In the early years particularly, children are like little sponges, soaking up the world around them and advancing their learning by leaps and bounds. In preschool, children have a wonderful opportunity to combine fun and learning alongside their friends. Guided by experienced preschool teachers, children build their confidence in learning through positive experiences, encouragement and engaging preschool activities.
Engaging preschool activities, whether at home or in the classroom, provide a fun and effective way for children to develop essential skills like literacy, numeracy, and motor abilities. These hands-on, interactive tasks are designed to foster both intellectual and emotional growth in children of preschool age, ensuring that learning becomes a joy rather than a chore.
19 Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
STEM Activities for Preschoolers and Critical Thinking
STEM-based activities, even in the pre-nursery and nursery years, are key to developing problem-solving and critical thinking skills from an early age. These hands-on activities naturally inspire curiosity, as children are encouraged to ask questions and investigate the world around them.
For instance, when constructing a bridge out of blocks, they are actually learning the basics of physics and engineering as they experiment with different designs and learn through trial and error. This type of purposeful play encourages problem-solving, as they analyse what works and what doesn’t, and how to adjust their approach accordingly.
Science Experiments for Kids
1. What floats?
Not only is this a simple experiment you can carry out at home, but kids also love playing with water! Gather an assortment of items: think household items like metal spoons and toys such as a Lego brick or wooden letters, and ask your children to guess which items sink or float. Get them to put each item in a small tub of water and see if they got it right!
2. Oobleck
This science experiment for kids is a fun way to introduce your child to non-Newtonian fluids. Make oobleck by mixing a 2 to 1 ratio of cornstarch to water in a container. Add food colouring or a few drops of child-safe paint to get various colours and let them try to squish, pat, and pick up the oobleck. Don’t forget to wear easy-wash clothes and lay out a ground sheet or disposable tablecloth, because oobleck can get very messy!
3. Growing seeds
One of our favourite little science experiments from childhood, this activity is simple, child-friendly and yet so rewarding. Grab a couple of green or red beans. Place a few cotton balls or torn tissue paper in the bottom of a plastic cup or glass jar and lay the beans on top. Dip a straw into some water, block the top with a finger, and drip water into the container until your cotton or tissue is fully damp but not soaking wet. Pick a sunny spot in the house and watch your beans sprout every day!
Bonus activity: Get your little ones to draw the changes that they see every day and chart the growth of your beans together.
4. Guess the object
This is an activity to help your child explore their senses. Use an empty tissue paper box for this activity. Put one of your child’s toys or household objects inside - such as blobs of playdough, a remote control, utensils, or toy cars. Without looking, your children can put their hands into the box and carefully feel the object to guess what it is!
Numeracy Activities for Preschoolers
5. Pattern matching
More fun than just doing a maths worksheet for kindergarten! Many parents think of numeracy as simply numbers, but it is so much more than that. Numeracy is actually supported by pattern recognition, a crucial skill in understanding how mathematics works. Boost this skill by lining up Lego pieces or other toys in a sequence and get your child to recreate the same thing.
6. Shape sorting
Get a big piece of cardboard or paper and draw shapes on them - such as a triangle, a rectangle or a square, and a circle. Your child can look for items around the house that match these shapes – such as a roll of tape or a lunchbox - which increases their awareness of their environment and items around them.
7. Cooking and baking
You might be surprised to realise that cooking and baking actually involves a lot of maths. Look for a simple recipe that you can make together with your child (think no-bake bliss balls made with oats and peanut butter, or 3-ingredient banana pancakes). Let your children measure the ingredients and mix them together, then enjoy the finished product as a treat. Remember: it doesn’t have to be pretty as long as it is tasty!
Creative Arts and Crafts Activities for Preschoolers
Crafts for kids not only foster a child’s natural imagination, but also help them develop other essential life skills that will stay with them for years to come, such as fine motor skills and self-expression. Through art and craft activities for preschoolers, they can explore textures, colours, and shapes while enhancing their imagination.
8. Collage making
Put those old magazines, flyers and supermarket brochures to good use! Together with your little one, rip the paper into manageable pieces. For younger children, make shapes with double-sided tape on a piece of paper or cardboard. They can then stick the shredded pieces onto the double-sided tape.
9. Finger painting
Child-safe finger paints or bath crayons can be great fun as crafts for kids! If you can’t find non-toxic finger paints, try mixing a drop or two of food colouring into pots of plain yoghurt.
Bonus: make handprints to remember how tiny their palms were at this age!
10. Bubble painting
All you need for this art and craft activity are bubble mixture, wands and some liquid food colouring. Pour your bubble mixture into a few containers, making sure you have one container for each colour. Add a few drops of colouring to each container and mix gently. All your preschooler has to do is blow a coloured bubble onto a piece of paper, watch it pop, and see the pretty circles form on their artwork.
