Now that we have mastered Uno (see my post: Playing Uno with a Preschooler), we have moved on to other, more “sophisticated” preschool card games.

In fact, playing card games has become one of my favorite activities to do with my preschooler. Not only is it a fun bonding experience, but he somehow manages to learn something new every time we do it.

Advantages of Playing Card Games with Preschoolers:

• Fun way to spend time together
• Gives my preschooler the opportunity to practice; colors, numbers, matching, etc.
• Expands his vocabulary to include card-related words like shuffling, dealing, hand, etc.
• Provides a fun way to practice following instructions and remembering rules.
• Helps my preschooler work on his fine motor skills. (Holding cards can be tough for a four year-old, and don’t get me started on shuffling.)
• Great way to encourage good sportsmanship.

Tips for Playing Card Games with Preschoolers

Don’t Let Your Preschooler Win All of the Time

I was 18 years old before I finally beat my father in Chess. This was pretty tough on my chess-related self-esteem, but it made me a much better chess player. Now that I have my own child, I have decided to take a more flexible approach. I don’t want him to have a false sense of self-esteem, but I also don’t want him to get discouraged. The object of playing games is to have fun (and learn something). So, if he doesn’t want to play because he always loses, there isn’t much point.

My general rule of thumb for card games is this…Let him win the first couple of times we play, just so he can get his bearings. Then, make him lose so that he doesn’t get a big head. After that, I kind of play it by ear, making sure that he wins enough to stay interested and loses enough to keep from getting cocky.

The good thing about preschool card games is that a lot of them really aren’t based on skill. Of course, there are things that more experienced players can do to tip the odds in their favor. For example, in Uno, you try not to play a wild card unless you have to. In Go Fish!, you can pay attention to what your opponent has asked you for in the past. Etc. and so on. But, often they are largely based on luck. In other words, once he really understands a game, there is a roughly 50/50 chance that he will win.

No Cheating Allowed!

I am happy that Edison has not mastered cheating. This isn’t to say that he hasn’t tried…He just hasn’t mastered it yet. So, I  have had a few great opportunities to catch him in the act and call him out on it. It might be something small, like sneaking a peek at the next card in his stack in Slap Jack. But, “Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eaters” are not allowed to play.

Play Cards with Your Preschooler Often

It is so easy to pull out a deck of cards and play a quick game. We do it while Daddy finishes up making dinner or we have a few minutes before we need to leave for school. The more we play, the more fun it is.

Teach Your Preschooler How to Win and Lose Gracefully

After every game, regardless of who wins or loses, we always shake hands and say, “Good Game”. Sometimes, he is frowning pathetically as he does it. Sometimes, he is bouncing around so excitedly that he can hardly take my hand.There are also times while we are playing that I have to remind him not to gloat about winning or whine about having to pick up the pile, but that is why we practice.

Take Cards When You Travel with Your Preschooler

Card games travel very well, and they are great to whip out at the doctor’s office, restaurant, or hotel. I have started keeping one in my purse for emergencies.

Great Preschool Card Games

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(I originally wrote this post when Edison was a toddler. This activity was fantastic for practicing the alphabet and phonics. Now that he is in preschool, we are still getting a lot out of it. Even though he knows his alphabet, the game is great for phonics practice and we have modified it to help with vocabulary too!)

I have a lot of board games left over from when I was a kid, and I just can’t wait until my son is old enough to enjoy them. Lately, I have started adapting some of the games to work for younger kids. Even though Scattergories is quite a bit above his level (it requires writing), I did manage to find a great way to “play” it with my son.

My spirited child has more fun learning when he is moving. So, the other day, I pulled the alphabet die out of our Scattergories box and turned it into a little alphabet and phonics game. We called it Letter Ball.

The “rules” were simple. My son would roll the die, run after it, tell me the letter on the top of the die, and then we had to come up with words that started with that letter. The nice thing is that the Scattergories die does not have the notoriously difficult letters like X and Z.

This little alphabet activity kept him occupied for about a half an hour. It also gave him the opportunity to run around and throw things in the house, always a plus with an active child.

Practice Phonics and Introduce New Vocabulary with Your Preschooler

Even though my son is now a preschooler, I am still able to modify the rules to keep it challenging. Now, we pick a category like “food”. Then, when he rolls the die, we have to come up with foods that starts with that letter.

So, not only does the game help him practice phonics, but it also expands his vocabulary because he can’t just come up with the same old words time after time.

