20+ Best activities for preschoolers

Whether you’re a working parent, a stay at home parent,  a childminder or nanny – thinking of things to keep your preschooler interested and engaged can get tiresome. Let’s face it, they try one activity for five minutes and then want to move onto something else! 

To make your life easier, we’ve put together a list of interesting activities for preschoolers to try at home. This should keep you and your little one entertained for hours and it’s full of literacy, art and STEM activities to keep their budding brains growing. 

Don’t let this list be the end of your creativity, though. Look around your home and try to come up with some exciting activities of your own! 

How to make learning fun for preschoolers?

Before we get into this extensive list of preschool age activities, it’s important to know how to guide their play and when or when not to get involved.

Children learn best and play best, when they have fewer instructions and are given free reign to enjoy their activities in their own way.

As parents and guardians, it may be frustrating when you set up quick preschool activities for your child and they do something completely different. For example, you get some blocks and cars, and you build a car park for your preschooler to drive around. Your preschooler has another idea and builds a house, completely ignoring the cars. 

This may be an infuriating practice, but it’s important to follow their lead when it comes to play. ‘Child-initiated learning,’ or ‘child-led play,’ helps your child learn through ways they enjoy and are passionate about. If your child is a big fan of cars, instead of teaching them to count as a formal activity with blocks, wait until they’re playing with their cars and encourage them to count them. Studies have proven that passion about a subject nurtured at this age, can have a lasting positive effect into adulthood. 

Easy activities to do with preschoolers?

As mentioned above, children learn best when they’re playing, however, we can’t always spend hours setting up fun activities for preschoolers. So, we’re going to focus on easy to join activities for preschoolers.

We’re going to divide these activities into three areas: Literacy, Art and STEM (predominantly Maths and Science) activities. 

All of these areas are hugely beneficial for your preschooler’s development – but remember to keep the focus on fun! 

Literacy Activities for Preschoolers

It’s important to remember that, as much as we want our children to be big readers when they’re older, our preschoolers do not need to be pushed into learning literacy or their letters. Any activities for preschool children in this literacy section should only be used when your little one is ready. 

Unnecessary pressure when it comes to learning their alphabet and the foundation of reading, can be detrimental and lead to the child associating reading with a negative feeling. So, approach these tasks slowly and take into account how they’re feeling. These should be fun and engaging.

1. Find Your Name Breakfast Invitation

One exciting way to start the day is by writing a list of names on a big piece of paper and have your child find their name before sitting down to breakfast! 

2. Letter Board Name Search

Do you have a letter board? The felt ones can be a great way to inspire a love of literacy in your little one. Get them to find the letters of their name and try to spell it out on the letter board. Let them try first and, then, if they struggle, help them with some guidance. 

3. Alphabet Line-Up with Post-it Notes

Love Post-Its? Put them to good use. Write each letter of the alphabet on a separate Post-It and have your toddler put them in order. You can do this anywhere in the house to make it more interesting! 

4. Hidden Name Art 

With a white crayon, either you, or your child, can write their name down on a piece of paper. Have them then paint over the paper with water colours and watch their name magically appear! 

5. Alphabet Sticky Wall 

Stick some contact paper to the wall, or a board, (sticky side up), then prep some card circles, with lowercase and uppercase letters written on them in marker. Encourage your child to stick colourful circles to the wall, while telling them what letter they’ve just put up. Try using their phonic sound, rather than just the name (e.g. ‘ah’ instead of ‘aye’ for the letter A).

6. Alphabet Ice Game for Kids 

Grab yourself some alphabet ice trays and some food colouring. Use the food colouring to make the ice letter pop with colour and then freeze. Write the letters of the alphabet at random on a white piece of paper and have your child match the frozen letters to the written ones… and watch as it melts on top!

7. Building Names 

Stick a large piece of paper to the wall and write down the various names of your friends or family, making sure to include your child’s name – however, ensure you leave a few letters blank, so your child can fill in the missing letter. After that, take some Post-Its and write down the missing letters. Have your child figure out where the letters go!  

8. Sensory Name Recognition Activity

Make sure you do this first step child-free, but grab your hot glue gun and some card stock. Write your child’s name with the glue gun on the card, going over it a few times to make it clear and thick. Once dry, wrap the card in tin foil, making sure to leave enough space, so the name isn’t clear. Ask your child to use their muscles to press down on the tin foil until the magic word appears! 

9. Alphabet Tunnel Play 

Cut out narrow rectangles of coloured card stock, use a marker to write the letters of the alphabet on each, with the uppercase letter on one side and the lower case letter on the other. 

Tape these pieces of card in a semicircle, onto the floor with masking tape, making a tunnel. Have your child grab some cars or trains and drive them through their new tunnels! Shout out the letter of the tunnel they’re going through at the time. Add an extra special bit of fun and pretend to be a sporting commentator!

10. Color Words Drive-Up

Using masking tape, set up ‘roads’ leading to colour words (such as ‘red,’ ‘blue,’ ‘green,’ etc) written onto white paper in their respective colours. Have your child find cars of that colour and ‘drive’ them up to the right colour word! 

Art Activities for Preschoolers

Art isn’t just a hobby that some of us enjoy – inspiring creative minds is vital. Our children learn from art: from their brain development, through to their understanding of the world around them, literacy and even physical development. These simple activities for preschoolers will help them experience art and inspire their creativity. 

1. Paint the Ice 

This is a great sensory activity! Get some paints and remind your child of the primary colours. Next, mix them in water into a squeeze bottle, for them to squeeze over ice. Let them watch as the colours mix! 

