing Materials

• Crayons and markers are the most common drawing instrument for preschoolers. Because the quilt is made of paper, however, you can use various materials to decorate it. Have students paint a few of the squares with brushes or finger paints, use glitter or glitter glue to decorate squares, or glue on sequins, pompoms, yarn or scrap pieces of colored paper or fabric. Encourage preschoolers to be creative when decorating the quilt squares.
  
  

Piecing the Quilt

• If you are using a separate piece of paper for each quilt square, you need to have a way to piece it together. One way of piecing it is to cut a piece of paper large enough to glue all the squares on to it. Lay the large paper on the floor and glue the squares on top. If you have a lot of squares to piece, use the string method. Punch a hole in each corner of every piece of paper. Use yarn to tie the squares together through the holes. This helps make the paper quilt look more like a real quilt.
  
  

Quilt Themes

• Give the preschoolers a theme for their quilt. Ask them to make a family quilt with drawings of their brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents. For a classroom quilt, have each child decorate one square with pictures representing themselves, such as their name, favorite color or favorite animal. Another option, especially for a classroom quilt, is to have the children draw various animals. A holiday quilt can show several pictures for one holiday or add holidays to it throughout the school year.