Fun things for a 5 year old to do

101 awesome activities for kids ages 5 to 8

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These activities for 5-year-olds and older are perfect for staving off boredom.

Do you struggle with thinking of fun activities to keep your child entertained on the weekends and after school? You’re not alone! It can certainly be difficult to come up with unique activities for kids. And although it might be easy to just pop in a movie or allow your little one to play games on the tablet, psychologist and play expert Dr. Jacqueline Chinappi, of South University in Savannah, Georgia, urges you to remember that too much screen time can contribute to behavioral problems, obesity and attention issues.

In today’s digital world, this is a growing concern. In fact, according to Dr. Anne Fishel, of the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, children around 8 years old at times have up to 11 hours of screen time per day.

Help your little one exercise their mind and body by trying out these 101 fun activities for 5- to 8-year-olds.

1. Make a batch of homemade play dough.
2. Go on a nature walk and collect leaves or rocks.
3. Move the furniture around so your little gymnast can practice their tumbles.
4. Play “Go Fish.”
5. Make a fort out of blankets and pillows.
6. Plant flowers in the garden.
7. Camp out in the backyard.
8. Read a classic children’s book out loud together.

9. Learn to ride a bike.
10. Go berry picking.
11. Bake a pie using your freshly picked berries.
12. Grab some binoculars and go birdwatching.
13. Learn how to play the recorder.
14. Make sock puppets.
15. Press flowers and put them in a scrapbook.
16. Build a model airplane.

17. Learn how to knit.
18. Visit your local zoo.
19. Visit a farmers’ market.
20. Play dress-up.
21. Learn how to braid hair.
22. Grab some chalk and decorate the sidewalk.
23. Have an outdoor picnic.
24. Observe insects through a magnifying glass.

25. Is it raining? Have a picnic indoors instead!
26. Visit animals at a pet store. (Just try not to bring them all home!)
27. Make a map of your house or apartment.
28. Learn how to jump rope.
29. Make a guitar out of a box and rubber bands.
30. Visit your neighbors.
31. Bake brownies.
32. Pop some popcorn, and snuggle up to watch some home movies.

33. Plant a vegetable garden.
34. Build a snowman.
35. Have a snowball fight.
36. Make a pizza with all your favorite toppings.
37. Visit a pumpkin patch.
38. Make friendship bracelets.
39. Turn a pine cone into a bird feeder by adding some peanut butter and birdseed.
40. Learn a magic trick.

41. Cut out homemade paper dolls.
42. Play freeze tag.
43. Play “Simon Says.”
44. Interview a grandparent.
45. Get out a bag of hair ties and create some fun hairdos.
46. Go to the library.
47. Go on a hike.
48. Build a sandcastle.

49. Have a tea party with real tea and snacks.
50. Cut out pictures from magazines to make a collage.
51. Play “Red Light/Green Light.”
52. Color!
53. Write an original song.
54. Take turns drawing each other’s portraits.
55. Paint each other’s fingernails.
56. Play “Hide-and-Seek.”

57. Teach your dog or cat how to do some tricks.
58. Make your own bubble solution.
59. Lay out an ice cream sundae bar.
60. Play “Follow the Leader.”
61. Tie-dye T-shirts.
62. Have a fashion show.
63. Feed ducks at a local pond or lake.
64. Make shadow puppets on the wall.

65. Play a board game.
66. Turn craft foam into bath floats.
67. Make pinch pots out of air-dry clay.
68. Slice apples and turn them into paint stamps.
69. Turn your living room into a winter wonderland with toilet paper, cotton balls and pillows.
70. Break out your makeup and let your child give you a new look.
71. Put on a play.
72. Do a word search.
73. Visit a local farm.
74. Run through a sprinkler.

75. Make nature crafts.
76. Learn how to hula hoop.
77. Make muffin tin crayons.
78. Cut snowflakes out of paper.
79. Play mini golf.
80. Make hot chocolate.
81. Lie down in your backyard, and talk about the shapes you see in the clouds.
82. Create a secret handshake.
83. Go fishing.
84. Put together a puzzle.

85. Play musical chairs.
86. Learn how to do a cartwheel.
87. Make rainbow foam.
88. Create a paper chain with colorful construction paper.
89. Learn how to play checkers.
90. Make a drum out of an oatmeal container.
91. Visit a science museum.
92. Learn a new language.
93. Make leaf and tree rubbings with paper and crayons.
94. Catch fireflies.

95. Go for a drive with no destination.
96. Make a sundial out of paper plates.
97. Play “Duck, Duck, Goose.”
98. Build a dream house out of Legos.
99. Have your child write a letter to her favorite book character.
100. Do a crossword puzzle.
101. Find rocks outside and paint them.

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55+ Easy Activities for 5 Year Olds

AHEAD: Banish boredom in your house with these 55+ super fun hands on and easy activities and crafts for 5 year olds or kindergartners.

