Preschool Activities

Ice Experiments and Play Ideas for Preschoolers

May 9, 2017 By Terri Thompson

Ice is cool. It’s refreshing. And, it’s a lot of fun to play with.

So, get ready to have some fun with these simple ice experiments for preschoolers (and also toddlers). They’ll create, build, excavate, and even practice letters with these fun ideas.

These ideas are perfect for a hot summer day or fun for any day. Who doesn’t want to play with ice?

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Simple Ice Experiments

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Do some super-simple ice activities and experiments that even toddlers will enjoy with these ice play ideas.

Observe how ice floats in water when you make these simple colorful ice boats from Busy Toddler.

Can you rescue all the colorful items in this rainbow ice tower excavation experiment from Fun at Home With Kids?

Experiment with different types of salt to see which will melt ice the fastest in this experiment from Coffee Cups and Crayons.

Explore fizzy ice with this simple science experiment from Toddler Approved.

Rescue dinosaurs from their frozen eggs in this fun experiment from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Go ice fishing and see which temperature of water melts ice the fastest in this fun experiment from Science Sparks.

Can you help Batman escape? Rescue Batman from Ice Mountain in this fun (and exciting) science experiment from Crafts on Sea.

Excavate all the frozen cars you can from a block of ice with this simple ice melting experiment from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Create with Ice

(Pictured left to right above)

Make Frozen Fractuals Ice Sculptures with this fun art activity from Happy Hooligans. This is so much fun for your Frozen fans!

Use ice for a printmaking tools with this fun ocean-themed painting idea from Science Sparks.

Use popsicle molds to make some colored ice pops with this idea from Kids Activities Blog which you can use to make some fun artwork.

An ice block becomes your canvas with this fun ice painting idea from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.

Paint with ice chalk and oil with this fun art idea from Learn Play Imagine.

Create a beautiful (but temporary) sculpture by making rainbow tunnels in ice with this idea from I Can Teach My Child.

Sensory Play

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Combine water beads with ice with this fun sensory play idea from The Educators’ Spin On It.

Add colored ice to your water table with this fun ice sensory play idea from Fun-A-Day.

Grab a bag of ice for these seven simple sensory play ideas from Lemon Lime Adventures. (not pictured)

Have some fun playing with beautiful flower ice cubes with this idea from The Craft Train.

There are so many fun ways to play with colored ice cubes and sticks. Check out all the fun suggestions here.

Combine some movement and some heavy work for this Ice Cube Proprioception Jump and Smash activity from The OT Toolbox.

Build and play with ice LEGOs with this fun idea from Crafts on Sea.

Learn with Ice

(Pictured left to right above)

Learn your letter and have some icy fun when you play with this ABC Excavation Sensory Bin from Parenting Chaos.

Slide a sounds and build some simple words with this slippery word building activity from Life Over C’s.

Which of these ice experiments do you want to try?

If you enjoyed these ice experiments and play ideas, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook, or you can share the photo below on Pinterest.

Outdoor Shape Activity: Driveway Shape Maze

May 3, 2017 By Terri Thompson

We recently started reviewing shapes with my youngest (age 3).

One thing I love about learning shapes is that there are so many fun ways to teach them… endless ways to learn about them!

So, while the weather was nice, it was time for an outdoor shape activity. This Driveway Shape Maze is perfect for kids who like to move and learn outside.

Move and learn at the same time with the fun outdoor shape activity, a driveway shape maze. It's fun for both preschoolers and toddlers.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Grab some sidewalk chalk and set up your shape maze

This outdoor shape activity takes a little effort to set up, but you’ll be able to play with it for days (at least until it rains). Grab your sidewalk chalk and let’s get going.

One beautiful morning, I ran outside, grabbed the sidewalk chalk, and started drawing shapes. I filled in a substantial section of our driveway.

We have been working on one shape at a time and the current focus is squares.

So, I made sure to include more squares than any other shape. You can focus on any shape or draw a variety of all the shapes.

It’s time to play!

When the girls came outside, I explained the game to them.

They each stood in a square on the first row, then they had to get to the other side, stepping only in squares.

Ready, set, go!

Both girls had a lot of fun with this game.

Even my oldest (age 5), who knows her shapes really well, loved the physical aspect of the game.

She soon challenged herself with all the shapes and also tried to see if she could jump over shapes and make giant steps.

Extend the fun of this outdoor shape activity with a few variations:

*Go through the maze many times choosing a different shape each time. First step on squares, next step on triangles, and then step on circles.

*Instead of just walking a maze, challenge your child to jump on all of the squares or all of the circles.

*Adapt this for older kids, by adding more challenging shapes like octagons and hexagons or 3-D shapes like cones or cubes. You could also make a maze identifying the different types of triangles, like equilateral triangles and right triangles.

It’s easy to add a little physical movement to learning. You can play the same game using numbers or even the letters of your child’s name. Have fun learning!

