Simple Activities for Preschoolers - Week 1

Here are our first 5 simple but varied activities to help keep your preschooler playing and learning at home.

A few tips...

As many of us face school closure and extended periods at home, I'm hoping to help keep your preschoolers playing and learning with a few simple activities each week. These will be shared throughout the week on my Instagram feed, @findthelittlemind, but I know sometimes it can help to have some ideas in advance to plan out your week.

1. Rainbow Snip Strips

What you need: white paper, markers, construction paper, scissors, glue and tape.

How to set up: draw colored lines in a rainbow formation on the white paper. Tape long thin strips of construction paper to the end of your table.

How it works: ask your child to glue along the purple line and then encourage them to snip pieces of purple construction paper off the strip and stick it to the rainbow. Repeat the process for each of the colors on the rainbow.

For younger kids: they will love adding glue to the rainbow and instead of cutting they can rip the construction paper.

For older kids: challenge them to draw their own rainbow and count how many pieces of each color construction paper is needed. They could even choose to make a different picture such as a car or sunset using the same process.

2. Color Sort

What you need: white paper, markers, colorful toys (we used wooden rings but anything will do- blocks, cars, play food etc.).

How to set up: draw colored circles on the white paper and set out matching colored toys.

How it works: ask your child to fill the colored circles with the correct color toy. I find it helps to use a toy which they can build with. You can see my 3 yr old decided to make towers with her wooden rings and this adds an extra element to the activity.

For younger kids: limit the number of colors to just red, blue and yellow and use large toys.

For older kids: add a number or even a basic math sum in the middle of each circle. They will have to work out how many of each color needs to be put in the circles.

3. Toy Rescue

What you need: muffin tin, tape, scissors, small toys (thank you @kidsplaytricks for the idea!).

How to set up: add one toy to each muffin tin compartment and add an 'X' of tape over the top.

How it works: challenge your child to use their scissors to rescue all six toys from their little muffin tin jails. Encourage them to also use tweezers to then safely transfer the toy to safety.

For younger kids: they can simply use their hands to rip open the tape. You can even just use one strip instead of the 'X'.

For older kids: challenge them design their own toy jails using the same materials. Can they make it harder to cut open? Can they think of any other materials to add to the set up?

4. Play Dough Prints

What you need: tray, play dough (a few different colors is ideal), a manipulative such as pebbles, blocks or even rocks from the yard, animal figures or vehicles.

How to set up: put each color of play dough in a separate space on the tray, use the manipulative to act like a boundary (helps to prevent immediate squishing of colors together), place animals in the play dough (I color matched ours).

How it works: let your child experiment with using the animals to make footprints in the play dough. You can do the same with vehicles and tire tracks. My 3 yr old enjoyed making up stories about the animals playing together and also explored using the pebbles to build animal enclosures.

For younger kids: just provide them with one color of play dough and a few animals or vehicles to explore. They will simply enjoy sticking the animals in the dough.

For older kids: instead of setting up the tray for them, ask if they can create their own small world with the materials. Provide them with some play dough tools for shaping the dough. This works great if an older sibling builds a small world for their younger sibling to play with.

5. Painting with Cars

What you need: white card (paper also works but can rip), paint, toy cars, and a tray.

How to set up: put the white card, paints and cars on some sort of large tray or mat (it can get messy!). Alternatively it can be fun to get the kids to choose their own cars while you are setting the rest up.

How it works: ask your child to add blobs of paint across their page. Encourage them to drive their cars through the paint to make colorful tire tracks. They can add more paint blobs and it can be a fun link to color mixing.

For younger kids: if you want to avoid the mess of paint you can simply use water on a dark surface such as a patio slab or chalk board.

For older kids: see if they can use a variety of tire track types to see how it changes their painting. Can they create letters, numbers or shapes by painting with their cars?

Optional Extension: Car Wash

This is a great way to extend the car painting activity and my toddler often enjoys this part more. Simply provide them with some water, dish soap, a whisk, sponge and drying towel. Let them whisk the bubbles in the water (endless fun!) and scrub their cars clean. Bubbles and water play never fails!

Happy playing and please don't hesitate to reach out over on Instagram with any questions.