Preschool Activities
Preschool Activities Sub Categories
Pencils…A Million Preschool Activities in One
I once asked Edison’s teacher what I should be working on with my son at home. She answered, “Give him a pencil and paper. That is all he needs at this age.”
Honestly, I thought the answer was a little cheap until I gave him a pencil and paper and watched him try to write. He kind-of looked like a pig trying to knit. I didn’t get it…He does great with crayons, pens, markers, etc. There was just something about using a pencil to write that was extra hard for him.
Nothing like a good challenge.
We picked up a package of those extra big, preschool pencils to make it a little easier. We also spent $1 on a manual pencil sharpener, the kind where the shavings are contained in a little cup. Then, we set about practicing with pencils. His fine motor skills and “writing” have already improved. Plus, he has tons of fun while accidentally learning valuable preschool skills.
Below are some preschool activities for pencils:
- Sharpening Pencils - Who would have thought that this chore would be so much fun for a preschooler. Edison is fascinated with watching the shavings curl. He also loves emptying the pencil sharpener.
- Erasing - Now there’s a mark…Now there isn’t…The first time I brought out the pencils, Edison spent a good 15 minutes erasing things. Can we say fine motor skill development?
- Name Writing - Having a preschooler practice writing his or her name kills a lot of birds with one stone.
- Correcting Misspellings - I wrote Edison’s name on a piece of paper and purposefully replaced the “d” with a “c”. He figured out it was misspelled, erased the “c” and did his best to write a “d”. We did this with a bunch of words.
- Educational Write-A-Mats - I just love these things. They are place mats that you can write on. (Click here to see what I am talking about…) We have the United States map, the world map, the phonics place mat and the one for learning to tell time. Not only do they keep his table space clean, but they keep him occupied while we are getting dinner ready.
- Drawing By Instruction - Sometimes, I will just ask my preschooler what he wants to draw. Then, I walk him through it. For example, if he says “a rocket!”, I say, “let’s start with a big rectangle.” I demonstrate by “drawing” a rectangle with my finger on the paper so he knows where to start. Then, I walk him through adding fins, windows, boosters, etc. This activity makes it fun to practice fine motor skills.
- Tracing - Whether my preschooler is tracing his hand, tracing cookie cutters, or tracing things from around the house, it is a great way to practice his fine motor skills.
- Shading - Did you know that if you hold a pencil at an angle, you get a wide line that is perfect for coloring in large areas? Of course you knew that, but maybe your preschooler doesn’t. Edison thinks it is pretty freakin’ cool.
- Quick, Travel Entertainment - Now-a-days, I always keep a pencil and a tiny pad of paper in my purse now, for those boring moments in waiting rooms or in the car. What a life saver.
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Preschool Writing Activities: Which Letter is Missing?
I love this preschool activity because it kills two birds with one stone. My son gets to practice spelling and writing his letters at the same time.
You can do it on a whiteboard, paper, a chalkboard, whatever. We use this little whiteboard activity center because we can curl up on the couch and pass it back and forth.
I start by writing his name with one letter missing. He figures out which letter I “forgot” and then fills in the blank. After using his name a few times, I move on to other easy words like mom, dad, dog, etc.
The activity itself is pretty simple, but it is actually quite a challenge for a preschooler. Writing letters is so much harder than you might think and we try to practice as much as we can.
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Tips for Making Applesauce and Cinnamon Ornaments with a Preschooler
Normally I only post preschool activities that I would give a solid “A” on a traditional grading scale. Making applesauce and cinnamon ornaments, sad to say, is not one of those activities. It might be right for someone…Just not us.
I think the problem is that the return on investment was so low. Applesauce and cinnamon ornaments are a lot of work! Rather than enjoying quality time with my son while making beautiful stocking stuffers, I ended up spending the whole time trying to keep his cinnamon encrusted fingers from decorating everything else in the room.
On the plus side though, my son had the opportunity to practice some valuable skills, so I would consider this a good preschool cooking activity for parents who have the time and inclination.
Preschool Cooking Skills:
- How to stir
- How to use a rolling pin
- How to push the cookie cutters straight down so that you get a clean cut
- How to arrange the cookie cutters to get the most out of the dough
- How to carefully move the cookies to the drying racks
If you do decide to tackle this activity, I found fantastic instructions for making applesauce and cinnamon ornaments. But, before you attempt it with a preschooler, learn from my mistakes:
- Prepare everything beforehand. Walk through the entire activity in your head and get all of the supplies together.
- Cover the table, your kid, the floor, and yourself with materials you don’t care too much about. (I covered the table with a cheap vinyl tablecloth which worked great.)
- Don’t count on being able to make any ornaments yourself.
- You might want to do the mixing yourself. Cinnamon has a tendency to explode into clouds of brown smoke when a preschooler does it.
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Practice Preschool Computer Skills…Send an Email!
I just love this activity, and we don’t do it as often as we should. Having your preschooler send an email can help your child:
- Feel more comfortable with computers and keyboards
- Practice their alphabet and spelling
- Learn where letters are on the keyboard
- Understand basic computer functionality like backspacing, space bars, and the enter key
Now, I am not suggesting that you create a separate email address for your preschooler and have them check it. Of course, if you have the time and inclination, you certainly can. I just use my own email account.
My son can pick who he wants to email or I can choose for him. He tells me what he wants to say and I tell him how to spell it and when to press the space bar. It is a long and grueling process, but it is worth it.
My biggest challenge is keeping him from holding the keys down too long. The first couple times, it was an accident, but then he starting doing it just for fun.
This was my son’s first email:
hi omi.. i lovvvvvvvve yooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…..
He had no intention of removing the extra letters and it didn’t seem right for me to clean it up before we sent it. Besides, Omi (his grandmother) didn’t mind.
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Is it wrong that I am happy my preschooler lost at UNO?
There are rules to playing cards that go beyond the rules of the specific card game you are playing. There is a certain etiquette to dealing, playing, winning, and losing. There is a vocabulary; dealer, shuffle, draw, discard pile. The only way you can learn is by doing it.
Last night, I set out to teach my son how to play UNO. Before we started, I removed all of the Skips, Draw 2′s, and other funky cards as well as all cards that were higher than 5. This left us with a more manageable deck and a lot less to teach/learn.
So, we played…
Dealing 7 cards is different than counting 7 cards. So, as I dealt, I said, “One for Edison…One for Mommy…Two for Edison…Two for Mommy…”
I explained the deck, the discard pile, and the basics of how to play. He picked it up pretty quickly. Without a doubt, his favorite part was yelling, “UNO!” each time he got down to one card.
The advantage of playing UNO with a preschooler is that their hands are too little to hold the cards in such a way that no one can see them. When I had the opportunity to play a card that would help him out, I did. But, I never held back a card that I could play or let him “accidentally” play the wrong card. Letting a child win leads to false expectations and poor losers. Plus, they can’t get better if they always win.
We played 2 games. The first game, he won. You would have thought that the sky had opened up and rained fruit-juice lollipops and Transformers. He was ecstatic. We high-fived and he asked to play again.
The second game was a different story…It took him a moment to realize that he hadn’t won. Then, the waterworks started.
I hate to say it, but that is exactly what I was hoping would happen. It presented the perfect opportunity to talk about good sportsmanship. After he calmed down, we had a nice little talk about how it is nice to win but not winning is fine too.
“That’s how we learn,” I said.
He will have to lose a lot more before he learns how to be OK with it, but last night was a great start. This morning, he wanted to play UNO first thing. He won, fair and square. Afterwards, we shook hands and said, “good game.”
Great job, Little Man! 