Scattergories Letter Ball in Action (Toddler style…)

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Write a letter with a yellow marker and then trace it in black
I learned this one from Edison’s preschool teacher. She writes the alphabet letter with a yellow marker on white paper. Then, he just traces it with another color. This is an especially good way for children to sign greeting cards.

Use wipe-off alphabet tracing placemats
This is one of my favorite ways for Edison to practice alphabet tracing because it also keeps him entertained while he is waiting for dinner. I just give him a pencil and he traces the letters until dinner is ready. I keep a wet wipe handy and he just wipes it off as I set down his plate. As with everything like this, I got mine for cheap at Amazon.com >>

Cover a chalk board with chalk and use your finger to write the letter
Hold a piece of chalk sideways and use it to coat a chalkboard. Then, use your finger to draw letters of the alphabet. Give your child the chalk and have them trace the letters. When they have finished, just use the chalk to scribble over it and do it again. From the WildEdisons.com post: Toddler Alphabet Tracing Activity >>

Use the Wipe Clean Letters Alphabet Tracing Book
This book is fantastic for practicing alphabet tracing. We have had it since he was a toddler, but he still uses it as a preschooler. The book has heavy cardboard pages where my son can trace the letters and then wipe them off. I keep the marker on a shelf where he can’t reach it, but happily bring it down every time he wants to use it (which is a lot). He will trace the letter on each page.

When he is finished, I give him a baby wipe to clean the pages. (In the past, I have had issues with wipe-off books getting stained if you leave marker on it for a long time. We would rather be safe than sorry. Plus, he enjoys the act of cleaning up the alphabet tracing pages.) The last I checked, you could still get this at a discount on Amazon.com >>

Download Free Handwriting Practice Worksheets
Edison came home from school with alphabet tracing worksheets one day. I happened to notice a website address printed on the bottom of the pages. I went to the site and found that I could print pre-made worksheets or make my own. Click here to check out the site >>

Trace letters on signs
Any sign with big letters that is within their reach presents a good alphabet tracing opportunity. Obviously, they would use their finger instead of a writing utensil, but the principle is the same. I like garage sale signs and sale signs at grocery stores.

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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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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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I always keep a few healthy frozen pizzas in the house for nights that we don’t have enough time or energy for a proper meal. By healthy pizza, I am referring to the whole grain crust, veggie pizzas that taste almost as good as the box you buy them in. You really have to add some unhealthy stuff for them to be palatable. We call this “doctoring” the pizza, and it is as necessary as preheating the oven.

This is the perfect activity for Edison. He pulls a chair up to the counter and crumbles bacon, distributes veggies, etc. We have one of those fancy, $3 cheese shredders with 5 sides, and each face of the shredder produces a different type of shredded cheese. Edison is fascinated by this thing. We end up with five different sizes of shredded cheese and way more dairy than we really need, but it is an activity in itself.

The best part is, when Little Man “helps” with the cooking, he is much more likely to eat well. All in all, this activity is messier and more time consuming than cooking alone, but it is totally worth it!

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Monitor your toddler very closely with this activity. Make sure that the bottle is always pointed away from their face and at the object they are supposed to be spraying.

Instruct your toddler to spray in batches of 3 and to count as they spray. That way, they practice their counting while keeping the amount of spray at a reasonable level.

To mix things up a bit, try trading places. Sometimes, they get to spray while you wipe. Sometimes, they get to wipe while you spray.

Your toddler can help you by…

• Spraying the glass cleaner while you wipe down the windows
• Spraying the dust polish while you wipe down the furniture
• Spraying air freshener
• Spraying odor eliminator on couch cushions and pillows

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Obviously, he is too young to play the real game, but it happens to come with a 20 sided die with alphabet letters on it.

My son rolls the die across the floor, tells me the letter, and we try to think of something that starts with that letter. He gets to burn some energy, practice his alphabet and phonics, while I make dinner or pick up. A good time for all.

Check out the video below to see my little man in action.

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“Do you see something red?”

“I see the letter ‘S’. Can you find it?”

“What do you think that sign means?”

The post Street Sign Scavenger Hunt appeared first on Wild Edisons.

With 26 alphabet letters, the pictures are not terribly complex. It was pretty obvious where we needed to draw the next line, and my toddler did not have any trouble finding the next letter. The big problem was that he did not have the fine-motor skills to actually draw a decent line. Suddenly, I loved this activity even more. Not only was he learning the alphabet, but he was practicing his fine motor skills at the same time!

Check Out These Alphabet Dot to Dot Worksheets on Amazon!

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