Do you have a 5 year old or kindergartner at home? Then this is the ultimate list for you. Here are 55+ amazing activity ideas to do with your 5 year old or kindergartner. From building an aquarium to making 2 ingredient silly putty to making paper houses and cork boats, there are tons and tons of really cool ideas your 5 year old will love.

This amazing list is organized into 4 sections:

1. Boredom Busting Activities
2. Arts & Crafts
3. Fun Learning Activities
4. Sensory Activities

OK Let the fun begin!

Boredom Busting Activities for 5 Year Olds

1. Make a chalk maze – create a maze for toy cars using sidewalk chalk

2. Build a backyard obstacle course outside.

3. Build a fort – used blankets, cushions and chairs to build the ultimate retreat nook. Dontas forget to add lots and lots of books!

4. Build a marble Run – use cardboard, construction paper, tape and marbles. Roll the construction paper up to make a tube and tape them to the cardboard to make a marble run.

5. Make silly putty.

6. Giant Dots and Boxes.

7. Play with giant water beads.

8. Nature Tea Party – Collect things from your backyard like rocks, leaves, dirt and flowers to make a nature tea using your favourite tea set or a jug and cups.

9. Spray Bottle Water Fights.

10. Magnetic Tile Ramps.

11. DIY Post-It Dominoes.

Arts & Crafts for 5 Year Olds

12. Three Marker Colouring Challenge – Close your eyes and choose three markers from a pile. Use those colours and only those three colours to colour a favourite coloring page.

13. Make crazy hats – Construction paper, tape and scissors. Create the craziest looking hats you can using cut out lighten bolts, spirals, and different shapes.

14. Make a paper house.

15. Build Easter Egg Boats

16. Draw to music.

17. Giant Nail Painting Activity.

18. Make a garden sensory bottle.

19. Paint Kindness Rocks – paint rocks using washable paints and brushes and once dry write kind messages on them.

20. Textured Rainbow Sun Catcher Craft

21. Family Portrait Sticky Wall.

22. Make An Aquarium.

23. Cardboard Picture Frame Craft

24. Giant Baby Doll Colouring – Not into baby dolls? Trace cars and trucks to decorate them!

25. Textured Heart Sun Catcher Craft

26. Potato Masher Ice Cream Craft

27. Gems and Water Colour Flower Craft

Fun Learning Activities for 5 Year Olds

28. Baby Doll Haircuts.

29. Colour by Addition – Parents write simple addition or subtraction problems in each section of a colouring paper. Then create a key idenifitin which colour each answer should be. For instance if the answer is 3 then colour that second red.

30. Shaving Cream Sight Word Game.

31. Build The Alphabet Sticky Wall

32. Spray Bottle Letters – use a spray bottle to make letters on a fence or on a sidewalk.

33. Ice Cream Skip Counting Sticky Wall – Supplies: contact paper, masking tape, foam sheets, scissors and black sharpie.

34. Build A Magnetic Tile Clock – use magnetic tiles to make a giant clock. Use post it notes for the numbers or washable chalk markers.

35. Rubber Duck Math Race

36. DIY Egg Carton Ten-Frame Game

37. Magnetic Tile Ten Frame Game

38. Ocean Sight Word Sensory Bin

39. Ten Frame Sensory Bag

40. Dot Sticker Sight Words

41. One More One Less with Dot Stickers

42. Post-it Memory Game

43. Mystery Math: A Crayon Resist Activity

44. Toilet Paper Roll Skip Counting

Sensory Activities for 5 Year olds

45. Cork Boat Sensory Bin – make boats out of corks, elastic bands, toothpicks and foam sheets for the sails. Fill a sensory bin with water and blue food colouring, fish, sharks and sea shells.

46. Ocean Sensory Bottles

47. Wash the Horses Sensory Bin – fill a sensory bin with water and bubble bath to make bubbles. Add horse toys, combs and wash clothes.

48. Cloud Dough Kitchen

49. Textured Playdough Activity

50. One- Step Slime Sensory Bin

51. Under The Sea Bath

52. Make Shaving Cream Worms – use shaving cream, colander and a large bowl to make shaving cream worms. Turn large bowl upside down, cover the top with shaving cream, press colander down on the shaving cream to let it squeeze through the holes of the colander.

53. Shaving Cream and Baby Doll Sensory Bin

54. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Bin

55. PAW Patrol Play Dough Tray

56. Colour Mixing Tea Party

WILL YOU DO ANY OF THESE ACTIVITIES WITH YOUR 5 YEAR OLD? PIN IT FOR LATER!

What to give a child 4-5-6 years old (boy, girl) | Games for children, didactic materials to borrow from a child's garden, porches and roses

27 July, 2016

Let’s first determine what is typical for babies at this age in order to better understand their needs.

