Preschoolers- (3-5 years of age) are highly active, creative, and curious learners. It is the age when they enter the world of knowledge and experience many things. That makes them curious to know more about many things. They are energetic and love to spend time playing and exploring things. Here are the 12 best engaging and educational activities for preschoolers.
As a teacher, I can surely characterize preschoolers as an explorer. They experienced the things around them, explore and gain knowledge.
The age of preschooler is 3-5years old where they love to play in the garden, are curious to learn, paddle tricycle, name colors, learn to speak (interaction)- especially in their Mother – tongue, and introduce various concept of science like plants, and animals, water, air many more. Concept of maths and many language items. Engaging Preschoolers in activities is very important for their holistic development. These activities not only provide opportunities for learning but also promote creativity, social interaction, and cognitive growth. To make this journey of learning easy and enjoyable, I have some engaging as well as educational activities for your tiny little one.
List of activities for Preschoolers :
- Nature walk
- Outdoor games & activities
- Puzzles and board games
- Arts & Crafts
- Building blocks and constructions
- Storytelling
- Puppet show
- Sensory play
- Science experiments
- Alphabets and Numbers Activity
- Cooking and baking
- Music and Movement
Let’s see these activities in detail. I know you as parents and teachers worry about how would you perform these activities. ? How does your kid enjoy and simultaneously learn something through these activities? let’s see here…
1. Nature walk :
Take your preschoolers to a nearby garden and let them enjoy the walk and observations they do. Allow them to touch the leaves, flowers, plants, trees, soil, stones, etc. Let them allow to ask questions, to you or friends of them. You can perform the following activities in the garden during nature walk with your preschoolers.
- Tell them to count trees or plants in the garden.- Number Counting
- Identifying colors of flowers. ( Colour identification)
- Touch the leaf and understand texture- smooth and rough, oval, triangular, heart, etc, and size- big or small.
- Counting stones and making a group.
- Name the birds or animals seen in the garden and draw any of them.
- Making of a Leaf craft book.
You can perform age-appropriate activities for your preschoolers.
2. Outdoor games and activities :
During this age, children love to play various games, especially outdoor games. In the world of technology I as a teacher insist you make sure that your kid should play outside and develop his/her physical as well creative capability. For that, we need to incorporate games as a learning tool in the field of education.
Let us see which games help our tiny ones. Games like …
- Hide and seek
- Cricket for toddlers
- Dodging the ball
- Balancing one leg
- Book balancing
- Running race
These games help not only learn things it also helps to develop :
- Teamwork
- Co-ordination
- Social skills
- Interaction
- Physical strength
- Gross motor skills.
Therefore plan more outdoor games and let them enjoy their preschool days.
3. Puzzles and board games for preschoolers :
Introducing age-appropriated puzzles & board games that promote:
- Critical and creative thinking
- Problem-solving ability
- Social skills.
Choose such games which include :
- Counting
- Matching
- Arranging the sequences
- Memory skills.
4. Arts and crafts activity for preschoolers:
Let your child allow to be creative and think out of the box. Which leads to develop creative thinking skills among preschoolers. You can plan the following activities :
- Thumb and fingers print
- Mask making(Animals/birds/superhero etc)
- Handprints
- Playing with sand – make houses or things they love with sand.
- Cutting and pasting
- Leaves book /Animals book
- Use of cereals, and pulses to make creative projects.
- Painting using paints and brush
- Zig-saw-puzzles making.
- Flashcards making
You can plan many more activities as per your preschoolers’ interests. Believe me, they not just enjoy the process but also learn so many things. They explore many unknown facts during the process. Which makes their mind think quickly and out of the box. I can tell this from my personal experiences. I implemented many activities of above mentioned during the process of learning. Children quickly learn and make learning everlasting.
