Preschool Activities
Finding a fun activity to keep your child happy and busy requires a little imagination and help from us. Here you’ll find a slew of our best activity ideas for toddlers and preschoolers ranging from games, to arts and crafts, and more.
Indoor & Outdoor Activities
7 Apps that keeps Kids engaged Indoors
Technology can be used for much more than just zoning out! These fun apps for children help get those creative juices flowing.
The combination of kids & technology sometimes gets a bad rap, but there are many amazing ways that children can learn, discover, and unleash their creative energy through a screen. Interactive and engaging apps are a way to do that, and there are so many to choose from. Whether your little one has an interest in building, drawing, communicating or just exploring, there’s an app for that.
- RELATED: Managing Your Child’s Screen Time
We’ve put together a list of our top eight creativity-building apps, each of which offers fantastic experiences for a few bucks or less. Whatever gets your kids excited, engaged, and actively pursuing their passions is great by us. And that’s just what you’ll find here.
1. The Cat in the Hat Builds That
Dr. Seuss comes to life in this creative STEM-centric app that lets kids become master creators and engineers. Through inventive activities (with funny names) like Bridge-a-rama, Sorta-ma-goo, and Slidea-ma-zoo, kids can develop organizational skills, explore measurements and numbers, and learn Physics 101. Geared towards kids in Pre-K. (Free, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Appstore)
2. Sago Mini Big City
Kids get to explore all the sights and sounds of city life, whether it’s at a trip to the museum, a ride on a fire truck or a pit stop at the post office. Kids can choose their own adventures in this app and explore everything that a big city has to offer. There are interactive characters that kids can play with, and cute, little animated surprises that keep kids engaged. Geared towards kids aged 3-6. ($3.99, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Appstore)
3. Stop, Breathe & Think Kids
Mindfulness is a valuable skill that kids can develop from a very early age, setting them up for success and giving them the ability to better cope with life’s hurdles as they get older. This app provides games and activities to help kids learn this important practice. Users can check in with their emotions, adapt calming breathing techniques, and win stickers for completing the mindful activities. Geared towards kids aged 5-10. (Free, iTunes)
4. Messenger Kids
Kids want to join in on video-chatting fun and Facebook’s Messenger Kids makes it super easy. Your child doesn’t need a Facebook account to get started, and you can be the primary layer of approval to ensure all contacts are safe. Plus, there’s a colorful selection of stickers and GIFs to get creative with during video conversations. Geared towards kids aged 5 and up. (Free, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Appstore)
5. Drawing Challenge Game
For children who have a little more dexterity and drawing skills, this is a fun game to see if their doodles are recognized by AI technology. Will the app guess your kids’ sketches are a trombone? Radio? Horse? They’ll see in 20 seconds or less when their doodles are put to the test! Geared towards kids aged 5 and up. (Free, iTunes)
6. Toca Mystery House
Creepy crawlies and the unknown get a whimsical twist with Toca Mystery House, where you never know what lurks in the shadows. Kids can wander through this enigmatic house, mixing potions in one room and discovering strange new beings in the next. Surprises around every corner satisfy youngsters’ creative and exploratory instincts. Geared towards kids aged 6-12. ($3.99, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Appstore)
7. Moji Moji
Learning letters becomes an imaginative and artistic journey for kids with Moji Moji. They’re placed in magical scenes that encourage them to develop their literacy skills with activities such as tracing letters and spelling. Education and artistry are combined for a creative letter-learning experience. Geared for kids aged 4-6. ($2.99, iTunes)
The Family Guide to Gardening with Kids
Make your plans and plant seeds now and, come summer, you’ll have your pick of flowers and food. You’ll also cultivate some essential life skills: When kids tend to plants, they learn to care for the little things—and one another.
Beckoning the kids outdoors (and away from their screens) can be as simple as asking them to pick a flower or gather some fruit. “We grow berries for our smoothies and cut chives to sauté into an omelet,” says father of three Donald Pell, a landscape designer who owns Donald Pell Gardens, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. “It gets the kids excited, and I can see that they feel happy out in ‘their’ garden.”
Because I’m a garden designer who often reports on gardening trends, families ask me how they should start their own green patch. I tell them to start prepping now, in the springtime, for a lush garden by midsummer.
Getting things rolling is as easy as scoping out a sunny spot: Most plants thrive with at least six hours of direct sunlight daily. Don’t worry if the sun falls on a patio—you can grow plenty in containers. If you’re lucky enough to have multiple sunny locations, I vote for one that’s close to a hose hookup.
Prep the Ground
Once you’ve settled on a planting area, make that little patch of soil as pristine, weed-free, and nutrient-packed as possible. That’s a perfect spring-day activity, and the kids can help by clearing sticks, rocks, and weeds out of the way. You’ll need to dig up any plants you’re ready to replace too. Turn over the soil and break up any dirt clods using a shovel, and let your kid help out with a child-size one. Rake the soil level, then spread a 4-inch layer of organic compost (available from garden stores) over the planting area. Dig this nutrient-rich layer into the soil and rake smooth.
Credit: Erin Kunkel
If you’re planting in raised beds, follow all the same steps above. And if you’re using pots, invest in ones that are at least 12 inches deep (20 inches deep is even better), and make sure each one has a drainage hole. (Sometimes you have to create one using a drill or by tapping a nail on the bottom of the pot with a hammer.) Kids can fill pots with potting soil as well as a few shovelfuls of organic compost per pot.
Start to Grow
Check for the last date of frost in your area by entering your zip code or city in The Old Farmer’s Almanac website. After that date, it’s safe to put seeds and seedlings (baby plants) outside. Before that date, you and the kids can start seeds in small pots inside on a sunny window, but only if that sounds like a fun project, as you’ll need to transfer them outdoors later. The fast track is buying young plants from your local nursery when it’s warm enough to plant. They’re grown in greenhouses by pros, so although they cost more than seeds, they’ll be larger and hardier.
Take Good Care
Water immediately after planting, and keep the soil consistently moist while plants are small. After a few weeks, taper off to watering plants in the ground two or three times a week and in pots every other day.
Watering is a great chore for school-age kids. “It allows them to observe the growth of the plants and gives them a sense of pride for their efforts,” landscape designer Robin Parsons says. Some plants, like zucchini and tomatoes, shouldn’t have their leaves soaked. Teach little helpers to water the soil around the plants instead of showering them willy-nilly. Preschoolers may do best using a watering can to aim water straight on the ground around plants. If kids are eager for the hose, have them set it on the lawn, which won’t mind extra irrigation.
Harvest
Recruit your kids to help collect fruits, veggies, and flowers every few days throughout the summer. Frequent picking encourages the plants to keep producing (win-win). “Kids learn how food is grown and how much better it tastes when you grow it yourself,” landscape designer Lonna Lopez says.
Step back and enjoy the process—even when you hit the inevitable snags: Seeds may fail, and squirrels may steal a berry (or 20). And kids themselves may not start out as gentle stewards. “They run through the gardens while playing,” Pell says. “It’s their habitat, too, and if they accidentally trample something, I show them how to care for it.”
