Hi Yadi,
This is a list that I came across when my DD just turned 2. Some of the ideas might be above your DD's age level, but there are many others. I'm not sure who the original source is for the list, but here it is (my suggestion would be to copy & paste it into a word document & then print so you have it handy whenever)...
50 At Home Preschool Activities –
1. Button Sorting – Buy a bag of buttons at your local craft store and have your child sort them however s/he wants to, by color, size, number of threading holes, etc. An older child can count the sorted piles. I use little plastic cups from the party store that I think are for condiments or something. But they are shallow and non breakable.
2. Placemat per Night – Buy a stack of blank paper placemats from the party supply store. Have your preschooler color a new placemat to eat off of for the evening. S/he can make a new one each night as make on for other family members. Great during dinner prep.
3. Wash Day – This sounds silly, but kids adore it. Fill a large bucket with some mild soap, like Ivory. Allow your child to wash washcloths or dish towels. Provide another bucket (or rinse the first out) to rinse, and then hang them with clothes pins and a string in the bathroom. This helps the child learn that clothes get clean via a process, not just “magic”.
4. Shaving Cream Cars – Put a mild, unscented shaving cream on a cookie sheet with a lip (sometimes called a brownie sheet or jelly-roll pan). Allow your child to drive cars and trains through the “snow”. Those learning to write letters can attempt their letters with an index finger and erase to try again easily.
5. Painting the driveway or deck – On a sunny day, give your child a container of water and a real painter’s brush (wide with a thick handle) and allow h/her to paint away. The sun evaporates the water quickly, and the kids love to see the cause and effect of painting. My own kids would do this for hours in the summer. If you are really easy-going, feel free to add a dash of liquid washable watercolor. You’ll have to wait for rain or hose off the masterpieces!
6. Big Paper Bag Hats – Using a large, shopping-sized paper bag, cut a large shape and staple it closed except for the bottom portion. Invite your child to decorate however h/she wants, then the child can try it on and you can adjust with staples accordingly.
7. Aromatherapy Play-Dough -- Homemade play-dough is easy to make and when you add a couple of tsps. Lavender oil (or eucalyptus if the child has a stuffy nose), children get the benefits of calming scents while they knead and create. A very “downtime” activity.
Play Dough Recipe
1 cup flour
¼ cup salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil (of your choosing)
1/8 cup cream of tartar
Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan. Cook and stir over low/medium heat until play dough is completely formed and no longer sticky. Allow to cool slightly before storing in an air tight container or zip lock bag
8. Matching Pasta – sorting and matching are pre-math activities. Glue a different type of pasta (shape, color, whatever) to the bottom of a plastic cup – clear works well; then provide the child a bag or cup full of a mixture of all kinds of the pastas to sort. Counting can be added when the child is ready.
9. Cutting Lines – Preschoolers and scissors = hours of entertainment. To teach fine motor skills, draw lines (all kinds – dotted, swirly, straight) lengthwise on a piece of plain paper. Ask your child to follow the line you’ve drawn with scissors. You can even put a sticker at the end as a goal target. Start easy, build gradually.
10. Collage Mania – This also makes a great homemade gift for a friend. Get a small tackle box and fill each compartment with a different glue-able item (pom-poms, rickrack, magazine cut outs, pieces, feathers, beans, buttons, pasta, etc.) add a glue bottle or stick and you have the makings of a collage activity at a moment’s notice. You can even bring this to a restaurant to ease the boredom/restlessness factor there.
11. Lacing – Lacing cards are easily made. Take some cardboard and cut a shape or animal that your child likes or needs to learn. Punch holes around the perimeter (less for younger children, more for older), then tie a shoestring to one end and show the child how to lace. Great for small motor skills, great for a restaurant.
12. Tweezers – Give your child a set of blunt tweezers. Fill a small bowl with items like a tissue, a cotton ball, feathers, pipe cleaners – get creative. Invite your child move the items from one bowl to another bowl using only the tweezers. Super small motor strengthening activity.
13. Musical Drawing – Invite your child to draw to match the mood of music that you put on – marching music, classical, rock – whatever. This can be done with watercolors too.
