Active games for preschool age children

Give toddlers foam or rubber balls to roll back and forth to a partner. Older toddlers can toss the balls into a basket. During this activity, exercise caution with younger children who might bite foam balls. Avoid small balls that toddlers could put in their mouths and swallow. This activity is great for a hot day. Children take wet sponges and toss them toward a container or bin. They can compare how far sponges of different sizes can be thrown or how different amounts of water affect the distance the sponge travels.

While on their hands and knees, toddlers move, stretch, and play like animals. They can hop like a frog or waddle like a penguin. They can arch their backs, roll on their backs, reach as high as they can, and walk on all fours. Choose a variety of animals and movements to keep children engaged and using their whole bodies to stay active.

Cut three circles from colored paper —— one red, one yellow and one green. Take advantage of this fun active play idea to also teach toddlers about traffic safety. In this indoor physical activity, toddlers form a line to make a snake. They place their hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them, and the first child or the teacher leads them around the room or play area. To make things a bit more exciting and challenging, the child at the front of the line can try to tag the child at the end.

This will get everyone moving faster! Take feathers and toss them into the air for children to catch with their hands or in containers before they reach the ground. This will get toddlers moving and having fun! If children are old enough, they can also each be given a feather and try to keep the feather in the air by blowing on it.

Stand in front of the children and tell them to watch you carefully and copy your moves. Touch your nose, hop on both feet, stomp in a circle, or crawl on all fours. Choose simple actions and use large motor activities. Encourage toddlers to keep a balloon from touching the ground by hitting it with their hands.

You can also place an item between two children, such as a chair or pillow, and instruct them to hit the balloon over the barrier to the other child. Chasing balloons allows children to run, zigzag, and hop to keep up with the object while maintaining their balance. Afterward, children can count how many balls they fed the lion. Preschoolers should be physically active for two hours or more each day.

Physical activities led by adults should be planned ahead of time and engaging for preschoolers. Activities should keep every child moving for the duration of the activity, and games that eliminate children from the activity should be avoided. Here are a few more outdoor and indoor preschool fitness ideas, games, and developmental activities to play:.

This indoor physical activity is perfect for preschoolers, particularly for those four years old and up. In Duck, Duck, Goose, children sit in a circle facing one another.

Use an adapted, no-lose version of this activity to keep all children up and moving while having fun. Place chairs in a row or in a circle facing outward. Play a song or have the children sing a short rhyme while circling the chairs. When the song is over, the children sit in the chair closest to them. Continually change the movement with each new song, such as skipping, hopping or crawling to keep kids engaged and active.

This game can be played indoors or outdoors, although playing outside will definitely make for a bigger challenge!

To start, children will form a circle and pick one person to stand in the middle of the circle. The person in the middle of the circle will choose an object that they will show to everyone else in the circle. All of the other players will search the area for the object. To play a no-lose version of this game, either wait until every player has found the object or start over once the first player finds the object.

This way, every child can keep playing, and no one has to sit out. Also shortened to Please, Mr. Crocodile, this is a fun, exciting game that requires no equipment and is a great preschool fitness idea. All of the players stand beside each other on one side of the room or play area. One of the players is chosen as Mr. Crocodile, and they stand in the middle of the room. Your little finger-paint lovers will enjoy this letter activity from Happy Toddler Playtime.

Start by writing large letters spread out on the paper. Then instruct your child to dip their finger on the ink pad and make fingerprints along each letter. A deck of cards and some duct tape can transform any wall into a correspondence and number recognition system. This one could even turn into a class scavenger hunt with cards taped on surfaces throughout the room.

Teach simple word families with this activity suggested by Fun-A-Day. Golf tees stuck in a Styrofoam base create the perfect platform to interchange different letters written on ping-pong balls.

This game lends itself to giggling and throwing the ping-pong balls, and all shenanigans can count as literacy training. Draw a grid on a piece of paper, and place a number in each box. Provide your students with a sheet of number stickers, and let them move the numbers into the box with the matching number.

After all of the numbers are used up, encourage them to write each number themselves in the corresponding box. If you or your kiddos have the time to collect 52 rocks, this uppercase and lowercase literacy activity could begin in the great outdoors.

Wash the rocks, and write an uppercase letter on one side, with the corresponding lowercase letter on the opposite side. Then show words or pictures on index cards, and challenge kids to recreate the word. Another great activity from Hands on as We Grow , this will give your little one triple the fun while practicing name writing.

Start by writing their name in large letters with a highlighter on a piece of paper. First, ask them to trace the highlighted letters with a pencil.

Then, have them trace the letters with glue, followed by yarn do steps 2 and 3 one letter at a time to avoid a sticky mess! This triple reinforcement will help the child learn their name letters and leave them with a fun craft at the end.

Collect some free paint sticks from a home improvement store, and make these phonological awareness tools from Pre-K Pages. Directions and pictures of the paint sticks come with free printouts to make your job just a little easier. This twist on the traditional bingo game comes from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls.

Simply make bingo cards with 16 letters on each card, and cut little squares of paper to write the corresponding letters on. Put these squares in a pile for the caller to pull from.

For bingo markers, you can use legos, cheerios or anything else you have around. Another familiar game, this version of Go Fish from How Wee Learn will have your kiddos learning letters without even knowing it. Cut paper into card-sized squares, and write a letter on each one, making two of each letter. Split the cards between the players, and follow the standard rules of the game to make as many matching letter pairs as you can.

Letters drawn out with whipped cream on tinfoil begin this activity. Provide the students with sprinkles and other cookie-decorating accessories, and let them decorate their letter. Kids Creative Chaos promotes this playtime for its engagement with all five senses while the children work on their letter.

Old scrabble games are the perfect literacy tool to play with. The Kids Creative Chaos blog recommends arranging the letters to form rhyming words with children who are interested and allowing everyone to play with the tiles as they like.

Even if the kids wind up building houses out of the scrabble letters, they are still seeing the letters and establishing familiarity. The Many Little Joys shares this fun preschool learning activity that only requires Popsicle sticks, a marker and a small cup or bucket. Have your child pull out one stick at a time, reading the letter or making the sound of each one.

We all know little ones love to play. So why not leverage that playtime for learning? This list of literacy activities for preschoolers is a great start for introducing youngsters to letters and setting the stage for lifelong learning! For more ideas of fun preschool learning activities, visit our Education Blog!

Kids love moving and singing along to this fun game. Huckle Buckle Beanstalk- Watch the video to learn how to play this 19th century game that still packs a powerful punch today. What Time is it Mr. Red Light, Green Light — Students can work on their executive function skills with this preschool game. Then you need these simple Simon Says movement games in your life!

Use a variety of musical styles and tempos to encourage different types of dance and movement. Use your smartphone and a bluetooth speaker so you can pause the music without tipping off the kids. Everybody loves playing freeze dance! Hot Potato- Your kids will have a blast with this fun, classic game while working on their listening and self-regulation skills.

Watch the video to learn how to do this super silly and fun dance! Limbo — An oldie but a goody! Watch the video to learn how to play this classic game. Please Mr Crocodile- Please, Mr Crocodile is a fabulous game for all different sized groups, from small groups to large groups of kindergarten or preschool kids. Zoo Animal Movement Game- Are you looking for a fun, easy game for your Zoo thematic unit that builds in following directions, listening, and movement?

Roll and Move with the Zoo Animals will give your children multiple opportunities for learning while having fun too! London Bridge — This one never gets old! Watch the video to learn how to play this classic preschool game. Farmer in the Dell- This one is fun to sing and easy to teach. Watch the video to learn how to play this classic preschooler game.

Rolling Pin Races- Grab some rolling pins and have fun with these races! Bowling with Plastic Bottles- Save those plastic bottles for a fun bowling game! Paper Plate Ring Toss- Recycle some paper plates and make your own ring toss game!