Need quick but engaging set ups for your preschooler? Here are five activities ready for the week ahead.
A few tips...
The purpose of these activities is not necessarily to keep your preschooler entertained for prolonged periods of time, but more to act as a creativity prompt. By setting materials out in a certain way, or challenging them with a question alongside a set up, you are providing them with a stimulus. This is where the key part comes in, be part of the activity with them. All activities I post with my 3 year old involve my presence. Not because I have to guide every single step, but more because I love to add value to the activity through conversation. I find that this is a key way to secure better engagement in the long run.
1. Folded Blob Art
What you need: white paper or card, scissors, and acrylic paints in squirt bottles.
How to set up: choose a shape and cut it out from the card (I made a flower). Fold the paper in half and put it out alongside some squirt paint bottles.
How it works: explain to your child that we will only be painting on one side of the shape (I find it helps if you let them choose which side). Let them add blobs of paint all over that half of the shape. Help them fold along the center line and then squish the painting with their hands. Open it up to find a beautifully painted design on the shape.
For younger kids: for much younger kids you can actually do a similar activity but put the card shape inside a Ziploc bag, add blobs of paint on top of the card, seal the bag, and then let your little one squish the color all over the card... completely mess free!
For older kids: get your older kids involved in making their own shapes to draw and cut out on the card. You can also get them to use a thick black marker to draw designs / details on the card before adding the paint.
2. Play Dough Dice Match
What you need: white paper, marker, dice, plastic knife and play dough.
How to set up: draw some blank dice faces on the white paper and set out the play dough and plastic knife alongside.
How it works: ask your child to roll the dice and count the dots on the dice. Say the number aloud. Take a piece of play dough and roll it into a snake shape. Cut the snake into the correct number of pieces to match the number on the dice. Then roll the pieces into little balls and arrange them on the dice face on the white paper. This is great for early numeracy skills, sensory exploration and fine motor skills.
For younger kids: simply let them explore cutting play dough snakes into different numbers of pieces. Keep the numbers low and use lots of number vocabulary on repeat. If they are too young to use a knife they can always just use their hands to rip the play dough, or use a craft stick to cut the pieces instead as this is a little safer.
For older kids: introduce some simple addition by writing out three blank dice faces with '+' and '=' symbols in-between. Roll the dice twice to get the two numbers for the sum and cut, roll and add the correct number of pieces. Then challenge your child to add them together and create an answer dice face, cutting and rolling the play dough pieces like before.
3. Muffin Tin Rainbow Rounds
What you need: muffin tin, cotton rounds, water, food coloring, small containers, dropper / pipette, and a mat or tray to contain the mess.
How to set up: make up small containers of colored water by adding a drop or two of food coloring to the water in each container. Place one cotton round in the bottom of each muffin tin compartment and put out the dropper with the set up.
How it works: let your child enjoy the freedom to explore adding different colors to each cotton round. Encourage them to mix colors and even try to create patterns such as stripes and polka dots. The cotton rounds inside the muffin tins works great as the mess is relatively contained.
For younger kids: only add one cotton round at a time and see if they can use a different color on each round. You can always ask them just to scoop the color on using a spoon if they are not yet able to use a dropper.
For older kids: as they add the colors, ask them to make predictions about what will happen when each color is mixed. You can see if they can make a whole new set of colors on their cotton rounds, describing and naming them all as they go.
4. Tracing Colorful Shape Reflections
What you need: magnetic tiles (we used our Connetix Tiles), white paper (we used a large roll of paper), some form of marker, paint or crayon (we used Thin Stix).
How to set up: configure your set up so that the sun is shining behind the shapes that you build. Use each color magnetic tile to make a shape / design which is reflected onto the white paper.
How it works: invite your child to use the drawing tools to trace the shape reflections on the white paper using the correct colors. This is great for shape and color recognition, as well as fine motor skills and mark making. As you can see, 6 year old big bro had lots of fun with this one too!
For younger kids: keep things simple and just build solid squares to add color inside of. Smaller kids will also be fascinated by the sun being blocked and the colorful reflection being hidden and then revealed again.
For older kids: I added an extra challenge to big bro which was to design a more complicated structure for us to then trace together. He really liked figuring out how to make the most dramatic and colorful shape reflections on the white paper.
5. Magical Marker Prints
What you need: washable markers, Ziploc bag, water in a spray bottle (or in a pot with a brush), white card cut into small rectangles.
How to set up: cut the A4 card into four pieces, and set out along with the markers, bag and spray bottle.
How it works: ask your child to use the markers to color the Ziploc bag. Demonstrate how using the edge of the marker leaves nice big color lines. Fill the whole bag with color and then squirt on a bit of water from the spray bottle. Simply lay the white card on top of the wet bag and gently push down. Lift the card to see that the marker colors have made a beautiful print. If you don't have a spray bottle, you can simply use a paintbrush to brush water onto the card and then press that onto the bag. Once done just use a baby wipe to clean the bag and repeat the process.
For younger kids: younger kids may find it hard to fill the bag with color so don't be afraid to join in with them! Keep it simple with just a few colors and then let them add the water and enjoy the big reveal.
For older kids: add an extra element to the activity by first drawing a pattern or picture on the white card using a permanent marker. The colorful marker print then becomes the most vibrant background for the image they have made.
Don't forget to check in on these activity posts over on Instagram, @findthelittlemind, as there will be more pictures to help inspire you.
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