5. Building blocks and constructions :
Building blocks and constructions are fantastic ways to develop:
- Problem-solving skills
- Creative & critical thinking
- Spatial awareness
- Fine motor skills
- Hand-eye coordination
- Cognitive skills
- Perseverance
These seem very easy activities but their impact on kids is large and ever-lasting. So do add different kinds of block building and construction toys in your school resource room. And parents are requested to have blocks building toys at home. And play with your child, then see the magic.
6. Storytelling for preschoolers :
Storytelling is an olden and traditional art of learning. You can find everything about storytelling techniques here at this link. I have written detailed articles on the topic of STORYTELLING AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL – IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS.
7. Pretend play(fancy dress ):
Let the child fly and spread their wings. Pretend play in simple language – fancy dress is an activity where children learn and explore many new ideas and unknown facts as well. Pretend play activities such as :
- To be a doctor / an astronaut / a teacher / a framer
- To be any superhero they love
- To be a national hero who is a source of inspiration
- Drama in various situations
- Setting up kitchen
- Playing with kitchen set/ doctor set etc
These activities develop:
All these tiny development at preschool age make the child a better human as well student.
8. Sensory play :
Pre-schooling is the second stage of learning after ECCE and the first step toward formal education. As a teacher or parents, it is our duty to make them aware of our super scenes which are very essential for holistic development. You may have questions What is ECCE(Early childhood care & education)? Do not worry you will get all the details and information just by clicking on the link.
You can plan sensory play activities such as exploring different colors, textures, and smells are excellent for preschool. For that, you can plan a blindfold game, and create a sensory bin filled with sand, rice, or water. And also some tools for scooping, pouring, and sifting. These kinds of activities enhance imagination power, sensory perception, and fine motor skills.
9. Experiments with science for engaging preschoolers:
Allow the preschoolers to explore Science with some day-to-day bases simple experiments. Simple science experiments such as :
- Observing plants growth
- Try to observe and identify the parts of plants.
- Seed germinations
- Mixing of colors
- Exploring magnet etc
Provide them with age-appropriate experiments which are safe, easy to do, and interactive. These types of science experiments cultivate a love for learning, exploring new ideas, curiosity, and critical thinking among preschoolers.
10. Alphabets and numbers activity :
Basic language and numeric literacy formally start in preschool. So try to teach basic alphabets and number formation using different fun activities.
Here is a full article where you can see various techniques and interesting ideas on How to teach the alphabet to kids. Just click on the link, and you can find tons of ideas.
Here is an example video of an activity performed by a kid to learn numbers. You can see the video just click on it. Apart from this, you encourage the child to count steps while climbing, to count boards while traveling, etc. Also, encourage them to apply basic mathematical operations.
11. Cooking and baking:
Involve students in easy cooking or baking activities. Such as :
- Making Lemonade
- Making green salad / Sprout Salad
- Sandwich making
- Decorating cookies and cakes
- Arrange a healthy food eating day- no cooking food ideas
- Arrange community lunch day
These activities promote:
- Healthy eating habits
- Values like sharing are caring
- Fine motor skills
- Basic maths and language skills
12. Music and movements :
Encourage the preschoolers to sing, dance, play musical instruments, allow to do morning prayers, and marching on drum beats. You can show some rhymes, musical songs, or action songs to the kids. Allow them to do so or can add their own movement into that. Music and dance are very joyous means of learning. I think and believe that every preschooler love and enjoys these methods of learning.
This activity is not only joyous but also fosters:
- Physical development
- Creativity
- An emotional expression among the preschoolers.
Conclusion :
Engaging Preschoolers in such stimulating and educational activities are crucial for their holistic development. I personally tried these activities during my teaching-learning process. I approved them and then serve you. so do try for your preschoolers and let them enjoy the journey of learning. These activities, from sensory play to outdoor games and science experiments, provide a range of opportunities for preschoolers to learn, explore, and have fun. By incorporating these activities into their routine, parents and educators can contribute to the overall growth and well-being of preschool-aged children.