This is the best list of preschool learning activities if you have three—and four-year-olds at home or are setting up your preschool classroom. As a former teacher and mom to three boys, I understand the importance of incorporating sensory play and movement into learning. I put together my favorite collection of easy activities that are low prep and fun for kids.
RELATED: Have a toddler or a big kid? This is the BEST list of activities for kids.
- Why hands-on activities are important
- Best Preschool Activities for Hands-on Learning
- What kind of activities do preschoolers need?
- Quick Tips for Preschool Activities
- What are some fun activities for preschoolers?
- Preschool Math Activities
- Preschool Science Activities
- Preschool Alphabet Activities
- Preschool Art Activities
- Preschool Sensory Play
- Fine Motor Activities for Kids
- Gross Motor Activities for Kids
- Other age categories
- Craving a calmer morning?
- Preschool Activities FAQ
Why hands-on activities are important
Hands-on preschool activities set the foundation for all future learning and encourage children to learn by doing. Fun ideas are typically open-ended and involve more than one sense at a time. You want the child to have flexibility in thinking, try new things, and build on existing play schema.
PRO TIP: We know we need to ditch the worksheets and incorporate more hands-on activities for preschoolers in our day. But as we are bombarded with printables and giant workbooks from Costco, we begin to think that is the quick and easy solution for summer boredom. (Save those activity books for quiet time.)
Best Preschool Activities for Hands-on Learning
1. Color Mixing
Color mixing is one of the best ways to introduce primary and secondary colors. Kids enjoy it because it is their first science experiment! Begin with two colors that mix well and add on over time. Three and four-year-olds have great fun mixing the different colors and making predictions.
Color the Ice
Paint the ice with primary colors in squirt bottles. (I use tempera paint or food coloring.) To continue the play, offer scoops, containers, and measuring cups.
Watercolor Paints
Watercolor paints are one of the best ways to explore color mixing and help children see how quickly a color can turn brown.
2. Using Play Dough
Playdough is one of my favorite ways for children to improve fine motor skills and encourage independent play. Make your playdough at home, or purchase from the store to get started. There is no first prize for how you get started.
Rethink Your Playdough
Don’t overcomplicate your playdough play! Young children have so much fun exploring everyday items and the different textures they create.
3. Playing Alphabet Bingo
Alphabet Bingo is a great activity for reviewing letter names (letter recognition) and sounds. Add magnetic letters into a tissue box and get started.
Alphabet Bingo
I call this preschool activity Alphabet Bingo with a Twist because your child can play with a friend or solo. Play with a mix of upper and lower case letters.
Alphabet Bean Bingo
Make alphabet bingo a sensory experience by adding the letters to a bean sensory bin.
4. Exploring Shaving Cream
Some preschoolers loooooooove this sensory experience. If you have a child who enjoys messy sensory play and needs an outlet to redirect their hands, this is the preschool activity you need.
Decorate the Cake
Sensory activities allow children to take the lead with their learning. This activity incorporates pretend play as your child decorates the cake with oversized buttons and shaving cream. The shaving cream spray bottle also strengthens small hands.
5. Creating Board Games
My boys have a blast making DIY board games. Board games offer the perfect opportunity to explore creativity and improve counting and number recognition. Play is the best way to review otherwise daunting math skills, and if you are doing homeschool preschool, RUN with this easy idea.
DIY Board Game
Grab some bright markers and dice, and let the math games begin with this rainbow board game.
6. Bear Sensory Bin
Sensory bins introduce early math, literacy, and science skills and encourage independent play. The preschool years must be hands-on to establish the foundation that learning is fun. (Preschool teachers are great at being intentional with sensory play and we can do the same at home.)
Bear Soup
Bear soup is water sensory play that allows preschoolers to pour, scoop, and measure. Sensory play ideas help build momentum and concentration.
7. Exploring Name Activities
Name activities are among the first ways I practice literacy skills with my preschoolers. Children remember what we chat about because it is important and meaningful to them.
PRO TIP: Use a cookie sheet and dry-erase marker rather than paper with many name activities for preschoolers.
Preschool Name Find
Find Your Name helps with name recognition and fine motor skills as children concentrate on forming a complete circle after finding their name.
Name Seek and Find
Young students love the element of surprise. Add the letters in your child’s name into a paper bag, invite them to find the letter, and put it on the paper.
8. Twisting Pipe Cleaners
If you have a collection of pipe cleaners you are not using, use them with this fine motor activity. My little guy enjoyed twisting pipe cleaners around sticks to make magic wands.
RELATED: If your child enjoys easy craft ideas, here is my collection of spring craft ideas for kids.
Pipe Cleaner Wands
Little muscles strengthen every time a child wraps and twists the pipe cleaner.
9. Color Sorting
Color sorting is an introduction to classification. Children enjoy sorting by color, size and shape with everyday items. Play sorting games using blocks, toy animals, and even alphabet letters.
Color Parking Lot
Draw a simple parking lot for your preschooler to sort race cars by color. When they finish, chat about how many they have sorted.
Toy Color Sort
Create three color blocks to introduce primary colors. Invite your child to color-sort the toys they have at home.
Outdoor Color Hunt
Use chalk to create a colorful circle. Play music and ask your child to find something with that natural color.
10. Playing with a Cardboard Box
Do I get to pick favorites? If so, cardboard box activities are at the top of my list! I saved the best for last.
Cardboard Box Drop
Squeezing hands is a basic skill that improves pencil grip. Younger kids can practice squeezing using tongs to pick up socks and drop them into the cardboard box. (Aka washing machine!)
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Outdoor scavenger hunts are an excellent way to get toddlers, preschoolers, and big kids moving! To get started, use the side of a box and contact paper.
What kind of activities do preschoolers need?
You can attest to their short attention span if you have a three- and four-year-old. One minute, they may be deep into sensory play, and the next, they wander into the kitchen, asking for a snack.
When setting up preschool activities, parents and educators need to know that this is age-appropriate and that children can typically focus one more minute or twice their age. At the preschool age, we are focusing on building experiences that will encourage momentum and more independent play over time.
Preschoolers need open-ended, fun invitations to play.
Quick Tips for Preschool Activities
- Pick activities that take less than five minutes to set up. Children appreciate simplicity.
- Think about what your child enjoys doing. Children learn through repetition and need plenty of opportunities to revisit ideas.
- Guide, not micromanage. Three and four-year-olds will likely go in their direction. (this is a good thing)
- Observe and use language to mention what you notice. “I see you put the red cars in the red circle. That is called color sorting”.
- Play it cool. Kids don’t need us to hover. Make jokes and enjoy watching your child discover their learning.
Above all, remember that preschool activities should not feel like a race to learn everything. They are about the experience.
What are some fun activities for preschoolers?
Hands-on activities allow children to become fully engaged in what they are learning.
These learning-through-play activities for preschoolers include movement and encourage new brain pathways to extend previously learned knowledge. They build what educators call play schema, which means repeatedly repeating play patterns to create new learning pathways in the brain.
Hands-on activities wake up learning.
50 Math Activities for Kids
Inside this main post featuring 50 math activities for preschoolers, you will find play-based, hands-on activities. Kids learn by practicing counting, graphing, measuring, learning shapes, and sorting through play.
Preschool Math Activities
Remember, math activities for kids go beyond memorizing numbers and counting. These hands-on activities inspire play-based learning. Practice measurement with magnetic tiles, color sort pom poms with trucks, play games with ten frames and problem-solve with higher-level thinking.
- Shape People Counting Activity
- Sorting by Shapes
- Color Counting Hunt
- Watercolor Shape Painting
- Shape Build
- Primary Color Toy Sort
- Graph the Counting Bears
- Feed the Sharks; a Preschool Counting Game
17 Science Activities for Kids
Toddlers and preschoolers are curious little beings. Their natural desire to explore everything around them is important to their growth and development.
Preschool Science Activities
A couple of years ago, I noticed my preschooler started to show an increased interest in the seasons, weather and changes around him. I took his lead and began offering him some simple play-based science activities for preschoolers to encourage his interest.
- Balloon Experiments with Candy – Learn Play Imagine
- Color Changing Flowers – Go Science Kids
- Outdoor Tracks Water Play
- DIY Sound Shakers
- Elephant Toothpaste – Fun at Home with Kids
- How to Recycle Markers into Watercolors
- How to Make a Lava Lamp – 123 Homeschool for Me
- Magic Milk – Little Bins Little Hands
What is Letter Recognition?
Ever wonder which letters to teach your three and four-year-old first? Here is an organized list to help you understand which letters to review with your child and activities to reinforce.
Preschool Alphabet Activities
“How do I teach my child the alphabet?” is one of the most commonly asked questions. Recent studies have revealed that helping our children hear letter sounds and watch our mouths when we form letters is more important than memorizing. Learn why hands-on learning is important for child development and easy ways you can set up practice.
- 15 Name Activities
- Fine Motor Letter Grab
- Writing Letters with Race Cars
- Rock Letters Alphabet Activity
- Alphabet Bingo – with a twist!
- Name Hide and Seek
- Poke the Alphabet
- Alphabet Sorting Activity
50 Art Activities for Kids
Art activities for kids are a way to express thoughts and interests creatively. If you want everything in one place, head to our collection of 50 art activities for kids featuring easy art ideas, painting with kids, and recyclable art ideas.
Preschool Art Activities
Here you will find process art and watercolors, painting ideas for kids, mystery leaf rubbings, cutting practice, paper weaving, and other innovative and imaginative ideas.
- How to Paint with Kids
- How to Paint with Toddlers – a GENIUS idea
- Color by Number
- How to Introduce Clay to Kids
- Paint Elmer, the Elephant
- Tissue Paper Easy Art
- Paint by Color Dots
- Glue the Fall Leaves
40 Sensory Bins for Kids
Sensory play is one of the most valuable hands-on learning activities. Why? Because sensory bins allow children to connect information through touch, sound, sight, taste, and smell. Learn how to introduce sensory play and jump into 40+ sensory bin activities for all ages.
Preschool Sensory Play
Sensory play can be as simple as freezing water in a muffin tin (my personal favorite) or making cloud dough. Over time, you will learn the sensory play you are down for and the one you will never repeat. For me, that is making a rice bin.
- Alphabet Bean Bin
- Colored Noodles
- Shaving Cream Messy Sensory Play
- Paint the Ice
- Shaving Cream Cake Decorating
- Frozen Water Play
- Scoop the Cranberries
- Taste Safe Sensory Bin
- Scoop the Limes
RELATED: This article shares the importance of sensory play.
Fine Motor Activities
I LOVE creating fine motor skills activities for toddlers and preschoolers alike. You’ll learn what a fine motor skills activity is, why they’re critical for development, and 50+ ways to develop fine motor skills.
Fine Motor Activities for Kids
Children need hands-on opportunities to move the small muscles in their hands. children can practice finger control with tweezers, tongs, eye droppers, spray bottles, squirt bottles, stickers, and stamps. – whew! I wasn’t exaggerating when I told you we have many fun preschool fine motor activities on this list.
- Bring Home the Bears with Pincer Grip
- Tweeze and Rescue the Bears
- Sticker Match Pencil Grip
- Color by Number
- Cut the Lines; Preschool Scissor Practice
- Pinch the Clothespins
- Squirt the Ice
- Spider Match Sticker Exploration
- Drive and Park Color Sort
RELATED: This article shares the ages and stages of pencil grip.
25 Gross Motor Games
Gross motor activities for preschoolers are important for your kids to develop their bodies to be and later to be able to use fine motor skills. Practicing gross motor skills also helps children learn more about themselves and become more confident.
Gross Motor Activities for Kids
Finally, let’s get our preschoolers moving with these entertaining gross motor activities to strengthen the large muscles in the body. Grab the chalk, head outside, make a movement cube, and find ways to move your body on indoor rainy days.
- Musical Color Scavenger Hunt
- Nature Scavenger Hunt
- Outdoor Chalk Boardgame
- Outdoor Tracks Water Play
- Jump the Lines
- Indoor Color Sorting
- Prewriting with Colors and Movement
- Indoor Mini Golf
Other age categories
Call over your two to four-year-olds! These toddler activities are a great way to drink your morning coffee (hot) as your child plays. These easy ideas strengthen hands for future writing skills, encourage problem-solving, and improve hand-eye coordination. You can finally empty the dishwasher or make lunch as your toddler activates learning through play.
Hands-on Activities for Kindergarten
Did you know Kindergarteners need hands-on learning more than ever? In a digital world, we are bombarded with computers and devices. Let’s take a step forward with learning the way kids are meant to learn through play and movement. Review sight words, practice letter sounds, addition, and many more Kindergarten skills all in one place. Are you ready to dive in? Yes, please!
Craving a calmer morning?
Breakfast Invitations are simple learning games that begin the day with play.
Preschool Activities FAQ
Preschool should be a time to create and explore new ideas. We want our early learners to transport objects, discover color combinations, sort, classify, design, connect, and investigate new ideas. We can do this with hands-on preschool activities – NOT worksheets. Use these preschool activity cards with your child.
Teaching hands-on is following a child’s interest and learning style. It allows children to use their hands and mind to make connections through investigation and problem-solving. A child that loves to move will incorporate more gross motor activities. If your child works on pencil grip, slow down and review the fine motor activity list.
Learning activities for preschool should include hands-on ideas that allow children to explore their senses. We want children to touch, manipulate, and ask questions. Learn everything you need to know about learning activities with the starter kit.