15+ Best Educational Activities for Preschoolers (3-5 Years Old)

I understand parents’ many difficulties when deciding on the top preschooler activities!

Because- I have been there and done that🫡!!

Is your child also starting school soon?

Or looking for a few more hours of quality time with Mom or Dad while they’re at work? If so, you’re in luck! 

I found the most educational preschool activities to make sure your little one has fun and learns something new.

Whether it’s arts and crafts, writing, or playing outside, I have tried to list something for every child. 

So grab those crayons and start reading.

Educational Activities for Preschoolers

Flower Counting Activity

The “Flower Counting Activity” is a fun way for kids to practice counting and number recognition. It’s a great mix of art and math, perfect for keeping kids entertained while learning.

Materials: Construction paper, white sheet, markers, and crayons.

How to Do:

1. Cut small circles from construction paper.
2. Stick circles on a white sheet.
3. Draw flower petals (1 to 10) beside each circle.
4. Let your child count petals and write the number on the circle.

Alphabet Sensory Bin Activity

The “Alphabet Sensory Bin Activity” is a fun way for kids to learn letters. It combines tactile play with letter recognition, making learning both enjoyable and effective.

Materials: A sensory bin filled with rice or beans, plastic or foam alphabet letters, and an alphabet puzzle board.

How to Do:

1. Fill a sensory bin with rice or beans and bury alphabet letters.
2. Explain the task of finding hidden letters to your child.
3. Have them match each found letter with the alphabet puzzle board.

Lolipop Colour Matching Activity

The “Lollipop Colour Matching Activity” is a vibrant way for kids to learn about colors and matching. This activity helps to develop their color recognition and fine motor skills while having fun.

Materials: Colored paper, colored popsicle sticks, scissors, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Cut circles from construction paper.
2. Mix up the lollipops on a flat surface.
3. Have your child match circles to the colored popsicle sticks.

Mango Tree Math Game

The “Mango Tree Math Game” is an interactive way for kids to practice basic math skills. This activity combines math and play, making learning enjoyable and engaging.

Materials: Paper cutouts of a tree and mangoes, markers, scissors, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Cut out tree and mango shapes from paper.
2. Write math problems on the mangoes.
3. Apply glue to the back of each mango cutout.
4. Have your child solve the problems and stick the mangoes on the tree.

Reading Story Books Activity

The “Reading Story Books Activity” is a wonderful way to develop a child’s love for reading and improve their literacy skills. Sharing stories together can be a magical experience that sparks imagination and curiosity.

Materials: A variety of storybooks and a comfortable reading space.

How to Do:

1. Choose engaging storybooks and create a comfortable reading area.
2. Let your child pick the first book to read together.
3. Read together, taking turns if your child can read. Ask questions about the story.

Stars Name Activity

The “Stars Name Activity” is a creative way for children to learn how to spell their names. This activity combines crafting and letter recognition, making learning enjoyable and engaging.

Materials: Colored paper, Popsicle sticks, markers, glue, and scissors.

How to Do:

1. Write each letter of your child’s name on colored paper and cut it in star shape.
2. Attach stars to popsicle sticks with glue.
3. Draw and cut out holders for the sticks, like small pots.
4. Help your child arrange the stars to spell their name correctly.

Blocks Graph Counting Activity

The “Blocks Graph Counting Activity” is an educational way for kids to practice counting and understand basic graphing concepts. This activity makes math visual and hands-on, enhancing learning through play.

Materials: Blocks of different colors, a white sheet, and markers.

How to Do:

1. Draw columns on paper, labeling them with numbers.
2. Give your child blocks to use.
3. Let them place blocks in each column according to its label.

Block Building Activity

The “Block Building Activity” is a classic way for children to develop their creativity, motor skills, and problem-solving abilities. Building with blocks allows kids to experiment with different structures and designs while having fun.

Materials: A set of building blocks and a flat surface for building.

How to Do:

1. Gather building blocks and find a flat surface.
2. Encourage your child to build towers, houses, or other structures.
3. Let them experiment with stacking and connecting blocks.
4. Watch our reel for better guidance.

Feed the Monkey Activity

The “Feed the Monkey Activity” is a fun way for children to improve their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. This engaging game involves feeding a playful monkey with apples, making learning delightful.