2. Watercolor Coffee Filter Flower 

Have some extra coffee filters lying around? Get some ice trays, add some water and food colouring to the compartments and let your child paint the coffee filters. They’ll love making different colours AND you can turn them into colourful flowers at the end, by putting them in the tops of water bottles. 

3. Bubble Painting Art Activity 

Grab your bubble solution and pour it into shallow containers. Next add some food colouring to the solution, stir and add more until it’s bright enough. Get a large sheet of paper and lay it down outside (you’ll want to make this an outdoor activity!). Invite your child to come and paint with bubbles by blowing the food colouring bubble solution onto the paper! 

4. Outdoor Name Art 

Do you have a roll of kraft paper? If so, this giant name activity will have your child busy for ages! Write your child’s name in big block letters, and have them paint within the lines of the letters! 

5. Play Dough Trays for Preschoolers 

Have one of those food trays with separate compartments? Be creative and use it for science and art activities! Grab some play dough, or make some at home. Place it in the middle compartment and add some outdoor materials for the other compartments (petals, leaves, sticks or bark) and let your child get creative with it! You can also use other materials, such as crafting objects, paint – absolutely anything! 

6. Frozen Paint Process Art 

Frozen paint? That’s right! Get some washable paint, put it in ice cube compartments. Then cover it in tinfoil and make a small slit above each compartment, which is where you place your lollipop stick! The next day, your child gets to play with frozen paint! Just make sure they know it’s not a real lollipop! 

STEM Easy Activities for Preschoolers

In today’s day and age, the impact of STEM activities is clear and it’s important children have an early understanding of the basics of mathematics and science. 

Have a look at some of these fun learning activities for preschoolers, which are focused on building a solid foundation of mathematics and science. 

Mathematics 

1. Preschool Math with Duplo Legos 

This can be loads of fun, especially if your child is into building! Begin by writing the numbers 1 – 12 on pieces of paper. Thenprovide your child with their Duplo, lego or blocks and ask them to build towers for each number!

2. Introducing Addition 

Addition and basic mathematics are always best learnt hands on, rather than on paper. Children need to understand basic mathematics, rather than rote learn/sight learn sums. Grab yourself three paper plates and some counters (these can be blocks, pencils, toys, anything you can get your hands on that will fit on the plate!). Make sure you avoid the words ‘addition’ or ‘adding’ in the beginning. Try ‘join groups’ instead. Place small amounts of the counters on the first two plates and have the children join the groups on the third plate, counting the final amount. 

3. Shape Sorting Activity 

Start with some masking tape/painters’ tape and create some shapes on the floor: a square, a circle and a triangle tend to be good, basic shapes to use. Have your child help you collect toys (keep an eye to make sure they choose toys that are common shapes) and then place each circular toy into the circle, square toy into the square and so on. 

4. Make a Domino Line-Up 

This one can be fun for the whole family. Our favourite Post-Its are once again put to use. Write 1 – 12 on some Post-Its and stick them in a line on the floor. For each number, your child needs to put a domino tile in front of the number, where both sides of the tile add up to the respective number. For example, under 5, they would have either a tile with 5 on one side and blank on the other, or a 2 on one side, with a 3 on the other. 

5. How Many Legos Long? 

This is one of the best quick activities for preschoolers  that you can play with all members of the family. Have everyone lie down on the floor and have your child count how many lego/blocks/cars they are long! 

Science play activities for preschoolers

6. Blowing Balloons with Baking Soda and Vinegar 

As always, with balloons, make sure you supervise your child at all times. Put a shot or two of vinegar into a plastic bottle. Then, take a funnel and add a teaspoon of baking soda to a balloon. Tightly secure the balloon to the bottle, making sure not to let the baking soda drop into the bottle yet (keep it flopped over). Have your child gently shake the baking soda out of the balloon and into the bottle – and have them watch as it blows the balloon up! Note: make sure to not add too much vinegar or baking soda, it could end up popping the balloon! 

7. Making Potions Science Experimenting 

Get your biggest, water proof, container that you can find, along with a tarp or a spare shower curtain to avoid mess. In the container, put ice cube trays, muffin trays and squeeze bottles. In the squeeze bottles, put dishwashing soap in one and vinegar in another. In the containers, put baking soda, shaving cream and some food colouring. Have your child go to town making potions with the various ingredients. This WILL get messy, so be sure to use a tarp! 

8. Microwave Ivory Soap Experiment 

Make sure you use the Ivory brand of soap, due to the high volume of trapped air in it. Put a bar of soap into the microwave and watch it expand in front of your very eyes! 

9. Itsy Bitsy Spider Sensory and STEM Activity 

This is best as an outdoor activity. Get yourselves some PVC pipes and joints, some toy spiders and some water. Let your child have fun playing with the ‘water spouts’ and spiders, while singing ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider!’ 

10. Bubble Droppers Science Experimen

For this activity, you will need: baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, a medicine dropper, a casserole dish, and a storage tub. Put your casserole dish inside the storage tub. Sprinkle about a half of a box of baking soda into the dish. Next, fill some jars or bowls with half vinegar, half water and add some food colouring for fun! Have your child drop the different coloured vinegar into the baking soda and watch the bubbles and colours mix! 

In Conclusion

This really is just a small selection of fun, educational play activities for preschoolers. Simply looking around your house, you’re bound to find a plethora of activities to play individually or together. Look for shapes in your house (windows, doors etc.), play Eye Spy with colours, or teach your child to look after their pet or plant. 

Never be afraid to have your child bored or for them to play alone: individual activities for preschoolers spark creativity, inspiration and independence. 

If you find these hard to remember, you can always print out quick cue cards to take  this list of activities for preschoolers with you, out and about!