Discover toys, games, and activities for preschoolers that combine learning and laughs all year round! Even as they play, kids will hone fine motor skills in manipulating blocks, sorting shapes, and using sculpting tools, paintbrushes, crayons, and markers. Little ones will build pre-reading, language, and counting skills with engaging preschool activities and exciting preschool books and puzzles. And they’ll develop interests like science, construction, coloring, music, animals, and arts and crafts with preschool games and gear that spark their creativity and imagination.
Preschool Activities by Interest
Lean into little ones’ favourite pastimes and spark new interests with engaging preschool toys, activities, and games! Explore fascinating early concepts in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) with building blocks, construction sets, role-play toys, and fun preschool games. Discover the world of music with exciting preschool toys and starter instruments. Experiment with colour and creativity with preschool art activities and craft kits. Venture into the wider world with science exploration gear and animal-themed toys. And build little ones’ motor skills with active-play gear for adventures indoors and out!
Preschool Puzzles + Games
Combine learning and play for curious preschoolers with chunky wooden puzzles and floor puzzles that teach shape-, colour- and number-recognition and encourage fine-motor development. And explore matching games, card games and preschool board games that promote cooperation, problem solving, and strategic thinking even as they delight little ones with favourite characters and exciting adventures.
All About Animals
Foster empathy and caring with irresistible animal toys – nurturing play is so rewarding for preschoolers, who love cuddles and companionship.
Preschool Books
Reading together sparks preschoolers’ imaginations, and helps develop language skills, build vocabulary, and broaden their worldviews through stories and non-fiction.
Preschool Activities by Learning Skill
Encourage preschoolers’ interests and introduce new skills with exciting toys, games, and activities that combine learning and play. Little ones will discover new animals, places, and people through preschool books, role-play toys, and imaginative pretend play. They’ll learn letters, numbers, vocabulary, and shapes and hone fine- and gross-motor skills through educational toys and preschool games. And they’ll explore colours, textures, shapes, and other sensory delights through preschool art activities and creative play.
Combine learning and play
Set kids up for success with preschool math activities, from tech toys or card games that specifically teach kids to identify numbers, to cognitive activities like role-playing store or restaurant and counting out and adding or subtracting items or money. Little ones love to touch and feel: preschool sensory activities like sand or sculpting play, slime play, or finger painting, are satisfying and fun. Creative projects like these are also terrific fine motor activities, as are coloring or drawing, and building with blocks or bricks. Play sets that require kids to dress dolls or move figures around a playhouse or other imaginative setting – down slides, up staircases, or through doors – are good fine motor activities, too. Exciting transportation activities for kids who love vehicles can be small-scale – like driving toy cars or trains around a play set indoors – or large-scale, like piloting a ride-on, tricycle, or scooter in a park or yard. Preschool outdoor activities present loads of fun learning opportunities: science activities like bug-hunting; winter snow play like fort building; and animal activities like role-playing as a zookeeper, farmer, or veterinarian. Kids who love animals may also enjoy dinosaur preschool activities, like playing with action figures based on real-life prehistoric creatures or even dinosaur characters from favorite shows or movies.
Get ready for kindergarten
Learning activities for curious preschoolers can be as targeted as kindergarten curriculum-based workbooks and flash cards, and as simple as taking a walk on a summer day and identifying animals, shapes, colours, letters, and numbers you see. Every season and holiday can present new opportunities for preschool learning activities: like calendars to count down to Christmas , Haunukkah, or Halloween; or hunts to find a certain number of hidden Easter eggs. Literacy activities like dedicated story times can be helped along with preschool alphabet puzzles that match shapes and letters or pair up pictures and simple words, or even floaty foam letters and numbers to play with in the tub. Number activities for preschoolers can be as specific as matching games or tech toys, and as organic as sorting snack foods or blocks into groups or counting spaces on a board game or hopscotch grid. Construction play with blocks and bricks is a perfect preschool STEM activity (that’s science, technology, engineering, and math). Active-play can also involve learning activities, whether or not there are actual rules to be taught, as with introducing sports like tee-ball, soccer, or hockey. Even kite flying, bubble-blowing or trampoline jumping can help develop gross motor skills, cognitive skills like cause and effect, and social skills like cooperation and turn-taking.
ginations and pose creative challenges!Preschool Activities FAQs
What is the best activity for preschoolers?
A terrific activity for preschoolers is “Make me a…” in which kids draw, paint, build, sculpt or act out a prompt from a grownup: this game can be an art activity, a construction activity, a role-play activity – whatever your child enjoys!
What kind of activities do preschoolers do?
Fun activities for preschoolers include building with blocks; playing with cars or trains; dressing up to play pretend; playing with dolls or other action figures; coloring, drawing, or painting; sculpting with sand or modeling dough; playing simple sports and games; reading and looking at books; riding trikes or scooters and other outdoor active play.
What are some activities that you could create to support child development?
You can support children’s development by combining learning with fun: water or sand play with dumping and filling; construction play with blocks or bricks; role-play fun with costumes, props, dolls, and action figures; sensory play with slime or modeling dough; and creative play with books, music, and arts-and-crafts activities.
What are examples of creative activities?
Creative activities for preschoolers include obvious arts and crafts projects like coloring, painting, and sculpting with modeling dough, but also construction play, dress-up and role-play activities; music and dance activities; and storytelling activities like puppet shows or playing with dolls and action figures.
What are the benefits of music for preschoolers?
Preschool music activities like starter instruments, karaoke play, and musical tech toys teach kids about rhythm and melody, and encourage creative expression through performing, singing, and dancing.
What is a sensory activity for preschoolers?
Preschool sensory activities include fun, touchy-feely things like sand and water play, slime play, sculpting with modeling dough, finger painting, and even art and outdoor play that lets them explore textures like dirt or grass, and sounds like music making or and drumming.
How do matching games help preschoolers?
Preschool activities like matching games help teach shape and color recognition; floor puzzles and wooden puzzles can also help with letter and word recognition and number skills, as well as fine motor development.
How do you teach preschoolers about animals?
Preschool animal activities can include reading books – including non-fiction – that feature a variety of animals; plush and doll play that lets little ones nurture and care for pretend pets; and role-play games that let kids pretend to be various kinds of animals.
How do you introduce bugs to preschoolers?
Preschool learning activities can include sharing stories and non-fiction books about various kinds of insects; and nature walks that involve finding and examining various bugs with help from bug-hunting kits for safe catch and release practices.
What is the purpose of counting activities for preschoolers?
Preschool counting activities help kids to develop number sense and basic math skills; they can be as specific as workbooks or flash cards, and as organic as counting blocks as they play and identify numbers they see on a walk or car ride.
How can I help my preschooler learn letters?
Preschool literacy activities include things like learning the ABC song (in a variety of languages); alphabet puzzles or blocks that can be combined into sounds and simple words; and practicing drawing the letters of kids’ names and of the alphabet: on paper in crayon, on foggy windows, in the sand or snow, using blocks, and more.
What are early math activities for kids?
Preschool math activities include counting “how many?” of anything (blocks, crackers, flowers, dogs); games that involve number recognition (find the “3” in this picture) or counting spaces (move five squares); and basic adding and subtracting problems (you have two stuffies; I give you two more: how many do you have now?).