Preschoolers love to play games all of the time and at this age their desire to play with others is growing. Preschoolers can easily move around, jump or do somersaults and can play games that have simple rules. The following games for preschoolers can work for anytime that you are with preschoolers looking to have fun or who need to get rid of some energy.
Classic Games for Preschoolers
1. Indoor Games for Preschoolers
|
Game |
What It Develops |
How to Play |
|
Head and shoulders, knees and toes |
It develops body parts as well as rhythm and musical awareness. |
You sing the song “head and shoulders, knees and toes” while touching the appropriate body parts in the song. You can also change the lyrics if you want. |
|
Duck, duck, goose |
It develops large motor skills, listening and taking turns. |
Everyone sits down in a circle and one person becomes the goose. They go around the circle and pat everyone on the head saying “duck.” They then say “goose” for someone and this person has to chase the goose. If the goose gets back to the seat, he becomes a duck and the duck that chased him is a goose. If the goose gets tagged, he goes to the center of the circle. |
|
What time is it, Mr.Wolf? |
It develops large motor skills, following directions and listening. |
The adult is Mr. Wolf and stands opposite the preschoolers. The kids ask “What time is it, Mr. Wolf?” and the adult responds with “It’s __.” and an action (hop, skip, walk backwards, etc). The kids then do this action towards the wolf until he has them stop. In the end, Mr. Wolf answers with “It’s midnight.” and chases the kids back to the starting point. |
|
Puzzles |
It develops problem-solving ability, cognitive skills and creativity. |
Either buy a puzzle or make one with the kids. You can have them draw on cardboard and then cut it into pieces. |
|
Freeze |
It develops motor skills and listening. |
Turn on your kids’ favorite songs and have them dance. When the music stops, they have to freeze. You can even have them freeze in particular positions (like a shape). |
|
DIY balance beam |
It develops motor skills and balance. |
Simply place a piece of tape on the ground and have the preschoolers take turns walking across it with one foot in front of the other. Add special instructions (like going backwards) to make it more interesting. |
|
Treasure hunt |
It develops coordination and problem solving ability. |
Write clues on pieces of paper and have one clue lead to the next. Put a coin or small prize by each one, so your child gets a reward as he goes along. |
2. Outdoor Games for Preschoolers
|
Game |
What It Develops |
How to Play |
|
Hide and seek |
It develops problem solving ability, listening and being quiet. |
Everyone hides while one person counts to twenty. You can add variations where there is a home base where the majority are safe. |
|
Capture the flag |
It develops problem solving bility, teamwork and motor skills. |
Divide preschoolers into two teams with two separate areas. The goal is to steal a flag from the other team. If you are on one side and tagged by the other one, you go to “jail”, but a teammate can free you by going there and tagging you. |
|
Parachute |
It develops motor coordination and listening. |
You get a large parachute and spread out holding the edges. You can then ruffle it up and down to make movements. You can also put light balls on top or have some people (or everyone) go underneath. |
|
Hopscotch |
It develops numbers awearness and body coordination. |
Make a grid with sidewalk chalk and then toss a small rock into the first square. Hop through the numbers in order, skipping over number one. Then repeat this with the rest of the numbers in order. |
|
Red light, green light |
It develops listening and motor skills. |
One person is the traffic light and stands opposite everyone else. When the traffic light says green, the kids can run towards him, but the kids have to freeze when the traffic light says red. If they keep moving, they are out of the game. |
|
Traffic cop |
It develops coordination, teamwork, and listening as well as traffic safety. |
You can either find an empty street or make an outline of one yourself. Each kid gets a bike or similar item and rides around. One person is in charge of directing them so they don’t crash. |
|
Simon says |
It develops coordination and listening. |
One person is Simon and says “Simon says ____ (an action).” Everyone then has to do the action. Sometimes Simon will just say the action. In this case if someone does it, they are out. The winner is the next Simon. |
How Do Children Benefit from Games for Preschoolers?
1. Prompt Physical Development
When kids are young, they develop their small muscle movements and full-body movements through play. They can improve hand-eye coordination by playing with small toys, while climbing a ladder to a slide helps with muscle strength and coordination. Active games will even give your child exercise to help with his overall health.
2. Improve Social Skills
In many cases, games for preschoolers involves being with other children and this can help teach your child important social skills. The most important social benefits of preschool games include making compromises, working together, and taking turns. Kids cooperate by coming up with rules and can get new perspectives through games like playing house.
3. Help Children Deal with the Emotional Problems
Playing will also help your child develop trust and empathy which can decrease any feelings of loneliness. Playing can also ease fear and improve your child’s mood. Using his imagination will also allow your child to work out hard situations or act out fantasies. It is common, for example, for children to use dolls to act out a problem with a friend.
4. Stimulate Their Learning Ability
Young children also learn as they play these games for preschoolers. An example would be learning balance through building a tower or learning about cause and effect by accidentally knocking the tower over. Playing can also help with problem solving in case of disagreements or a toy not working the way your child thinks it should. A final learning benefit is that children learn language and vocabulary through games.
Here is a video of creative finger play for preschoolers. Check it out and you will find how happy the kids are: