These preschool learning activities
How do I teach my preschooler at home?
These activities are great, if you ask yourself what should I be teaching my 3 year old? Use them to to keep your 3-year-old happily busy all day! Hands-on, learn and play, these activities are great for ages 2-5. Check out also our free printables and worksheets in our shop.
These great preschool learning activities are a daily part of our homeschool daily schedule for our 3-year-old and include the following categories:
- Language & Literacy
- Math, Logic & Problem-solving
- Science & Social Studies
- Motor & Sensory
- Personal & Social & Practical Life.
A preschool curriculum is designed to support the developmental needs of children aged 3 to 5 years old. It focuses on fostering foundational skills in various areas, promoting social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Here are the key components typically included in a preschool curriculum:
1. Language and Literacy
- Vocabulary building: Introducing new words through stories, songs, and conversations.
- Phonemic awareness: Activities that help children recognize sounds in words, such as rhyming games.
- Alphabet knowledge: Teaching the letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds.
- Storytelling and comprehension: Reading books and discussing the stories to enhance understanding and critical thinking.
2. Mathematics
- Number recognition: Learning to identify and write numbers.
- Counting: Practicing counting objects and understanding the concept of quantity.
- Basic operations: Introduction to simple addition and subtraction through hands-on activities.
- Patterns and sequencing: Recognizing and creating patterns, understanding sequences of events.
3. Science
- Exploration and observation: Encouraging curiosity about the natural world through observation and exploration.
- Basic concepts: Introducing simple scientific concepts like weather, plants, animals, and the human body.
- Hands-on experiments: Conducting age-appropriate experiments to develop inquiry skills.
4. Social Studies
- Community awareness: Learning about different roles in the community, family structures, and cultural diversity.
- Basic geography: Understanding maps and simple geographic concepts like land and water.
5. Social and Emotional Development
- Self-awareness: Activities that help children understand their own emotions and behaviors.
- Relationship skills: Promoting sharing, cooperation, and conflict resolution through group activities.
- Emotional regulation: Teaching techniques to manage emotions and develop empathy.
6. Physical Development
- Gross motor skills: Activities that involve running, jumping, climbing, and other large movements.
- Fine motor skills: Developing hand-eye coordination through tasks like drawing, cutting, and manipulating small objects.
- Health and nutrition: Teaching the importance of a healthy lifestyle, including good nutrition and exercise.
7. Creative Arts
- Art: Encouraging creativity through drawing, painting, sculpting, and other art projects.
- Music: Singing songs, playing instruments, and exploring different types of music.
- Drama: Role-playing and acting out stories to enhance imagination and social skills.
8. Cognitive Development
- Problem-solving: Activities that challenge children to think critically and solve problems.
- Memory and recall: Games and exercises that improve memory skills.
9. Practical Life Skills
- Independence: Teaching self-care skills such as dressing, feeding, and toileting.
- Responsibility: Assigning simple chores or tasks to foster a sense of responsibility and accomplishment.
Implementation Strategies
- Play-based learning: Utilizing play as a primary method of instruction to engage children and make learning enjoyable.
- Thematic units: Organizing activities around themes (e.g., seasons, animals, family) to provide a cohesive learning experience.
- Individual and group activities: Balancing individual tasks with group activities to support both independent and collaborative learning.
Conclusion
A well-rounded preschool curriculum is crucial for laying the foundation for future academic success and personal development. It should be flexible to adapt to the needs and interests of the children while providing a structured environment where they can explore, learn, and grow.
You can download the list as a free printable here. Also, check out the free printables for some of the activities here.
If you need some inspiration how to organize and plan your homeschool preschool routine and set you schedule, check out the Ultimate Homeschool Preschool Planner – Preschool Planner & Materials.
What are fun activities for preschoolers?
So here is our list of what are our favourite fun learning activities for preschoolers and toddlers at home:
- Letter Hunt
- Letter Rescue
- Alphabet Balls and Tunnels
- What’s my name
- Match the Letters (Free Printable)
- Montessori Letters Puzzle
- Words on Magic Paper Towel
- Match the word
- Dot to dot
- Writing Letters in Tray (Salt, Sprinkles, Flour)
- Read to me
- Trace numbers 1-20
- Pizza Stickers
- Build a house for the duckies
- Magnetic math
- Compare – sort big, medium, small
- Line up – who is first in line, who is last in line
- Number Rescue
- Add one, add two, add three…
- Shape Hunt
- Candle & Water Experiment
- Magic Milk Experiment
- Insect Hunt
- Insects Play Doh
- Ice Fishing
- Microscope imagining station
- Germs Play Doh
- Volcanos
- Tornados
- Storms
- Dinosaur
- Ocean
- Animals, humans, plants and non-living objects
- Electricity
- Static Electricity
- Space – Play-Dough Planets
- Space – dwarf planets
- Seasons – Winter
- Seasons – Spring
- Seasons – Fall
- Seasons – Summer
- Cut me out
- Letters Sensory Bin
- Stencil Tracing
- 5 Senses
- All about me
- My Family
- Friendship
- Send those germs down the drain
- Brush the Teeth
- Fire safety
- My emotions
Videos, descriptions and images will follow next week.
How can I teach my preschooler at home?
It’s easier than you think! Choose the right activities, be flexible and let them show you how it works!
#24 Microscope Imagining Staion
Set it up easily with few empty packaging that you surely have at home and some tape.
#48 Brush the Teeth – Germs Theme
#3 Alphabet Balls
#11 Number Tracing
No matter whether you can call them numbers or numerals, these DIY sandpaper numerals are super easy to make and a great way to learn counting and practice number tracing.
#34 Space – Play-Dough Planets
#33 Static Electricity
#7 Words on Magic Paper Towel
Inspired by the Magic Paper Towel experiment by Active Littles we tried this fun word reveal game. Well worth to try it out once in a while. For us this activity is not environmental friendly as our little learner wants to waste so much paper towel that it hurts to watch it. So, try it, but don’t do it regularly. Our kids need the planet more than 10 seconds of fun.
We will try it again for Easter.
#22 Magic Milk Experiment
Happy Learning!
