40 Preschool Activities at Home (Printable and Hands On)

Print the free gingerbread counting mat (3 pages) and have your child place one pom-pom on each dashed button circle, counting out loud. A 3 year old does the 1 to 3 men; a 5 year old does all five and then adds the totals.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes to print.

Mess: none.

Supplies: the free mat, 15 pom-poms, chunky tongs.

Safety: pom-poms are a choking hazard for children who still mouth things; use jumbo pom-poms and stay at the table.

Print the dot marker tree from the free Christmas printables set (page 12), or draw 15 circles on a sheet with a marker in one minute. One dot per circle is one-to-one correspondence, the skill under all early counting.

Ages: 3 to 4.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: none.

Supplies: the dot page, washable dot markers.

Safety: none; markers are washable and the page is a table task.

Write your child's name in yellow highlighter, large, five times down a sheet. They trace over it with a pencil or crayon. No printer needed, and the highlighter line gives a 3 year old a path to follow while a 5 year old just uses the first line as a model.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: none.

Supplies: paper, a yellow highlighter, a pencil.

Safety: none.

Print two bingo cards and the calling sheet from the free Christmas set, or draw a 3 by 3 grid of household objects. Call the picture, your child covers it, and on each one you say a sentence with the word. It is matching for a 3 year old and listening for a 5 year old.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: bingo cards, paper squares or crayons as markers.

Safety: use paper squares or crayon marks, not cereal or buttons, if a younger sibling is at the table.

Draw six big shapes on colored paper (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, half circle, long thin rectangle). Your child cuts them out and glues them into a house, a truck or a tree on a second sheet. Cutting on a line is the fine motor part; naming the shapes is the math part.

Ages: 3 to 5 (a grown-up cuts for most 3 year olds).

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: low; glue stick, not liquid glue.

Supplies: colored paper, kids scissors, a glue stick.

Safety: blunt-tip kids scissors only, and sit next to a 3 year old for the whole cutting part.

Print the kindness advent calendar cards and sort the 24 pictures into "things we do at home" and "things we do outside", then pick one to do today. Sorting by a rule is a preschool math skill wearing a nicer outfit.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 5 minutes to print and cut.

Mess: none.

Supplies: the free cards, two bowls or two sheets of paper as sorting spots.

Safety: none.

Write the name in big letters across a strip of cardstock, cut between the letters in zigzag lines, and mix the pieces. Your child rebuilds the name using a second, uncut strip as the model. By 5, take the model away.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: cardstock, a marker, scissors.

Safety: none; the pieces are big.

Pour a thin layer of salt into a baking tray, write a letter on a card as the model, and your child traces it in the salt with a finger. Shake to erase. A 3 year old makes lines and circles; a 5 year old writes the whole name.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: low; salt stays in the tray if the tray has a rim.

Supplies: a rimmed baking tray, a cup of salt, letter cards.

Safety: salt stings cuts and is not for eating; wash hands after and keep it off the floor where it is slippery.

Write the letters of the name on sticky notes, hide them around one room, and your child finds them and sticks them in order on the fridge. Say the sound of each letter as it goes up, not just the name.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: sticky notes, a marker.

Safety: hide the notes at kid height, not on shelves they would climb.

Pick one letter and fill a basket with five objects that start with its sound (B: ball, book, banana, block, bear). Pull them out one at a time, say the word, and stretch the first sound. Next day, add one object that does not belong and let them find it.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: a basket, five household objects.

Safety: objects bigger than a toilet paper tube for a 3 year old who still mouths things.

Roll playdough flat and press alphabet magnets or wooden letter blocks into it to leave prints. Your child reads the print, then rolls it away and stamps the next one. Stamping the name in order is the 5 year old version.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: low; playdough on a mat.

Supplies: playdough, letter magnets or blocks, a placemat.

Safety: letter magnets are a choking hazard and dangerous if swallowed; count them in and out, and use wooden blocks for a 3 year old.

Write one letter large on paper, then your child traces it in red, then orange, then yellow, and so on until it is a rainbow. Six passes over one letter is six practice strokes that feel like coloring.

Ages: 4 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: none.

Supplies: paper, crayons.

Safety: none.

Dump a set of counting bears on the table with four bowls. Sort by color, then count each bowl and lay a number card in front of it. A 3 year old sorts; a 4 year old counts to 10; a 5 year old writes the numbers and says which bowl has more.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: none.

Supplies: counting bears, four bowls, number cards.

Safety: counting bears are a choking hazard under 3 and for children who still mouth things; count them back into the jar.