Literacy Activities for Preschoolers
Literacy activities for preschoolers are essential for developing language and communication skills. Phonics games, storytelling sessions, and pre-writing exercises like tracing letters prepare children for kindergarten and later, primary school. KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse incorporates these activities into our preschool curriculum, focusing on phonics and early literacy development.
11. Letter games
Some parents have limited time to set up activities for their children, but many of these can actually take place on the go. For example, get your little ones to identify individual letters when you are out shopping or eating. Play an alphabet treasure hunt, where younger kids can look for letters, and older kids can search for objects starting with those letters.
12. Salt tray writing
An excellent literacy activity for children who enjoy sensory play, all you need is a baking tray or a large plastic box and a bag of salt. Pour the bag of salt into the tray and your child can use a finger to trace letters into the salt. In an extension, your preschooler can also grasp a piece of dried penne pasta to use as a makeshift ‘pen’ to trace letters in the salt.
Extension: if you have coloured chalk, you can crush some and mix it with the salt to get lovely soft pastel colours!
Alternative: if you have an active child and you are worried about getting salt everywhere, use shaving foam instead. Spread it out on a tray for a cleaner, less messy version of this activity.
13. Phonics sorting
This literacy activity for preschoolers requires a good assortment of small toys and objects. Have a few baskets labelled with the starting letter of the objects. It is a fun way for children to sound out the names of different objects and sort them according to the beginning letter sound - for example, Dog, Dinosaur, Duck can go into the basket labelled ‘D’. This teaches phonemic awareness.
Alternative: use flashcards or printed pictures instead of toys.
Motor Skills Development through Play
Motor skills development is a fundamental aspect of early childhood, and it's crucial for building the physical foundation children need for everyday tasks, as well as for future academic and social success. These skills are typically divided into two categories: fine motor skills and gross motor skills. Fine motor skills involve the use of small muscles in the hands and fingers, while gross motor skills engage larger muscle groups for activities involving the whole body.
These activities not only prepare children for writing but also enhance their ability to handle objects with precision, an important skill for everyday tasks like dressing themselves or tying shoelaces.
14. Pompom scooping
Small pompoms are a great tool for motor skills development at home, and can be used in a variety of ways with your preschoolers. Together with a muffin or egg tray, they can be used for counting, colour sorting, and of course to refine motor skills. Younger children can use a spoon to scoop the pompoms from one container to another, while older ones can use a small pair of tongs or even child-friendly chopsticks.
15. Pasta threading
If you have spare shoelaces at home, why not buy a pack of dried penne pasta? Many children will be entertained by trying to thread the shoelace through the penne, which is non-toxic. The finished strings of pasta can even be worn as a necklace!
16. Playdough or air clay
Whether homemade or store-bought, playdough is a great way to encourage children to use their hands to squeeze, press and roll. Not only does it develop hand strength, but as children figure out different ways to manipulate the clay, they also work on finger dexterity. Bonus: if you use air clay, which is light and easy to work with, the resulting dried shapes can be proudly displayed as their artwork.
Preschool Games for Social-Emotional Development
Soft skills are also a vital part of your child’s development. As our preschoolers grow, they move from parallel play to true interactive play - and it can be difficult for children with big emotions and limited vocabularies to negotiate interpersonal relationships. Preschool games that encourage social interaction and emotional learning help preschoolers to develop empathy and communication skills as they collaborate and play alongside each other.
17. ‘Simon Says’ is a preschool game that most of us are already familiar with. Playing group games help to establish the concept of following rules, and ‘Simon Says’ in particular hones your child’s ability to listen carefully and follow directions. For an added twist, get children to use their own name in place of ‘Simon’.
18. Emotions playdough
Print out a blank face shape and laminate it for use as a playdough mat. With different coloured dough, your child can customise the face to look like themselves, with hair and facial features. Ask your child to change the face design according to emotions - what does your face look like when you are sad, happy, or angry?
Extension: stretch their creativity by getting them to change features of the face - add a unicorn horn, pointed ears, or maybe wild purple hair!
19. Compliment circle
In a preschool, this can be played between peers, but at home, this can be played by everyone in the family. This activity builds confidence and tightens relationships. Go around the circle, perhaps during dinnertime or even while waiting in a restaurant for food to be served. Take turns saying something nice about the person on your left, then when everyone is done, go in the opposite direction.
How Do Preschool Activities Help Child Development?
Preschool activities, being age-appropriate, interactive and geared towards helping children meet and surpass developmental milestones, play a pivotal role in a preschooler’s holistic development. They are designed to build foundational skills and stimulate cognitive growth - all the while being fun and engaging so that children do not easily lose interest.
Typically, these activities are structured or semi-structured learning experiences. In KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse, these preschool activities can even be child-led. After all, our approach is designed to be child-centred and relatable whilst ensuring children’s involvement in the learning process.
