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Favorite Activities for 4-5 Year Olds for During lesson time
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I’m wanting to freshen all of my options for ds4.5 for the coming school year. The hand me down activities are finally showing some wear and I’d like some more options. I’m especially wanting some things he can do alone or with a sibling while I work with another child.
Some things we have or will be buying:
- New Playdough and extruder
- Kinetic Sand (for sand table made by older brother)
- Wooden Marble Railway (with be birthday gift)
- air dry clay
- model magic
- Solitaire Chess (he’s learning from older brother)
- We have cards, matching games, and board games, but new options welcome.
He likes puzzles, I’m in need of 40-60 piece quality ones.
Have you used the Do a Dot markers and books that go with those? I like that they are mess free and able to use paint independantly. We like the Melissa and Doug brand of puzzles. Here’s a few other ideas:
pattern blocks that you use to make pictures,
beads and laces,
Busy Bugs by Discovery Toys
Symmetrix by Ravensburger
We’ve done the do a dot to death this year! He loves it, but it’s time it retires for a while. He doesn’t care for beads and lacing, but I will take out our pattern blocks again and look for the other items. Thanks.
Christie, my boys enjoyed large puzzles with huge pieces by Frank Schaffer. We have a mummy, rain forest, space, etc. They are about 5′ long. We bought them when my now 24yo was about 4-5 so I don’t know if they make them anymore but all my boys have loved them and worked them over and over.
Kid Knex
Snap circuits (my young 5 has been building two different circuits for a while now, a fan launcher and a light with a switch. They just need to learn how to make one from the book with an older sibling and even how to read the schematics (super simple and parts are labeled right on the piece so he can match them up).
Laser Maze by Thinkfun
Melissa and Doug Cube puzzles (these have 12 blocks and make up 6 different pictures so it takes some problem solving and attention to detail.
Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards (the boards have an intricate design in color for the child. Stage 1 my kids lay pieces right on top. Stage 2 my kids reproduce it beside the board.)
RobinP – I will look for those puzzles. I have 2, but some new ones will be nice.
Tristan – We have snap circuits, but no one has tried them yet. I think I’ll try them on little man. Laser Maze looks fun and the cube puzzles, too. I just remembered we have the Mighty Mind magnetic pattern blocks put up, it’s time to take those out, too.
I have more stored than I remembered, but keep good ideas coming.
1. We do sticker time. Works on fine motor. Some times I peel the white that’s around all of the stickers off so they don’t get too frustrated. 2. Melissa and Doug have water color pages that have the paint at the top of each page, we love these.
3. Story rocks. I have a friend that just made a bunch by putting stickers on them, then modge podging. Just totally random things that you could make endless stories with.
4. I spy books, or Where’s Waldo
missceegee, do you have a time set around the activity you give him? The trouble with my three year old last year was that he wanted to change activities too soon. Do you set a timer before he can choose a new activity? how long do you think is a good amount of time for a four year old to stay focused on one activity? i guess it depends on the activity…
wedgits (with optional activity cards)
I went to a book sale today and got the “Never Bored Preschool Activity Book” that has easy crafty, cut and glue sort of things that seem pretty independent.
Andrea, I would aim for 15-30 minutes per activity. IMO you definitely need to limit when he can switch out or he will be discontent the whole time, always wanting something else. You could also alternate between table activities and blanket activities.
1. Buttons
My dd16 was given a tin with a large assortment of vintage buttons. She graciously lets us all sift through her buttons from time to time. My little ones (who are old enough to be trusted not to swallow a button…4 yrs old) will sit and sort buttons for a long time. Reminds me of a chapter in Grandma’s Attic.
2. Fabric Swatches
Another similar activity is sorting through miscellaneous fabric swatches. The feel of wool and satin are so very different; they make excellent dancing partners together on hands and cheeks. Larger flannel and burlap pieces are the backdrop for placing swatches together to make a pattern like a crazy quilt. Then the scraps are quickly whisked back into the box until next time.
3. Fuzzy pipecleaners are fun with plastic beads, pasta tubes, and metal nuts and washers.
4. Seed Collages
And, on the messy side, seed art is gorgeously engaging. Dixie cups of assorted beans, rice, seeds, white glue, and q-tips (for applying the glue) are placed before the child to make a collage masterpiece on a piece of cardboard. The child can draw a design on the cardboard to use as a guide or allow the process to be more free form. The white glue dries clear in a couple of hours, so there is no need to worry about goopy beans and things. And the seeds can be painted when the glue is dry, but we usually prefer the natural colors. We do this with pom poms and button too.
5. Yarn weaving is great too.
This is probably better for a six year old, but may be an option. I cut a square out of cardboard and cut slits evenly spaced on both sides of the cardboard. I then wrap yarn around the cardboard using the slits to secure in the yarn in place. Now it is a small loom. Using plastic yarn needles, I teach the child to weave the yarn strips through the loom. I help weave the tails in, clip the loom yarn away from the board, and tie it securely. Again, my dd6 does this independently…but not my dd4…yet.
A couple more:
—15 minute Skype or Facetime calls to Grandparents and family members (my twin sis is most fun because she shows her guinea pigs and tells stories).
—audiobooks of picture books narrated by Daddy, Mama, big sister, and big brother. I was inspired to start our own family collection when I heard that my nieces were enjoying a book read by their Daddy in Afghanistan.
Yes, we use a timer to set change-up limits. Otherwise it is a set-up for discontent. Start small, 5-7 minutes of full attention and build from there. My ds4.5 can stay engaged with an activity for about 30 minutes, sometimes more, sometimes less.
WOW, thanks for so many great ideas. Some we have or have had, others are new, but they are all going on my master list for the coming year.
@Janell – my mother in law has recorded books for my kids for years. They are treasures. A couple of years ago some dear friend’s recorded some favorite picture books as a Christmas gift for us. Really special.
One thing that was fun for my little ones was when I printed the blank alphabet pages here: http://www.coloringcastle.com/alphabet_coloring_pages.html and had my children fill them–sometimes they glued seeds/beans/popcorn/noodles on them; sometimes they “stamped” with a bingo dabber; sometimes they used small stickers.
“Toobs” animal scavenger hunts–I have a bin of fine sand and I put the figures in. I have cards that I have made up that match and they dig up the animal/object and match it to the card. I usually do themes–farm themed; sea shore themed (I add shells in and have them match it to a shell picture).
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