Tape a line of ten squares on the floor and write 1 to 10 on them. Call a number and your child hops to it; then roll a die and hop that many. For a 5 year old, ask "what is two more than where you are?"

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: painter's tape, a marker, a large die.

Safety: socks on a hard floor slip; bare feet or a rug.

Cut a square hole in a piece of cardboard and hand it over as a "shape finder". Walk the house looking through it for circles (clock, plate), rectangles (door, book) and triangles (roof on a toy). Tally what you find on a sheet with the four shapes drawn.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: cardboard, a tally sheet, a crayon.

Safety: none.

Roll a die, count the dots, and place that many bears, blocks or pasta pieces on a plate. Then roll again and add. A 3 year old matches dots to objects; a 5 year old says the total without recounting.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: none.

Mess: none.

Supplies: a large foam die, 20 counters, a plate.

Safety: counters larger than a toilet paper tube for 3 year olds who mouth things; blocks instead of pasta.

Draw a long wiggly line with 10 circles on it. Start a pattern with two colors of pom-poms (red, blue, red, blue) and let your child finish it. Move to three-color patterns by 5.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: paper, a marker, pom-poms in two or three colors.

Safety: pom-poms are a choking hazard for children who mouth things; use jumbo pom-poms and stay at the table.

How many blocks long is the spoon? The book? Your foot? Line up same-size blocks end to end and count. Write the number next to a drawing of each object. Measuring with units is kindergarten math done at 4.

Ages: 4 to 5.

Prep: none.

Mess: none.

Supplies: 20 same-size blocks, paper, a crayon.

Safety: none.

Freeze a few small toys in a container of water overnight. Give your child a cup of warm water, a dropper or spoon, and a pinch of salt, and let them free the toys. Ask which melts faster, salt or warm water.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 5 minutes the night before.

Mess: medium; do it in a tray or the sink.

Supplies: a container, small toys, salt, a dropper, a tray.

Safety: toys bigger than a toilet paper tube for 3 year olds; warm water, not hot.

Fill a tub with water and gather ten objects: a spoon, a cork, a crayon, a lego, an apple. Guess first, then drop. Draw two columns on paper and have your child draw each object in the right one.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: medium; towel under the tub.

Supplies: a tub of water, ten objects, paper.

Safety: never leave a child alone with a tub of water, even a shallow one.

Put red, yellow and blue water (food coloring) in three cups of a muffin tin, leave the rest empty, and hand over a dropper. Your child mixes drops in the empty cups to make orange, green and purple. Name each new color.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: low to medium; food coloring stains, so use a tray and an old shirt.

Supplies: a muffin tin, food coloring, a dropper or pipette.

Safety: colored water is not for drinking; stay at the table.

Lean a cutting board or a piece of cardboard against the couch. Roll a toy car, a ball, a block and a crayon down it. Which goes farthest? Raise the ramp and test again. Mark the stopping spots with tape.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: a board, four rolling objects, painter's tape.

Safety: nothing that rolls under furniture where a child will crawl after it; keep the ramp low.

Hand over a magnifying glass and walk the yard or the block looking at bark, a leaf, a brick, an ant. Back inside, your child draws the three most interesting things they saw.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: none.

Mess: none.

Supplies: a kids magnifying glass, paper, crayons.

Safety: a grown-up holds hands near the street; no looking at the sun through the lens.

Four cups of water, four spoons, and a teaspoon each of salt, sugar, flour and rice. Stir, wait, look. Which disappeared? A 3 year old just stirs and watches; a 5 year old guesses first and keeps a yes/no chart.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: low.

Supplies: four clear cups, water, four pantry items, spoons.

Safety: rice grains are a choking hazard for a child who mouths things; a grown-up handles the dry rice.

Put a pile of jumbo pom-poms in one muffin cup and ask your child to move them one at a time to the other cups with tongs, one color per cup. By 5, switch to tweezers and smaller pom-poms.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: none.

Supplies: a muffin tin, pom-poms, tongs or tweezers.

Safety: small pom-poms are a choking hazard; jumbo only for a 3 year old who mouths things.

Roll playdough into long snakes, then let your child cut the snake into pieces with kids scissors. Playdough is easier to cut than paper, so this is where 3 year olds learn to open and close the blades.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: low; on a mat.

Supplies: playdough, blunt-tip kids scissors, a placemat.

Safety: scissors are supervised at 3; store-bought dough for a child who still tastes things.