Materials: A box decorated with a monkey face (featuring a cut-out mouth), paper apples, and dice.

How to Do:

1. Decorate a box with a monkey face and a large mouth cutout for apples.
2. Print out images of apples.
3. Roll the dice and have your child feed the monkey by placing apples in its mouth based on the number rolled.
4. My kid has performed this activity, watch for better understanding.

Missing Letters Activity

The “Missing Letters Activity” is an engaging way for children to practice their alphabet skills. This activity helps kids identify and fill in the missing letters, enhancing their letter recognition and sequencing abilities.

Materials: Colored craft sticks, clothespins, and markers.

How to Do:

1. Write a sequence of letters on a colored popsicle stick, leaving blanks for missing letters.
2. Write the missing letters on small circles.
3. Attach each circle to a clothespin.
4. Have your child clip the correct clothespin onto the corresponding blank on the popsicle stick.

Easter Egg Shapes Activity

The “Easter Egg Shapes Activity” is an educational way for children to learn about different shapes while celebrating Easter. This activity helps kids recognize and identify various shapes through a creative and enjoyable exercise.

Materials: Printed Easter egg shape templates, colored markers, and a flat surface for drawing.

How to Do:

1. Print an Easter egg template filled with shapes.
2. Give your child markers.
3. Have them color and identify each shape inside the egg.

Raindrops Counting Activity

The “Raindrops Counting Activity” is a lovely way for children to practice counting and number recognition. This activity uses a cloud and raindrops theme to make learning numbers enjoyable.

Materials: Construction paper, a white sheet, a box, paint with brushes, and cotton swabs.

How to Do:

1. Draw a cloud template with a number inside.
2. Paint a cotton swab blue.
3. Let your child use the cotton swab to place the matching number of raindrops below the cloud.
4. Change the number for a new activity once finished.

Shapes Detective Activity

The “Shapes Detective Activity” is an exciting way for children to learn about different shapes. By becoming shape detectives, kids can explore their environment and identify various shapes, making learning interactive and fun.

Materials: Colored paper, craft sticks, transparent plastic sheets, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Cut shapes from colored paper and glue them to craft sticks.
2. Attach transparent plastic sheets to each shape frame.
3. Explain to your child they’re shape detectives, finding matching objects.

Letter Picture Matching Activity

The “Letter Picture Matching Activity” is an interactive way for children to learn the alphabet and enhance their vocabulary. This activity helps kids match letters with corresponding pictures, making learning both visual and engaging.

Materials: Alphabet cards, picture cards, and a flat surface for playing.

How to Do:

1. Arrange alphabet and picture cards on a flat surface.
2. Let your child match each letter card with its starting picture.
3. Encourage saying the letter and picture names aloud.

Candy Stick Number Activity

The “Candy Stick Number Activity” is a great way for children to practice number recognition and matching skills. This activity uses candy sticks and number cards to make learning numbers engaging and enjoyable.

Materials: A white sheet, marker, glue, scissors, candy sticks, and a box.

How to Do:

1. Write correct and incorrect number words on paper, then cut them out.
2. Stick them onto the box.
3. Write numbers on paper circles and glue them to popsicle sticks.
4. Have your child match the number sticks to correctly spelled words.

Sight Words Craft Activity

The “Sight Words Craft Activity” is a creative way for children to learn and practice sight words. This activity combines crafting with literacy, making learning both fun and effective.

Materials: Colored paper, markers, scissors, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Cut small squares of colored paper, write sight words on each.
2. Fold squares to create lift-up flaps.
3. Write partial words on a larger sheet, glue flaps over them.
4. Encourage your child to lift flaps, read and spell sight words.

Play Dough Mats Activity

The “Play Dough Mats Activity” is a fun way for children to enhance their creativity and fine motor skills. By using play dough to complete the pictures on the mats, kids can engage in a hands-on learning experience.

Materials: Printable designs (e.g., flowers, snails) and play dough.

How to Do:

1. Print various designs.
2. Give your child different colors of play dough.
3. Ask them to fill in the pictures using Play-Dough.

Cup Stacking Puzzle Activity

The “Cup Stacking Puzzle Activity” is a fun way for children to develop their problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination. This activity involves stacking cups to match the patterns on the cards, making learning both visual and interactive.

Materials: Colored plastic cups, puzzle cards with stacking patterns, and a flat surface for stacking.