14. Choose the Mood – Draw a plain head with no facial features. Make many copies. Allow your child to draw the face with different moods: happy, sad, disappointed, hurt, etc.; another good restaurant activity. For kids who have a hard time articulating their feelings, this can be a tool to let them show how they feel.
15. Animal Doctor – The word veterinarian is a hard one for preschoolers. But Animals doctor works just fine. Provide a small Tupperware container of bandages and other first aid items obtained from the drugstore (or even the dollar store). If your child needs something to do or you need a moment to breath, bring out the box and say something along the lines of “I think I just heard Brown Bear cry, I hope he’s okay. Will you check?” This is good for teaching empathy as well as just plain fun, my kids always love trying on the role of sole caregiver.
16. Easy tambourine – this is an oldie but a goody. Have your child color or paint on the underside of 2 paper plates. Staple the sides together leaving a small opening. Using a funnel, allow your child to pour about ½ cup of beans or rice into the pocket, then staple the hole up. Instant fun – add some music and your child will be loving life.
17. Ladle Fishing – Using a large bin or wash basin (dollar store is great for these) – drop toys or household items into the bin and invite your child to “fish” for specific items. Can you get the yellow block? Oops, looks like you got the blue alligator, try again! Helps to teach shapes and colors without the child even knowing it!
18. Tupperware Galore – Tupperware is of endless fun to this group. Keep you family’s supply in a low cabinet that the child can easily access. Ask for your child’s help in finding a matching lid to a specific container – even if you don’t really need it. This not only teaches matching and provides tactile stimulation, but lets the child feel the pride of being helpful.
19. Pace It Out – How many steps is it from your bedroom to the stairs? How about from the kitchen to the laundry area? How about when I pace it or Daddy does? This is a good one for line-waiting boredom. I wonder how many steps it is over to that water fountain. One of my kids even made a little journal listing the paces to and from various places.
20. Nature Bracelet – Using very sticky tape like packing tape or duct tape, make a “bracelet” by reversing the tape so the adhesive side is out. Go on a walk and let your child create a bracelet with what h/she finds along the way. This can also be done at home with feathers –a quick and easy craft.
21. What’s in the Bag? Using any bag that isn’t transparent, put 5 or so items in the bag such as a spoon, a cup, whatever you find. Have your child close his/her eyes and feel in the bag to guess what is inside. This is a good family activity too as the child can add things to the bag to stump mom or dad.
22. Spin the Bottle – Not the traditional kind! Spin the bottle, and whomever it lands on has to pay the spinner a compliment, even if the bottle lands back on the spinner! Kids love this and it teaches them to notice good traits in others, as well as feel good about themselves when others compliment them!
23. Hide and Go Find – Place objects around the house in a fairly obvious way. Then ask your child to go find something red in the living room, etc. This is fun and can be played with any number of kids.
24. Shoebox Wagon – The next time you have an empty shoebox, punch a hole in the side, tie a yarn or ribbon line to it and set a teddy bear or stuffed animal in it. Let your child discover it in your home and h/she will adore pulling it around and making up scenarios with it and stuffed animals.
25. Large Craft Stick People – Using a handful of large craft sticks, draw faces on each one (perhaps representing family members) and wrap them up in a pretty bag for your child. Allow him/her to add details with crayons and even provide extra sticks for older ones to make his/her own nation of stick buddies. Another good one for restaurants.
26. What Sifts Through? A messy but fun one, perhaps for outdoor time. Using a colander and a basin, give your child a variety of cups filled with various things – rice, sand, blocks, beans, etc. Invite him/her to explore what can fir through the colander’s holes. This is great for pre-math and visual spatial relationships.
27. What floats? Using a basin of water, give your child a cup or container of items to see which ones float. You can discuss heavy and light and how size doesn’t always indicate weight.
28. Paper Bag Puppets -- Using brown paper bags (an inexpensive necessity!), draw faces of a dog, a cat, etc. and invite your child to do the same, on the bottom of the bag. You can even glue items like yard and feathers to make fun and funny puppets. These puppets have taught lessons in our house, as I have put on little plays with them to teach the importance of being kind, or manners, or cleaning up after oneself.
29. Produce Printing – Using washable tempura paint, fill a paper plate with paint and cut a number of produce items in half in front of your child. You take one half and give your child the other. Dip in paint and print on paper. This makes nice gift wrap!
