There are lots of ways to entertain young children both indoors and out, and games are an ideal way to combine fun with learning. These 10 game ideas include memory, counting, organizing and language skills, as well as exercise and imaginative play.
Memory Game
Select a number of objects and place them on a tray. They can be everyday items, toys, balls, food or even pictures. Choose a variety of sizes and textures.
Show the tray to your children and ask them to remember all the objects. Get them to close their eyes while you remove one of the objects, and see if they can work out which is missing. Depending on age and skill, you can work up to removing several items, swapping item positions or even adding new items in too!
Another excellent memory game for older preschoolers is the shopping list game, where you begin by saying "I went to the shops and bought … (a carrot)." Your child then has to say, "I went to the shops and bought … (a carrot) and (a banana)." Take it in turns to keep adding items until one of you gets the order wrong! This is a great game to play with several children.
Treasure Hunt
This game can be played inside or outside. Choose a selection of objects, such as toys, snacks or other treats, and hide them in various places around the home or garden.
Give out clues as to where the items are hidden, or draw a map leading to the treasures. Alternatively, you could hide one box of treasure and have the clues or maps each leading to further clues and maps, until finally they lead to the treasure. The older the children, the more complex the game can be.
This can be expanded to include dressing up or a whole themed day revolving around pirates or princesses and treasure!
Dressing Up Game
Children love to dress up, either in costumes or mom and dad’s clothes. Add an extra dimension to their fun by turning it into a themed game to stimulate their imaginations.
One idea is to have them dress up as a certain character, historical figure, job, fairytale character or even animal. Act out little scenes based on their clothes, test their knowledge of who they are dressed up as, or even put on a show!
Themed Charades
Play charades with your children but with an added element! Hide objects or picture cards in a bag or pillowcase, and get them to choose one while you look away. They then have to act out what they chose for you to guess. You can do the same for them to guess also.
Objects could include stuffed toy animals, picture cards of animals or objects, different activities or movements, jobs or popular characters.
Imagination Station
Choose a favorite toy or selection of toys, and ask your child to tell you about them. What do they get up to when you are not looking? What is their favorite hobby, food, color, or place? You could also get the child to draw a picture or make something that represents the stories he tells you!
Laundry Basket
Have fun and get the housework done with some fun laundry sorting! Children can learn organizing and colors by helping you to sort dirty clothes into darks, whites and colors. You can add to the fun by asking questions about the clothes, such as what they are, what color they are or who they belong to.
Obstacle Course
Use household objects to create an obstacle course in the garden for your preschooler to run around. Have timed races, courses in reverse, and races against friends or siblings. Be sure to use items that are safe and unlikely to cause falls or injuries.
Apples and Pears
Another fun memory game to occupy your child is this classic card game. Theme the game around anything your child likes, such as animals, a TV show, food or even family members. Select different pictures and print out two of each, all the same size, onto card. Cut them out and shuffle them, laying them face down on a table.
Your child then has to turn over two cards at a time. If the cards do not match, he turns them back over and try two more. When a card comes up that he has seen before, he needs to try and remember where it was! If he turns over a matching pair, those cards come out. Keep going until all the pairs have been found.
Rhyming Riddles
Recite nursery rhymes or poems and get the children to fill in the missing rhyming words. As they become more adept with words, try making up rhymes and seeing if they can guess which rhyming word should fill in the blank!
Picture Stories
Create some picture stories on pieces of paper. You could make a series of drawings, stamp out different pictures or cut out pictures from magazines. Ask your preschooler to look at the pictures and "read" the story, by interpreting the pictures to turn into a fun tale.
Games Make Learning Child’s Play
Giving your children games to play not only keeps them happy and entertained, but helps them learn new skills as well. Come up with many more ideas for preschooler games by using everyday objects and tasks as inspiration. Children will have fun, learn new skills, and find out more about day-to-day life.
Louise Heyden - Louise Heyden is a writer, artist, work at home mum, sound technician and former school Library Manager.
Join the Conversation