How to Do:

1. Arrange cups and puzzle cards on a flat surface.
2. Let your child stack cups to match card patterns.
3. Encourage careful observation and stacking.
4. Let them try different patterns for problem-solving skills.

Rainbow Tearing Craft Activity

The “Rainbow Tearing Craft Activity” is a colorful way for children to develop their fine motor skills and creativity. This activity involves tearing paper and gluing it to create a vibrant rainbow, making learning both tactile and enjoyable.

Materials: Colored paper, a glue stick, cotton balls, and scissors.

How to Do:

1. Give colored paper to your child and have them tear it into small pieces.
2. Draw a rainbow outline on a piece of paper.
3. Help apply glue to one rainbow arc and place torn paper in rainbow colors.
4. Glue cotton balls at each end for clouds when finished.

Emotions Faces Activity

The “Emotions Faces Activity” is a fantastic way for children to learn about different emotions and how to express them. This activity helps kids identify and understand various feelings through interactive play.

Materials: Printed emoji faces displaying various emotions, craft sticks, glue, a box, and labels indicating different emotions.

How to Do:

1. Print emoji faces showing different emotions.
2. Glue each emoji onto a craft stick.
3. Label cardboard with emotion names and create slots.
4. Let your child match emojis to the correct labels, discussing each emotion.

Find Your Name Activity

The “Find Your Name Activity” is an engaging way for children to practice recognizing and identifying their names. This activity helps kids develop their reading and matching skills in a fun and playful manner.

Materials: Name tags with different names printed on them, markers, scissors, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Print or write name tags on colored paper.
2. Cut out each name tag to make cards.
3. Scatter name tags on a flat surface.
4. Have your child find and read aloud their name among them.

Number Matching with Cards Activity

The “Number Matching with Cards Activity” is a fun way for children to practice their number recognition and matching skills. This activity uses a deck of cards to make learning numbers engaging and enjoyable.

Materials: A deck of playing cards and a flat surface for playing.

How to Do:

1. Spread out playing cards face up.
2. Explain finding and matching pairs with the same number.
3. Have your child pick and match cards.
4. Keep going until all cards are paired correctly.

Name Tracing Activity

The “Name Tracing Activity” is a personalized way for children to practice writing and recognizing their name. This activity helps improve fine motor skills and letter recognition through a hands-on approach.

Materials: A printed name tracing template, colored buttons, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Print a name tracing template with your child’s name.
2. Give colored buttons to your child.
3. Have them trace their name by placing buttons or beads inside the letters.
4. For a permanent craft, help glue buttons or beads onto the template.

Alphabet Beans Matching Activity

The “Alphabet Beans Matching Activity” is an educational way for children to practice their letter recognition and matching skills. Using alphabet beans and a muffin tin, this activity makes learning interactive and engaging.

Materials: Beans, a muffin tin, colored paper, and markers.

How to Do:

1. Label each muffin tin cup with letters using paper or markers.
2. Give alphabet beans to your child.
3. Have them match each bean to the correct letter in the tin.
4. Encourage saying the letter aloud as they place each bean.

Letter Connecting Activity

The “Letter Connecting Activity” is an engaging way for children to practice their letter recognition and fine motor skills. This activity involves connecting matching letters, making learning both interactive and enjoyable.

Materials: A large sheet of paper and markers.

How to Do:

1. Write matching letters randomly on a sheet of paper.
2. Give your child markers.
3. Have them connect matching letters with lines.
4. Encourage them to say each letter out loud as they connect them.

Big And Small Activity

The “Big and Small Activity” is a fun way for children to learn about size differentiation. This activity helps kids identify and categorize objects based on their size, enhancing their observational and comparison skills.

Materials: Various objects in different sizes (big and small), two large circles or mats, glue, and scissors.

How to Do:

1. Prepare cutouts of objects in big and small sizes.
2. Label two mats, “Big” and “Small,” on a flat surface.
3. Explain to your child how to sort objects by size.
4. Have them pick up each object, identify its size, and place it on the correct mat.

All About Me Activity

The “All About Me Activity” is a wonderful way for children to express themselves and share their favorite things. This activity helps kids build self-awareness and confidence while creating a personalized poster about themselves.

Materials: A large piece of paper, markers, printed images or drawings representing favorite things, glue, and a photo of the child.

