Quick Activities
Hammer Heads!
This is an old preschool staple, but none of my mommy friends had ever heard of it, so I am sharing so everyone can try this super simple and fun activity.
- Gather your materials. You will need some Styrofoam, golf tees, a play hammer and your child. Seriously how simple is that?
- Put the golf tees in the Styrofoam – don’t push them all the way in though.
- Add your little one and let them pound it in.
- You will not want to leave them unattended, in case a tee breaks, or small bits of the Styrofoam breaks off. So watch carefully as they have a blast hammering! Oh and don’t tell them they are building fine motor skills too!
Song!
This Is The Way We Build A House
This is the way we pound our nails,
pound our nails, pound our nails,
This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning.
This is the way we turn the screw,
Turn the screw, turn the screw
This is the way we turn the screw, so early in the morning.
This is the way we saw the wood
saw the wood, saw the wood,
This is the way we saw the wood, so early in the morning!
This is the way we build a house,
build a house, build a house.
This is the way we build a house so early in the morning!
Book!
” Building a House” by Byron Barton is a no frills look at how homes are built. The bright colors and concise wording is perfect for preschoolers. I love that there is writing on one page and illustrations on the other, makes it super easy to show children the pictures as well as for them to see you follow the text with your finger!
I wasn’t going to include this activity on the site but my son’s continual begging to play in the “Dut” convinced me to share it!
- Gather your materials. I grabbed an old box we got at Costco but any low edged container will do. I filled it with some crushed rock my husband was using to make us a patio, but sand, mulch or soil will be fine too. I wanted it to be something earthy though since so often we use dried beans and pasta. Then I added some construction vehicles and a shovel and pail.
- Encourage your child to fill the pail, dig with the shovel and use the diggers and dozers. In all honesty I had to do nothing to encourage my son, he loved every bit of getting filthy!
- Have a bath ready, your little one will need it!
Pasta Pouring!
Giving young children ample opportunities for sensory activities is more important than most parents realize, yes they can be messy but get the Dust buster on standby and let your child explore.
- Gather your materials. This activity is what you make it. All you need is some uncooked pasta, a container and something to scoop with.
- Pour the pasta into the container and make a big deal about it pouring into the container and NOT onto the floor. I was really surprised by how careful my son was this morning doing this. When a piece would fall onto the floor he would exclaim ” Uh Oh” then pick it up and pop it back in. I was shocked , but happy.
- Introduce different things to scoop and pour with. We used different sized containers and a measuring cup.
- Interact with your child while they are pouring, use words like “fill” “pour” ” empty” and “full” with preschoolers ask them how many scoops it will take to fill a cup , then count it out, grab another container, take bets and repeat!
- When you notice that the pasta starts making it on the floor more and more often, it’s time for the dust buster, Don’t wait too long, sensory activities go from fun to disaster fast, so stay on your toes, the learning a is worth it!
5 Minute Sparklers!
These are short, fun and easy activities to bridge the gap between two larger ones. I use them when I need some time to do something like unloading the dishwasher, or simply take up some time in the witching hour ( after nap but before Daddy gets home! ). Use these short activities whenever you need somethting fast but fun!
- Calendar Coloring.
Out of construction paper, in a rush and don’t have time to protect your kitchen table? Use your desk top calendar with the previous month’s page still attached. The pad is heavy enough to protect even a nice table, and the paper is large enough that even a toddler with insanely long arms like my son will not be able to color off the paper! My son loved finding letters on the paper, and colored long enough for me to get dinner into the oven!
- Ice Scooping.
Late in the afternoon the last thing I want to do is change my son’s outfit ONE MORE TIME so instead of getting out the water and allowing him to splash I filled his bucket with ice cubes, and let him scoop them like sand. NO mess and he had a blast!
- Can Towers.
Despite getting a very minor burn from a hot oven door my son is persistant about warning me about the hot stove, which is sweet but he tries to touch it every time! So I keep his little hands busy with can towers. Tomato paste jars are his favorites, they are small and perfect for a toddler’s hands.
- Let them play clean!
I love mops with washable heads, I feel confident allowing my son to clean with them knowing that even if he manages to put it in his mouth , I know it’s free from too much grime.
- Hanger Helper.
My son has been handing me hangers while I put away laundry for a long time, I have started counting them with him now too. He likes to say ” One, Two!” it’s a start! It also helps me have fun doing something I loathe !
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