Best Preschool Activities for Childs

It's back to school time which means it's time for back to school centers and activities to help your preschool, pre-K and kindergarten students learn about classroom and supplies. Learning what tools and materials are in each center and how to play with them will help the rest of the school year run smoothly. I usually do these activities for table time or small groups so that I am able to build models, and students can practice using different school tools. Then I place the activity in the center for students to do independently, unless they need more practice (example: writing tray).

Literacy and Fine Motor School Activities

Use bounce back scissors that open back making it easier to cut. Another option would be to have students cut out some circles and when their hands get tired the teacher can cut out the remaining circles. For this reason I have pre-cut circles ready to go next to me. You can also ask students to trace the letters (you write it in pencil and they trace it with marker) or provide name cards for students to use.

Magnet letter fishing in the sensory table is so much fun and easy to clean. Make DIY fishing poles like I made from doll rods or use a magnet stick. Place a cookie tray near the sensory table for students to stick the letters on or place them on the table. I also added student name cards to the book ring the other week. Students can sort letters by color, make words from letters, make names from letters or simply trace the letters.

Create a school-themed play dough tray with letter tiles, school mini erasers and shaped cookie cutters. This tray is from Dollar Tree. I make a tray of playdough for whatever theme we do and it is played with almost every day during Free Choice Center. Also it's great for an advent or table time activity.

Teaching students how to use glue sticks is essential for going back to school. Model how to use a glue stick and let students practice cutting paint chips while creating a collage. I cut the paint samples horizontally so they would be thinner and easier to cut. These make a gorgeous bulletin board and a great cutting specimen for their student portfolios.

Writing tray time! Do you see the yellow tray below the writing tray? If you're worried that the sand will get all spread out the first few times students use the writing tray, this is your new favorite trick. Simply place a tray beneath it to catch flying sand.

The first time we use writing trays, I model how to use them: The trays stick to the table while you shake to erase and use the tool or a finger to write. I like to start by prewriting the cards because they need to be able to make the strokes before putting them together to form the letters.

Play Dough letter matches can be easily separated. Students can match colors, uppercase to uppercase or lowercase to uppercase. Just a note, when we play the game I only put in about 10 or so letters, not the entire alphabet. This will be very awesome. If 10 letters are too many for your students, just remove five or seven.

School Supplies Clasp and Build is a lot of fun and helps students learn the names of different school supplies they may not be familiar with like tools, dice, aquariums or watercolors. Students clap the number of letters in the word, then build it up with Snap Cubes and show students which words are bigger and which words are smaller.

Draw and create letters with these school-themed letter mats! Take some small erasers, gems or pom poms and make letters. You can also ask students to trace the letter with a dry erase marker.

For each subject, I also change the writing center. I added school-themed word cards (in uppercase and lowercase) and writing paper to keep it fun and exciting for students. The buckets and baskets also contain envelopes, family word cards, stickers, and various writing instruments (crayons, markers, colored pencils).

The bookshelf is filled with books about school and our classroom centers. You can check out my huge school-themed book list here.

Introduce and talk about school rules when you're teaching school activities and centers. Our rules are: We take care of ourselves, each other, our school, and our world. During circle time, we brainstorm and create a poster for each rule to help students know expectations.

The Pete the Cat Play Dough Tray has become my favorite play dough tray of all time. I always read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons to introduce math center, and we play the game below. Then I thought, "Why not make a playdough tray for Boo?" Used flour. Play Dough Tray!

If you read the book you get to play the Pete the Cat Button Counting Game too! Students roll a die, count the points and count the number of corresponding buttons. They play until their shirts are covered with buttons. I made these wooden dice with the dot numbers 1-3 on them for my three year old little ones.

Making and building numbers with play dough and manipulatives strengthens those small motor muscles. Plus these animal school themed play dough mats are so much more fun and meaningful than any worksheet!

The counter! Take any counters you have and show students that they can sort from the counters on the sorting mat. Once you show them, they'll be sorting by color in no time.

How much fun are these simple school bus shape puzzles? Students match shapes to complete the puzzle. They can then talk about the names and characteristics of each shape. For added fun, ask students to "sky-write" the shapes (pretend to draw shapes in the air). Depending on the level of your children, use some or all of the eight puzzles.

Do you like Counting Stews? School stew is so fun because it's so bright and colorful. Students choose a recipe card, count the corresponding number of items and place it in the pot. If you want to learn more about Counting Stews, read this post. Teachers and students love counting stew, and there is a counting stew for almost every subject! Once students learn to play it, you can create a new counting stew without having to teach them how to play it!

For school-theme, I always have students in the science center using and exploring different science tools.  Get my Being a Scientist unit here for tons of printables, posters, vocabulary cards, and science visual prompts. Many posters and anchor charts can be created during circle time and used throughout the year!

Adding school-themed props to the blocks is so easy! I added the School STEM I Can Build cards to the bulletin board, letter blocks, people (lakeshore), marker lids, counting bears, and dominoes. My students' favorite thing to do was build a playground.

In dramatic play, keep it like living at home and just add the backpack and lunch box. Now students can pretend to go to school! Going to school is a big change and it's helpful to give students a chance to process it, making the transition easier.

Name activities are always perfect for school themes too! I wrote a detailed blog post about how you can use name mats in the classroom. Click here to test it.

Hopefully, you've filled your lesson plans with lots of school-themed activities and centers. If you just want to print and prep, get these goodies from my TpT store. Simply click on the unit you need.

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