When planning learning activities for preschoolers, it isn’t one size fits all! Preschool teachers and parents like yourself need to have preschool activities for lesson plans that are easy for young students to understand, many who are not yet reading, and are FUN! Here are some simple and playful preschool activities your preschoolers will love!
PinHow To Make Preschool Fun
Your time is limited, so your preschool activities for the school year and beyond must be easy to set up and provide valuable learning experiences for the youngest students.
Create a lifelong love of learning with these simple preschool learning activities! We have made it easy for you and divided the activities into STEM, including science and math, art, and literacy. Plus, you’ll find plenty of sensory-rich experiences.
Making preschool fun for kids involves engaging their curiosity, creativity, and natural desire to learn through play and exploration. Here are some easy tips to make preschool a delightful and enjoyable experience for young children:
1. Create a Colorful Environment
Use bright and cheerful colors in the classroom. Decorate walls with educational posters, art, and children’s work to create an inviting atmosphere. Colorful preschool art is fun to display!
2. Hands-On Activities
Incorporate hands-on activities like painting, crafting, building with blocks, playing with playdough, simple science activities or engineering projects, and sensory bins. These activities stimulate creativity and fine motor skills.
4. Thematic Learning
Plan lessons around fun themes like animals, seasons, outer space, or community helpers. This approach keeps children engaged and excited about learning.
5. Read Books
Regularly read aloud to kids. Use expressive voices and props to bring stories to life. Add books to different thematic units. Check out these preschool book activities.
6. Outdoor Play
Outdoor playtime is essential. Set up a safe and stimulating outdoor play area where children can run, jump, and explore nature. This helps develop gross motor skills and a connection to the environment. See our fun exercises for preschoolers.
What Is Playful Learning?
We have found many fun ways for kids to play and learn together! Playful learning is about creating joy, wonder, and curiosity. Developing this sense of joy and wonder starts at a young age, and adults are a big part of that.
Set up invitations to discover and explore!
- This fosters a huge sense of success in young learners when they make a new discovery. Undoubtedly, they will want to show it to you repeatedly.
- Many early foundations in literacy, science, and mathematics can be achieved through play instead of worksheets.
- Learning activities improve social skills and aid language development.
Set up preschool Science Centers for different themes and let the kids explore a new theme every 1-2 weeks! We have printable packs to help you get started.
Kids love to share what they are doing with you. If you listen and ask questions, they will too! If you encourage them to think about an idea, you will be amazed at what they can develop.
Questions you can ask…
- What do you think will happen if…
- What is happening…
- What do you see, hear, smell, feel…
- What else can we test or explore?
75 Hands-on Preschool Activities
Never run out of ideas for fun preschool activities at home or in the classroom. What do preschoolers learn? They learn about the world around them!
Sensory Bins
Sensory bins are a popular choice for sensory play in preschool! You can easily pair them with different themes or books to create a sensory-rich learning experience. Try one of these sensory bin ideas or create your own!
You can learn how to assemble a sensory bin, the best sensory bin fillers, including non-food fillers, and how to clean up the mess with our How to Sensory Bin Guide.
- Pumpkin Sensory Bin
- Apple Sensory Bin
- Tropical Summer Sensory Bin
- Dinosaur Sensory Bin
- Butterfly Sensory Bin
- Ocean Sensory Bin
- Dr Seuss Sensory Bin
- Spring Sensory Bin
- Garden Sensory Bin
- Rainbow Sensory Bin
- Space Sensory Bin
- Winter Sensory Bin
Sensory Activities
Besides sensory bins, kids can also explore a variety of tactile play materials and sensory play recipes that are on the messier side!
- Rainbow Spaghetti
- Clean Mud
- Worm Mud
- Sand Foam
- Soap Foam
- Kinetic Sand
- Cloud Dough
Playdough Activities
Engage your preschoolers in learning with our free printable playdough mats you can download! From weather, rainbows, flowers, bugs, and more, playdough mats are an excellent activity for improving fine motor skills, language development, as well as awesome sensory play for young kids.
Make up a batch of our favorite no cook playdough, or try one of these fun playdough recipes! Kool-aid playdough, Jello playdough, fairy dough, super soft dough and more. Then pair it with one of these playdough mats below!
- Bug Playdough Mat
- Shape Playdough Mat
- Rainbow Playdough Mat
- Recycling Playdough Mat
- In the Garden Playdough Mats
- Weather Playdough Mats
- Flower Playdough Mat
Science Activities
We love playful hands-on science activities around here. Preschool science offers room for play and exploration without adult-led directions. Kids will naturally start to pick up the simple science concepts presented just by having fun conversations with you!
Below is a list of fantastic preschool activities and themes introducing chemistry, physics, earth science, and biology!
- Explore Shadows and Light
- Friction and Forces
- Bridge Building and Community Helpers
- Nature Exploration
- All About Me Collage
- 5 Senses Sensory Station
- 5 Senses What’s Inside Game
- 5 Senses Taste Test
- Baking Soda Science
- Ice Play
- Oobleck
- Seeds and Plants
- Weather Fun
- Sink or Float
- Dinosaur Fossils
- Is It Magnetic?
- Four Seasons Activities
Math Activities
Preschool math focuses on introducing young children to fundamental mathematical concepts in a playful and hands-on manner. The goal is to build a strong foundation for later mathematical learning by making math engaging, relatable, and fun.
Early math skills start with lots of playful opportunities that don’t have to be extensively planned ahead of time. Check out these simple preschool activity ideas using everyday items.
Read more about Preschool Math Concepts and Activities here. Our Preschool “I Can Explore Math” pack is done for you!
- Counting 1-10
- Volume
- Snap cubes number recognition
- Transportation number mats and game
- Number pattern blocks
- Art with shapes
- Gingerbread I Spy Number Mats
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PinPrintable Math Games
Our printable board game pack is a fantastic opportunity to give it a try! Add a single die to the game. When kids roll and count spaces, they are having fun working on counting and one-to-one correspondence (as well as turn-taking).
Try a free Roll a Reptile game to get started (add your own die for math play).
PinArt Projects
Preschoolers need the freedom to explore and experiment. Art allows children to practice a wide range of skills that are useful not only for life but also for learning.
- Blow Painting with Straws
- Bubble Painting
- Cinnamon Salt Dough
- Corn Painting
- Finger Painting
- Fly Swatter Painting
- Edible Paint
- Handprint Flowers
- Ice Cube Art
- Magnet Painting
- Painting with Marbles
- Rainbow In A Bag
- Salt Painting
- Splatter Painting
Looking for more fun and easy preschool art ideas? Check out our process art activities, famous artists for kids as well as these easy homemade paint recipes.
Printable Preschool STEM Pack
Get ready to explore this year with our growing Preschool STEM Bundle!
What’s Included:
There are 12 fun preschool themes to get you started. This is an ” I can explore” series! This is also a growing bundle. Buy it now and receive all future updates!
Includes: Math, science, shapes, 5 senses, all about me, fall, apples, pumpkins, farm, winter, and more!
Each unit contains approximately 15 activities, with instructions and templatesas needed. Hands-on activities are provided to keep it fun and exciting. This includes sensory bins, experiments, games, and more! Easy supplies keep it low cost, and book suggestions add to the learning time.