Hand over a pile of dry penne and three pipe cleaners. Your child threads the pasta on, then bends the pipe cleaner into a bracelet. Color the pasta first with marker for a pattern version.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: none.

Mess: none.

Supplies: penne or rigatoni, pipe cleaners.

Safety: dry pasta is a choking hazard for a child who mouths things, and pipe cleaner ends are sharp; fold the ends over and stay at the table.

Draw a wavy line, a zigzag and a spiral on a sheet. Your child peels small stickers and places them along each line. Peeling is a two-finger pinch; placing on the line is control.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: none.

Supplies: paper, a marker, a sheet of small stickers.

Safety: small stickers go in mouths at 3; sit with them.

Cut paper into strips and let your child punch holes along the edge with a hole punch. Count the holes, then thread yarn through them. Squeezing a punch builds the whole hand.

Ages: 4 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: low; punch confetti.

Supplies: paper strips, a hole punch, yarn.

Safety: fingers stay out of the punch; a grown-up shows the grip first.

Color the rim of a paper plate in six colored sections and dab matching colors on six clothespins. Your child clips each pin to its color. Opening a clothespin is the same squeeze as holding a pencil.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: a paper plate, markers, six wooden clothespins.

Safety: clothespins pinch; show the grip and keep them away from a younger sibling.

A small spray bottle of water, a cloth and a table with crumbs on it. Your child sprays twice, wipes in one direction and checks their work. Give the job after every snack and it becomes theirs.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: none, it removes mess.

Supplies: a small spray bottle, a cloth.

Safety: water only in the bottle; no cleaners.

Crackers, a small bowl of soft butter or hummus, and a butter knife. Your child spreads their own, one cracker at a time. Spreading evenly is wrist control and the kind of independence that makes snack time faster next week.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: low.

Supplies: crackers, a spread, a kids butter knife.

Safety: a rounded kids knife only; check for allergies if a friend is over.

An old shirt with big buttons, a jacket with a zipper and a shoe with laces, laid flat on the table. Your child buttons, zips and (at 5) tries a lace. No one has to be wearing the clothes, which removes the morning rush pressure.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: a button shirt, a zip jacket, a laced shoe.

Safety: none.

A few stems from the yard or a grocery bunch, a small pitcher of water, a jar and kids scissors. Your child fills the jar, trims each stem and arranges them for the table. The pouring and the trimming are both the work.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: low; a tray under the jar.

Supplies: flowers, a small pitcher, a jar, kids scissors, a tray.

Safety: check the flowers are not toxic (skip lilies and daffodils); a grown-up holds thorny stems.

Tape a square on the floor with painter's tape, scatter a handful of dry oats or paper confetti, and hand over a child-size broom. The job is to sweep everything into the square, then into the dustpan.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: low, and it ends clean.

Supplies: painter's tape, a small broom and dustpan, oats or paper.

Safety: oats, not rice or beans, for a child who still mouths things.

Fold a coffee filter in half, then in thirds, and let your child snip small triangles from the edges. Unfold, and it is a snowflake every time. Coffee filters are thinner than paper and easier to cut through six layers.

Ages: 3 to 5 (a grown-up folds for 3 year olds).

Prep: 1 minute.

Mess: low; paper snips.

Supplies: coffee filters, kids scissors.

Safety: blunt-tip scissors, supervised at 3.

Draw three circles stacked as a snowman and write a number in each (2, 4, 6). Your child glues that many cotton balls into each circle. Change the numbers for a second snowman.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: low; glue stick or a dab of school glue.

Supplies: paper, cotton balls, glue.

Safety: cotton balls are a choking hazard for a child who mouths things; stay at the table.

Draw a big gingerbread man outline on paper and slip it into a page protector. Your child rolls brown playdough to fill it, then adds button "candies" with pom-poms. The gingerbread man activities for preschool post has 19 more.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: low.

Supplies: paper, a page protector, brown playdough, pom-poms.

Safety: pom-poms are a choking hazard; jumbo ones for a 3 year old.

Cut 10 strips of red and green paper, and let your child glue or staple them into a chain in an ABAB pattern. Tear off one link each morning until the event. Pattern, counting down and cutting in one.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: low.

Supplies: colored paper, kids scissors, a glue stick or a stapler.

Safety: the grown-up runs the stapler; glue stick for a 3 year old.

Print the bingo cards from the free Christmas set and play with crayon marks. Then hand a 5 year old the word search page and ask them to circle every letter from their name. Two pages, two ages, one download.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 3 minutes.

Mess: none.

Supplies: the free set, crayons.

Safety: none.