How to Do:

1. Prepare a large paper titled “All About Me.”
2. Print or draw images of favorites: ice cream, game, fruit, color, friend, and pet.
3. Have your child fill in their name and age, and add a photo.
4. Help them glue images in the right places on the poster.
5. Let them decorate with markers.

Five Senses Activity

The “Five Senses Activity” is an educational way for children to learn about their five senses. This activity uses visual aids to help kids understand how each sense helps them explore and interact with the world around them.

Materials: Craft sticks, printed or drawn images representing the five senses, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Print or draw images for each sense, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and hands.
2. Cut out and glue each image onto a craft stick.
3. Explain to your child what each image represents and its connection to a sense.
4. Use the sticks to discuss activities for each sense (e.g., smelling flowers, tasting food).
5. Encourage your child to think of their own examples and use the sticks to demonstrate their ideas.

Colorful Pasta Sorting Activity

The “Colorful Pasta Sorting Activity” is an engaging way for children to learn about colors and improve their fine motor skills. This activity involves sorting colorful pasta onto sticks, making learning both visual and tactile.

Materials: Pasta, wooden skewers, playdough, and paint with brushes.

How to Do:

1. Paint pasta with colors and let it dry.
2. Stick wooden skewers into playdough for stability.
3. Give colored pasta to your child.
4. Sort pasta by color onto matching skewers, naming each color.

Fingerprint Letters Card Activity

The “Fingerprint Letters Card Activity” is a creative way for children to practice their letter recognition and fine motor skills. This activity uses finger painting to form letters, making learning both fun and interactive.

Materials: Printable letter cards and paints.

How to Do:

1. Print letter cards with large, outlined letters.
2. Give your child finger paints in various colors.
3. Have them dip their fingertip in paint and press onto the letter card, following the outline.
4. Let the paint dry before displaying or using the cards.

Count and Complete the Sun Activity

The “Count and Complete the Sun Activity” is an educational way for children to practice counting and number recognition. This activity involves adding the correct number of rays to complete the sun, making learning interactive and fun.

Materials: Construction paper, scissors, a marker, and glue.

How to Do:

1. Prepare yellow circles with numbers and cut out orange or red triangles.
2. Place circles and triangles on a flat surface.
3. Explain matching numbers on suns with correct rays.
4. Encourage counting aloud as rays are glued.

Counting and Clipping Activity

The “Counting and Clipping Activity” is a fun and interactive way for children to practice counting and number recognition. This activity involves counting objects and clipping the corresponding number, making learning both tactile and engaging.

Materials: Printable counting cards featuring various images, clothespins, and markers.

How to Do:

1. Print counting cards with images and numbers.
2. Give your child clothespins and explain they should count each card’s objects.
3. Clip the clothespin onto the correct number after counting.
4. Encourage saying the number aloud to reinforce learning.

Salt Tracing Activity

The “Salt Tracing Activity” is a sensory-rich and engaging way for children to practice writing letters and numbers. This activity combines tactile exploration with fine motor skills development, making learning enjoyable and effective.

Materials: A tray, salt, alphabet cards, and a feather.

How to Do:

1. Spread salt evenly in a tray.
2. Use cards with large letters.
3. Have your child pick a card and place it beside the tray.
4. Encourage tracing the letter or number in salt with a stick or finger, smoothing after each.

Before & After Number Activity

The “Before & After Number Activity” is an educational way for children to practice their number sequencing skills. This activity helps kids understand the concept of what comes before and after a given number, enhancing their number sense.

Materials: A matchstick box, colored paper, glue, and a marker.

How to Do:

1. Glue construction paper onto an empty matchstick box.
2. Glue the matchstick boxes onto a white sheet.
3. Write before and after numbers on each box.
4. Give your child a number and ask them what comes before or after it.

Summing Up

That’s it, POWER PARENTS! 💪🏻

Educational activities for preschoolers can be fun, simple, and low-cost. 

Once you find what fits your child’s needs, they will become more confident in themselves and their abilities. 

Please remember that sometimes a child needs a little guidance from you to explore the world independently. 

That way, they can learn to do something and then apply it to other activities. 

Most importantly, please encourage your child’s creativity and allow them to enjoy the subject.

Hoping that you have fun determining the activities for your little one!! 🖖🏻🫡