30. Large Paper Tabletop – Buy a roll of shipping/packaging recycled paper. Roll it out onto a table or breakfast bar for the day or week, securing it with tape or clothespins. Provide a cup of crayons, a small basket of stickers, washable stamps, etc. An instant, easy activity that is great when a buddy is over as well.
31. My Journal – Buy a journal at the dollar store and a beautiful writing pencil or interesting crayon and give it to your child to doodle, write, or simply scribble. Let him/her know that it is for him/her only and that it doesn’t need to be shared or shown to anyone. This makes the child feel so grown up.
32. Pasta Necklace – Another oldie but goody. Using strong string (not yearn) and tube shaped pasta, let the beading begin. Be prepared to be asked to wear these creations, and do so!
33. Straws and Cotton Balls – keep these in a bag together and invite your child to make the cotton ball “run” using only his/her breath through the straw. H/she can use different colored straws to see if one makes the cotton ball go further than another color.
34. Volcano World – This is a production, but whenever I did it, the kids played with it all day long exclusively. In a small jar (baby food sized is ideal) put in enough baking soda to fill the jar halfway, add a few drops of red or orange food coloring if desired, build a “mountain” around the jar, leaving an opening to pour vinegar into the jar later. Using plastic animals or dinosaurs let your child play with them on the mountain and then, with great drama, add the vinegar. A containable and safe “explosion” will occur. SO fun!
35. Paper Chain – Using strips of construction paper, let your child make a loop garland using tape or a stapler. Make sure you are near if a stapler is being used. Older kids can write on the strips – my kids write what their favorite things are, or colors, etc. And the chain becomes a monument to that list, “My favorite foods chain”, etc. – to hang in a bedroom or playroom.
36. Magnets Galore – At the craft supply store, purchase a dozen or so painted wooden figures. These are very cheap - .25 cents each, I believe. Super –glue a small magnet to each one and purchase a small cookie sheet for magnet play. When you are cooking, you can bring this out to occupy a little “helper”. Store this on top of the refrigerator and only pull it out occasionally to keep it fresh. You can add magnets as your child develops new interest. This also makes a lovely homemade gift.
37. Lunch a New Way – For a casual lunch, use a 6 count muffin tin and put a different food in each spot. You can use one of the spots for the child’s drink. This is great on rainy or indoor days when some excitement is needed.
38. Bread and Dough Sculptures – making a simple pretzel or pizza dough is easy and when kids can make shapes or animals out of it before it bakes, all the better. Here’s a recipe I use:
Pretzel Dough:
1 tablespoons quick-acting yeast
1 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon oil
Preheat over to 400 degrees. Measure the water, sugar and yeast into a bowl and mix. Wait two or three minutes for the yeast to soften. Stir in one cup of flour, then add oil, salt and remaining cup of flour. Sprinkle flour onto a wooden breadboard and place the dough on it. Knead dough for about five minutes. Place dough in a bowl and cover it, letting it rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place away from drafts, open windows, etc. Punch the dough down and work it into a ball. Next, separate the dough into smaller portions and let the children use their hands to roll the dough into ropes or snakes to mold dough into different shapes. After combining ingredients, show children how to knead the dough and let them try. There's no need to wait for it to rise.
Let them brush their pretzel with a beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame seed, and bake at 400 for about 10 minutes, until light brown.
39) Frozen Ants -- Ask your preschool child to peel a banana and cut into two or three small pieces with a plastic knife. Spread peanut butter on each piece then roll each piece in raisins. Wrap loosely in waxed paper and freeze. Your young child may want to eat right away so have more than one banana available.
40) Teddy Bear Fort – Kids always make forts for themselves, but what about their favorite doll or stuffed animal? Help your child get started and h/she will take it from there.
41) Can You Find It? Hide a variety of small objects in a basin of rice or sand and ask him/her to find specific objects by feeling alone.
42) Which is longer? Cut strips of construction paper to different lengths. Ask your child to find the longest green strip, the shortest red one, etc. Categorizing options are many here and easy for the child to do without frustration.
43) Pajama Day – Let your child stay in his/her jammies all day and eat breakfast foods all day. Gather up all of your lullaby music and nighttime books. Let your child use a flashlight all day and make a teddy bear bed out of a shoebox.