For instance, Playtinkers™ is a problem-based activity that features loose parts play. Playtinkers™ reinforces numeracy concepts by challenging children to use patterns, numbers, shapes, measurements and data to solve interesting situations.
Loose parts play is incorporated to invite children to think critically and creatively, while Math language is woven into conversations as children discuss and plan. Even their literacy skills are boosted when the children share about their creations and solutions in mini show-and-tell sessions in class.
By nurturing cognitive, social, physical, and emotional skills, these kindergarten activities lay a solid foundation for lifelong learning and development.
Looking For A Preschool Near You?
If you are looking for a preschool near you that offers a range of engaging activities, consider KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse, a premium preschool brand in Singapore. Known for its play-based and inquiry-based learning approach, KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse provides a nurturing environment that encourages creativity, curiosity, and social interaction. Our centres are strategically located not only in business districts but also in heartland areas to ensure that your child is never far from your work or home.
Planning age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate activities is a tough job for any parent, and preschool activities are best enjoyed with friends and facilitated by caring, trained teachers who know how to tailor activities to your children’s needs. In KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse, we provide an all-rounded, bilingual learning experience which includes core programmes, specialised programmes and even embedded enrichment. These ensure that your child’s unique developmental needs are met, supporting their holistic growth in a balanced fashion.
Choosing the best preschool for your child
A confident learner is a child who approaches new learning experiences with curiosity, enthusiasm, and self-assurance. They are not afraid to take risks, make mistakes, or explore new ideas because they have been taught to believe in their ability to learn and grow. Confidence in learning is built through positive experiences, encouragement, and opportunities for independent thinking - and we believe that your child can do so at KiddiWinkie Schoolhouse.
Through play-based and inquiry-based learning, KiddiWinkie nurtures confident, independent learners by tailoring experiences that promote holistic development across all key areas. Children aged 18 months to 6 years are welcome at KiddiWinkie, where they will learn to tap into their imagination and creativity. With a balanced focus on English and Chinese, we build a strong foundation, fostering a love for learning and preparing them for their primary school years and beyond.
If you are looking for a homey, welcoming preschool where your child can thrive, book a guided tour today to discover how our dedicated teachers and tailored preschool programmes can help your child become a strong, confident learner.
FAQ
● How can I measure my child’s progress through preschool activities?
You can measure your child’s progress through preschool activities by observing key developmental milestones and tracking improvements in areas like language, motor skills, social interaction, and problem-solving. Regular feedback from teachers, along with progress reports or updates from communication platforms like LittleLives, can provide insights into how your child is developing. At home, you can note changes in their behaviour, such as increased confidence in completing tasks, better communication, or enhanced creativity during play.
● How can I make science experiments engaging for preschoolers?
To make science experiments engaging for preschoolers, focus on activities that are hands-on, simple, and fun. Use everyday items to create experiments that spark curiosity, like making a volcano with baking soda and vinegar or observing how plants grow. Keep explanations simple, and let children ask questions, make predictions, and explore outcomes on their own. Incorporating play, colours, and sensory elements will make the experiments more enjoyable and memorable. Most importantly, encourage their natural curiosity by praising their efforts and discoveries.
● How can I incorporate motor skill development into daily routines?
You can incorporate motor skill development into daily routines by including simple activities that encourage movement and coordination. For fine motor skills, tasks like drawing, colouring, playing with building blocks, or even helping to set the table can be effective. For gross motor skills, activities such as jumping, running, balancing on one foot, or dancing to music work well.
Everyday tasks like buttoning clothes, pouring water, or squeezing a sponge also help strengthen hand muscles. The key is to make these activities fun and a natural part of your child’s routine.
● How do I choose the right preschool activities based on my child’s age?
When choosing preschool activities, it's important to consider your child's age and developmental stage. Younger children (ages 2-3) benefit from simple, sensory-based activities like playdough, sorting toys by colour, or singing nursery rhymes, which help with basic motor skills and language development.
For children aged 4-5, look for activities that encourage problem-solving, creativity, and social skills, such as puzzles, storytelling, arts and crafts, and cooperative games. As they grow, they can handle more complex tasks like basic science experiments or early math games. Matching activities to your child’s interests and skill level will keep them engaged and support their overall development.
● How can I balance structured learning with play-based activities for my preschooler?
Balancing structured learning with play-based activities for your preschooler can be achieved by creating a daily routine that includes both types of activities. Start with short, focused sessions for structured learning, such as reading, counting, or practising writing, to build foundational skills. Follow these with play-based activities, like free play, building blocks, or imaginative games, which allow children to explore, be creative, and learn at their own pace.
The key is flexibility — structured learning provides guidance, while play-based activities encourage independence and discovery. By alternating between the two, you can ensure a balanced approach that nurtures both academic and social-emotional development.
Follow us on social media to stay updated on our latest updates and happenings:
