With the school year back in full swing, we’re back to the days of major multitasking in my house. Homeschooling is HARD, especially with a three-year-old and an eight-month-old in the mix! Keeping my preschooler entertained while I am helping my older kids stay on task is the most challenging part of my day. I have four kids, but I am no expert at this!
I’ve had a running text with my friends about preschooler activities to keep the little ones busy — successes and failures — so I knew I needed to focus my attention on this just as much for myself as for everyone else in the same boat!
Maybe you’re a work-from-home mama, trying to keep your little busy bee occupied so you can get some work done. Or maybe you’re staying home with your kiddo, and just need a minute! Here are a few ideas that have worked really well for us . . .
Preschooler Activities for at Home
1. Sensory Bins
Sensory bins can be made by filling a big Tupperware container with rice, dried beans, noodles, or a mixture of these shelf-stable ingredients. Then add some plastic measuring cups, plastic toys to hide in there, mixing spoons . . . basically just use your imagination!
Pinterest has so many fun ideas for sensory bins. Putting a sheet down before play has helped keep the mess to a minimum. Also, make sure you stay nearby because some things could be choking hazards (it’s best to make sure your child is past the age of putting things in his/her mouth). My son’s favorite sensory box was an underwater theme with water beads which leads me to the next idea . . .
2. Water Beads
Water beads come as small, hard beads in the packaging but when they are placed in water for eight hours or longer, they turn into marble-sized, squishy beads! They are SO fun to put your hands or feet in! We put our water beads in the water table on the back patio. I threw in a measuring cup, strainer, and mixing spoons, and my son played for 30 minutes. The older kids love them too. We bought the multicolored beads. When my son saw them he said, “Ohhhh mermaid beads!”
3. Magnetic Tiles
Magnetic tiles are on the top of each of my kids’ lists of favorite toys! My three-year-old will play with these for a good 30 minutes. He makes diamonds, boxes to put things in, towers, houses, and even sorts them by shape and color.
At the suggestion of another mom friend/teacher, I drew a large shape onto a big sheet of paper and had my son fill it in with magnetic tiles.
4. Bubbles
For a while, I stopped buying bubbles because (as most of you have probably noticed) kids like to empty the entire container of bubbles onto the ground within minutes of opening a bottle! Here’s a recipe that actually makes great bubbles and I had all the ingredients for:
Mix 1/2 cup of water, 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp of dish soap, 1 tsp sugar
Make a big batch and you will always have bubble solution on hand! I also found that several fun wands with a plate-style bubble solution holder kept us from wasting large amounts of solution. My preschooler also spent about 20-30 minutes playing with bubbles and loved it! The older kids love this too!
5. Tent-making
Make a snack for the tent and put some books in there!
6. Playdough
Pretty self-explanatory and always a kid favorite!