44) Animal Search & Find – Give your child a stack of a few magazines and ask him/her to find as many animals as possible. H/she may choose to cut them out with safety scissors.
45) Cup Tower -- Have your child stack paper or plastic cups into a tower and then knock them down. Watching them all fall around is half the fun!
46) Make a rainbow streamer. Take a paper plate, punch 5-6 holes next to one another along one side of the paper plate, cut out the middle, and tie ribbons to each hole. Encourage your child to run and dance while trailing his/her creation.
47) Tea and a Tea Tree – Buy a very fancy tea cup and saucer for your child – Ross or Marshall’s works well for this. Buy a collection of herbal teas and perhaps some stevia, honey or agave nectar to sweeten. Let your child choose from a variety of teas. After you have your high tea together, hang the used tea bag on a tree outside. When it rains, it will “rain” tea!
48) Giving Back – Every once and awhile, make cookies for the mail carrier or garbage truck workers. If it’s hot, hand them a Gatorade box or popsicle. When you do this, be sure to talk about how hard these people are working and how thankful we are that they do what they do. This remains one of my kids’ favorite activities and memories, and the mail carrier thinks it’s pretty great too!
49) Tissue Box Mailbox. When you have an empty tissue box, gather up some junk mail, write your child’s name on the side and allow him/her to play with opening mail, putting it through the slot and feeling like a grown up. H/she can decorate it as well.
50) Weather Chart – Make a circular pie chart Party supply stores have cake making supplies that work well for this), punch a hole in the middle and use a brad to secure a sturdy cardboard. Making as many sections as you wish, draw simple weather shapes. Encourage your child to notice the weather and change the chart whenever h/she notices the changes. How many different types of weather can happen in one day? Hang this low or on the refrigerator so h/she can access.
A Last Couple of Notes:
Messiness – It is hard to watch your home become a chaotic mess from preschool activities. Try to let that go. These are the years that they need to learn with all of their senses and curtailing that only means stunting learning opportunities. That said, they shouldn’t be allowed to rule the roost either. Designate an area in your home (ours is the kitchen table, which I figure I’ll be cleaning anyway) for any messy activities. Encourage your child to help you clean, even in the most basic way, such as; will you pick up that spoon while I wipe down the table?
Restaurants – We have always had a restaurant bag that lives in the car. Whenever we go to a sit-down place, it comes with us. Really little kids love to have a set of extra-small legos usually reserved for bigger kids, but that you can monitor their use of easily at the table. Little Dover books (available at bookstores and toy stores) are the best for restaurants, and almost all ages can use these. Play-dough is so easy and perfect for restaurants that some even provide them for your child. A set of plastic cooking tools (keep it to a small number) can keep a little one occupied easily.
Activity Bags -- Many years ago, a friend suggested this and we ended up hosting an Activity Bag Exchange with 25 moms. Take a gallon sized zip-loc bag and have an activity in it such as the pasta or button sorting, cutting activities, very simple crafts (that require little or no parental help). Put the bags in a basket and bring it out when you want to make a phone call or use the computer, etc. Our exchange went like this: Each mom was assigned an activity bag, of which she made 25 exact copies, bag included. We then placed them in a box or tub and each mother collected one of each bag, for a total of 25 different activities right at hand.
Block Crayons – Having only discovered these a few years ago, I cannot say enough about them. They are long lasting, unbreakable and a child cannot use one without automatically using the proper grip for future pencil and pen use. The proper grip seems easy enough, but many children struggle with it when beginning elementary school. We use Stockmar brand, they can be found at variety of places online such as atoygarden.com, finnandthatcher.com and even eBay.
Paint – Our family finds watercolor the easiest to use. There are all levels of quality out there, and we like the mid-priced. The cheapest don’t have enough pigment and it’s hard to get the ideal consistency, which frustrated the child. Expensive sets are wonderful to work with, but costly to replace if your child loves painting like some do. The brand I use most often is Prang.
The Dollar Store – or Dollar Tree or 99cent store – these are a huge resource for all of these activities. They have so many things you can use at an obviously very attractive price. If you make a list of everything you want for your own activity “database” from craft sticks to paper to wooden spoons; look at these stores first.