Preschooler activities

[purplejackmama]

Y'all. My 3 almost 4 year old is driving me crazy. I am looking for activities to entertain/engage his VERY busy self for about 20-30 minutes in the morning. I want/need him to sit with us during read aloud time. Any ideas for quiet activities to keep him quiet?

 

Thanks much!

[school17777]

The blog 1+1+1=1 has lots of great ideas, plus more links for more ideas.

[Squawky Acres]

2 and newly 4-year-olds love playing with a sensory bin (full of rice, small beans or moon sand with lots of scoops, funnels, and toys).  It is quiet and relaxing work for them, and they are also able to listen if I am reading.

 

I put it on top of a large vinyl tablecloth spread out on the floor so that I can easily dump any spills back in the bin.  This is always a supervised activity, though, and I have to hide the bin.  They found it once when they were playing by themselves, and I had rice all over the basement.

[newhsmom]

I am such a fan of all the materials at The Homegrown Preschooler. It gives me great ideas that I can use with my 3 year old while the other kids are doing school. I also rotate the kids so sometimes they are helping her and then other times I am doing activities with her. It has been so much fun that my older kids actually ask to do some of the activities. It has totally changed our dynamic with my preschooler during school time. She seems to love it because she feels like she is doing school with the big kids.

http://www.thehomegrownpreschooler.com/

They are also on Facebook.

[abba12]

You know what I did last week? I put the toddler in her highchair and gave her a punnet of cherry tomatoes, with the plastic punnet, in her high chair. She put them in, and out, and in, and out, she ate them, dropped them, squished them, rolled them, put them in the container then poured them out from a height, sprinkled her sippy cup of water on them, and was amused for an HOUR AND A HALF!

 

Obviously this wont work every morning. I just happened to have a box full of them that day. But look around at boring old household stuff, and you'd be surprised what will amuse them. My eldest was fascinated by the flower hair clips and a couple of mini wicker baskets. My second child thought clothes were hilarious to play in and often got into my clean laundry pile. 

[Eagle]

I am such a fan of all the materials at The Homegrown Preschooler. It gives me great ideas that I can use with my 3 year old while the other kids are doing school. I also rotate the kids so sometimes they are helping her and then other times I am doing activities with her. It has been so much fun that my older kids actually ask to do some of the activities. It has totally changed our dynamic with my preschooler during school time. She seems to love it because she feels like she is doing school with the big kids.

http://www.thehomegrownpreschooler.com/

They are also on Facebook.

I had not seen this site before. Their book and curriculum look wonderful. Do you own the book or do you have the curriculum? I am trying to figure out if the curriculum contains the same activities as the book but organized into a monthly format. Could I get most of the activities just with the book?

[newhsmom]

I had not seen this site before. Their book and curriculum look wonderful. Do you own the book or do you have the curriculum? I am trying to figure out if the curriculum contains the same activities as the book but organized into a monthly format. Could I get most of the activities just with the book?

 

I started with the book and it is a great resource loaded with activities and ideas. You can definitely just get the book, but it will be a little bit more work to pull everything together. I had no intention of buying the curriculum until I downloaded the sample month. It was so easy to use and my kids just loved it, so I decided to get the curriculum and spread it over two years. I don't think you can go wrong with any of their products.

[Chris in VA]

What kinds of things does he like? Will he do matching things, or counting, or abc activities? Will he use scissors? How are his  fine motor skills?

 

I'd say (without knowing the above) make a few things available each time, and don't expect 20 mins with just one thing.

 

So--

Playdough, with things to do in it. Try adding (not all at once, but in combination) scissors, glass gems, sticks/popsicle sticks, black beans, googly eyes, feathers, natural objects to make impressions (acorns, nuts, leaves, pinecones, sticks, etc)...

 

Tinker Tray--a compartment tray (I use a silverware tray) that you offer with some sort of defined area (a felt square, an empty frame, a 6in circle mirror, a placemat, a piece of construction paper) full of small objects that the child uses to make transient art. One of mine is filled with small beads, glass gems, tiny pinecones, pebbles, pom poms, wiggly eyes, lima beans that have letters on them, toothpicks, and other things. You can use flattened playdough, too.

 

Sensory bin. Just look at the web--there are so many ideas out there. My classroom kids played with cranberries and measuring cups and spoons in water last week. The week before, we had pinto beans and a variety of natural objects, with small dishes for sorting and tongs.

 

Herbs to snip with scissors. I put rosemary and mint in a 12in round basket with a little lip and the kids snipped happily for a while.

 

Stamp pad and things to stamp on paper.

 

Light table--make by using an underbed box and fill with lights (I used Christmas lights that don't get hot, but they weren't really bright enough).

 

Check out Stimulating Learning with Rachel for some neat ideas. She has lots of small world ideas that would be fun. I use her ideas all the time in my classroom (3s turning 4).