Workbooks (Optional)
Ages 2 – 4
My First Learn to Write Workbook
Ages 4 – 6
Ages 6 – 8
Adding and Subtracting Activity Book
Reading Comprehension Activities
Spread the Love!
Activities + Games You Can Do at Home to Support Your Child’s Learning
Ages
3-4,
4-5
Your go-to list of curated learning projects, activities and games that you can do at home to support your child’s education and development. Specifically helpful for preschoolers and emerging learners.
Learn
We sourced from all over the Internet to select the best activities that we believe are: 1) Fun + educational for kids; and 2) Easy for parents to implement. All in one stop (it’s a long list!) and useful for ages 2 – 8. Choose activities from this list, then implement a daily routine to make the learning happen.
To sustain the magic in learning, we selected activities instead of worksheets. But, if you are looking for worksheets: for preschoolers and for Kindergartners.
For more inspiration, try: easy 15-minute activities and 24 project-based learning ideas.
Do
Multiple Ages
- Make playdough. Then, add extruders.
- Bake (helpful with fractions) and cook (our favorite kid-friendly knife)
- Make water beads. Sensory bliss! Add action figurines for extra mystique.
- Tinker – Recycled materials, boxes, paper towel holders + string + tape + glue + markers. Done!
- Make a ‘Creation Station’
- Fill caddies, containers – whatever works for you – with ‘stuff’; 2) Display them in a place that’s visible and accessible (your child’s desk, eye-level bookshelf, dining table, corner of a room, etc.); and 3) Set aside consistent time each week or day to tinker. What we put in our containers: random LEGO pieces (no kits); pattern blocks; Wikki Stix; popsicle sticks; playdough; glue.
- Make and mail letters / postcards to friends who are away from school. Send letters of gratitude to distant family members. Bonus benefit: take a walk to the mailbox and get some fresh air.
- Celebrate big imaginations (especially among siblings).
- Go on a scavenger hunt outside (favorite printables: #1, #2, #3).
- Go on a nature hike and bring a field guide. (More forest school ideas.)
- Be a part of your home community – Introduce chores, if you haven’t already.
- Create a Cozy Corner.
- Play board games (or, create your own!)
- Do a maze.
- Ideas for guided movement and body breaks:
Ages 2 – 4
Letter Identification
- Say and spray letter activity
- Alphabet squish (can play with playdough, too)
- Find the letter
- Outdoor pre-reading scavenger hunt
- Tactile nature letter activity
- Alphabet playdough mats
Writing (Fine Motor Development)
- Salt or sand tray
- Ice finds – Freeze small toys, beads, jewels, flower petals with water in ice cube trays. Use droppers with warm water to “uncover” what is frozen in each one.
- Fizzing colors experiment
- City playdough
- Playdough flower garden
- Sensory bin – Our favorite fillers: water beads, food coloring for water, lavender, kinetic sand, dried pasta, dried beans, rice. Scooping tools we love: scoopers + pinchers, graduated cylinders, measuring cups and spoons.
- Dye epsom salt
- Rainbow oobleck
- 12 playdough activities and the skills they build
- More DIY activities that practice holding instruments with control
Math
- Find and count
- Number stamping
- Count and smash playdough
- Math dance
- Sorting collections
- Number playdough mats
- Clever counting cards
- 1:1 correspondence activities
Gross Motor (Physical Movement)
- “Don’t step in the lava!”
- Lines of colored tape activities
- Bean bag number toss
- Alphabet action cards
- Animal walks
- Animal line-up
- Puzzle scavenger hunt – Take a simple puzzle, hide the pieces around the house and give your child a bag for collecting the pieces. Put the puzzle together when you find all the pieces.
- Make a tent or cave with blankets and cushions – look at books inside with a flashlight!
Ages 4 – 6
Reading
- ABC find and color
- Make a mini-book
- Practice storytelling (key for language development and laying a foundation for reading) – story time dice, storytelling cards. Our favorite free printables: #1, #2)
- Story sequencing cards
- Beginning sounds: parking lot game and worksheets
- Where’s that sound activity
- Middle vowel sounds
- Sight words
- Visual discrimination
- Remember: learning to read is complex and there is no quick-fix or shortcut.
Writing
- Make an 8-page mini-book
- Bonus: make it a “How To” book. Children love to be experts. Ask your child to create a book about a topic they’re an expert at – “How to do anything that you know!”
- Make a pop-up book
- Try ‘Brave Spelling’ – Gather a collection of items (a marble, a toy car, a pencil, a gummy bear, really anything small you can think of) and put them in an opaque bag. Have your child close their eyes and pull out an object and attempt to write it using ‘brave spelling’ where the child writes the sounds they hear.
Math
- Number museum
- Close to 100
- Counting game
- Number recognition activity
- Addition games
- Shapes game
- Puddle jump math game
- Counting action dice game – Use blank cards/paper if you don’t have a wooden block die.
- Chalk number line
Gross Motor (Physical Movement)
- Freeze dance
- Uno movement game
- Indoor obstacle course
- Sticky spider web
- Cotton ball challenge
- Scavenger hunts for all occasions (free printables)
Ages 6-8
Note: By this age, your child will likely have specific assignments from their school. Consult with your child’s teacher for activities and games that work in partnership with your school’s curricula.
Reading
- Read and solve riddles and brainteasers
- Create a reading log
- Sandwich book report
- Make a character scrapbook
- Choose and complete a book report alternative
Writing
- 100 writing prompts or a week’s worth of writing prompts
- Spelling games
- Make your own comic book
- Make a shoe box puppet theater
- Word ladders
- DIY letters and envelopes
Math
- Place value stomp it game
- Catch and count game
- Roll and record – Great for addition automaticity.
- Roll and race addition and subtraction games
- Five in a row
- Math games with Uno cards
- Math fact fluency games
- More math Investigations games
Gross Motor (Physical Movement)
Art
Learning Tools on this Topic
Paige Abramson Hirsch, Teacher + Education Consultant + Parent
Paige Abramson Hirsch is an elementary school teacher turned lawyer turned educational administrator and educational consultant supporting school districts and charter schools. Paige studied psychology with a focus in child development at Tufts University and holds a JD/M.Ed from the University of Minnesota. Paige previously served on the Board of HAND, a non-profit for bereaved parents. She lives in San Carlos, California with her husband and two young children, whom she thanks for providing her with endless opportunities to analyze child development and behavior!
Petra Fraties, Teacher + Parent
Petra has over 12 years of experience in early childhood education, most recently as a teacher at Cow Hollow School in San Francisco. Petra received an M.A. in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University, culminating with a thesis project on how to use storytelling to build community in the early childhood classroom. She also has a B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development from San Francisco State University. Petra frequently presents at conferences, including the California Association for the Education of Young Children Conference and the Teach For America Bay Area Education Conference.
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