Make it a Family Adventure

Cost: Free (Under $5.00 if you don’t already have sidewalk chalk)
Planning Time: 5-10 minutes to draw the maze on the driveway
Ages: 2-5
Time Needed: At least 15 minutes to play.
Notes: This is a great project for some spur-of-the-moment fun. And, if you don’t want to draw the whole maze yourself, enlist the family and get out there together!

Find more shape activities here:

Get Crafty: Shape Collages

Shape Hunt

Sewing Circles: Simple Shapes to Sew

Outdoor Shape Activities for Kids

10 Shape Activities for Toddlers at Hands On As We Grow

https://www.creativefamilyfun.net/buy-my-books/

Indoor Color Scavenger Hunt for Preschoolers and Toddlers

May 1, 2017 By Terri Thompson

There are so many fun and playful ways to learn about colors.

One of my favorite ways is with a color scavenger hunt.

It’s fun for both preschoolers and toddlers.

This preschool scavenger hunt is so easy to set-up. There is very little prep time so there is more time for fun.

Learn all about colors with this fun and simple indoor color scavenger hunt for preschoolers and toddlers. It's easy to set up and perfect for a rainy day!

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Set up is easy!

It took me only a few minutes to set this up.

I chose several sheets of construction paper: red, yellow, green, and blue and laid them in a row on the floor. You can choose whatever colors your would like, but I just stuck with the basics.

Let’s go on our color scavenger hunt!

After our color hunt was set up, I sent the girls on their quest. They needed the find items that matched these colors and the items must be small enough to fit on a piece of paper.

It turns out our house is full of small items in primary colors! Who knew?

The girls found puzzle pieces, Duplos, crayons, card games, craft supplies, game pieces, play food, and more. They brought all the items over and put them on top of the correct piece of colored paper.

It was so much fun to see the items that they found.

This simple color scavenger hunt got the girls thinking and moving. It was perfect for some indoor fun on a rainy day or a cold winter’s day!

Do you kids like to go on scavenger hunts? It’s a favorite game at our house!

Make this a family adventure:

Cost: Free

Planning time: Under 5 minutes. Or, as long as it takes you to find some construction paper.

Ages: Preschool and toddler. While anyone can play and it’s a fun family activity, this activity is best enjoyed by kids under age 5.

Time Needed: Varies. You can follow your child’s lead with this activity. When they start losing interest, it’s time to wrap up the scavenger hunt.

Notes: It can also be fun to set a timer. For example: How many red items can you find in two minutes?

Have more colorful fun with one of these activities:

Colored Ice Fun

Color Mixing Lab

Story Time: Great Book About Color

Fun Color Games for Toddlers

Color Sorting Train at Mom Inspired Life

Tulip Letter Match Game

April 28, 2014 By Terri Thompson

This spring-themed Tulip Letter Match game is a fun way to help kids learn their uppercase and lowercase letters. I’m all about keeping learning fun at home and turning something into a game is the easiest way to add that element of fun. All it takes is a few supplies and a little bit of time to create this simple game.

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Supplies Needed:

Two colors of construction paper
Scissors
Marker
Thin cardboard (recycled cereal box) for template

The game is very simple to make. I started out by making a quick template of a tulip with some cardboard I found in my recycling bin. I wanted all of my flowers to be the same size and tracing a template was the easiest way to achieve this. I traced 26 tulips on each color of construction paper and cut them all out. (The cutting took the most time out of the whole process.)

Next, using my marker, I wrote the lowercase letters on one color of tulip and the uppercase letter on the other color. Once you’re finished it’s time to play!

Ways to Play:<

Place them all face-up on the table. Encourage your child to match each set of letters.

Make it a little more difficult by only laying out one set of letters. Leave the other set in a pile and have your child pick up one letter at a time from the pile. They need to match that letter before moving on to the next one.

Place all the letters face-down on the table. Flip over two tulips at a time, one of each color. Play like you would a standard memory game and try to find matches. This is a perfect way to play if you’re looking for a little one-on-one time with your preschooler.

This game was so easy to make and cost me nothing. Not bad for some fun ABC time!

10 Ways to Play and Learn About Polar Animals

January 24, 2014 By Terri Thompson

Animals are always a popular subject at our house and the cold, cold winter we’ve been having has made this the perfect time to learn about Arctic animals.

We learned fun facts about puffins, Arctic foxes, and reread one of our favorite books, The Three Snow Bears.

Here are 10 more fun activities all about polar animals.

Make a simple Arctic animal craft using the free printables from Learn Create Love. (You’ll find a narwhal, polar bear, walrus, and everything in between!)

Do a little polar bear science and find out how a bear with black skin looks so white with this experiment at Sugar Aunts.

Make simple paper plate polar bear masks with Creative Family Fun.

Play Polar Bear Race, a DIY board game from Little Family Fun

Do an experiment to find out how blubber keeps whales warm at Frugal Fun for Boys.

Play with an Arctic snow dough small world sensory bin with Crayon Box Chronicles.

Create sponge-printed penguins with Teach Preschool.

Do a little math and compare the sizes of Arctic animals with Gift of Curiosity.

Play in an Arctic ice sensory bin with No Time for Flashcards.

Play a fun gross motor polar bear game with Sugar Aunts.