Features of the development of children aged 4-6:

1. This is the age of why-cheeks. Questions, reflections, thoughtfulness, search for answers and solutions.
2. The communication skill is actively developing. Here the first friendship is established, small groups of friends, joint games, common interests appear.
3. Role-playing games are the basis for the development of communication and fantasy. “Daughters-Mothers”, “Rescue Cars”, “Hospital”, “Princess and Her Girlfriends”, “Brave Knights”, “Soldiers Rush to Battle” - this is how you can figuratively name the games that are born in children at this age.
4. Development of constructive thinking. Babies have ideas in their heads and they actively try to implement them from available materials. The easiest way to do this is with the help of the constructor, which is at hand.
5. High level of development of fine motor skills, allows you to do many things that were previously inaccessible. For example, draw what you have in mind, write words, glue, cut with scissors. Previously, the child also tried, but often he didn’t get exactly what he had in mind. Now the child is very happy that he is doing beautifully and is fond of this business.
6. Perseverance appears. Of course, not always and everyone is the same, but still the level of attention and concentration increases.
7. The child has a large vocabulary, even if he does not speak very well.
8. Movement and the child are inseparable. He moves a lot, his movements become more precise and he has very good control over his body. During this period, many children master the bicycle, roller skates, scooter, football, gymnastic exercises and dance moves.
9. The child feels old enough to help his parents, and he is very pleased when this is encouraged.
10. And yes, the most important thing: a fairy tale is real for him, close and very necessary!

And now we draw conclusions about what kind of toys a child of 4-6 years old needs:

1. Things that help to make discoveries, find answers to their questions, deepen the child's knowledge.

First of all, of course, books: children's encyclopedias, books on a certain rather narrow topic with pictures that help to understand the essence of the subject (phenomenon) being discussed. For example, a book about dinosaurs, a book about marine life, a book about space, a book about plants, etc. But it should not be too abstruse, without an abundance of text and light in weight so that the baby can flip through it on their own.

Secondly, themed games (DJECO, for example) and items for independent research: sets of thematic cards, maps of the world and individual countries, a globe, a magnifying glass, the simplest sets of a young chemist, a camera, a kaleidoscope, a flashlight.

2. Toys inspired by cartoons and other trends. Since the child is actively learning to make friends, he will most likely want to have the same toys as his friends. This is not always the case, but it happens. And if the hobbies of friends do not contradict your educational principles, then it is better to buy toys that will help the baby play with others together and on an equal footing. In our case, this was the case with the Paulie Robocar craze and we bought a set of rescue cars with which the children played both at home and in the kindergarten until this craze passed. However, in no case would I buy a Monster High doll for my daughters, since toys from this series are in sharp contrast to our principles of education.

3. Thematic sets of toys are a very welcome gift at this age. Doll House, Garage with Cars and Car Workshop, Carpenter's Toy Tools, Doctor/Barber Set, Treehouse and Fairy Figures, Garbage Truck with Waste Bins, Pirate Ship, Castle with Princesses, Formula 1 Race Track, Figures people of different professions, cuisine, thematic worlds, children's railway, constructor track for cars.

4. Constructors. At this age, there is no way without them. The only rule for constructors: you need to enter them from simple to complex. That is, you can’t immediately buy a huge Lego set if the child didn’t have a smaller set before. From this amount, he will be confused and feel not very confident.

Building sets that 4-6 year olds will love:

Large Lego Duplo sets, Lego Classic sets and Lego themed sets (Friends, City, etc.) that fit the age or slightly for growth.

Magformers . I already wrote about this constructor. It is very cool, kids play with it all the time.

Wooden constructor “Town” . This is a classic that will live forever. It is better if it is colored and with various details in shape. As much as we would not like eco-minimalism, children still love and choose bright colors :)

Needle building kit “Bristle Blocks”. What complex funny figures you can create from it, just a feast for the eyes and massage for fingers;)

Zoob is a construction set that looks like joints. It is good to make various robots and other creatures out of it.

Gear set. Mmmmm, how interesting it is to rearrange and scroll them!

Wooden and plastic mosaics. Develop fine motor skills, creative, imaginative and logical thinking.

As a variation of mosaics - plastic tube-beads “HamaBeads” , from which a drawing is made according to the mosaic principle, and then with the help of an iron it is heated through a special film and the drawing becomes solid.

Constructor pipe for water or balls. This is a fascinating sight not only for a child, but also for an adult. Such a constructor will give you more than one hour of joint games.

The game "Jenga", in which a tower is first built of bricks, and then you need to very carefully pull one brick out of the tower so that the structure does not fall.

Jewelry making kits for girls, eg “Battat B. Pop-Arty”. The feature of this set is that the beads do not need to be strung on a thread, but they have special fasteners, with the help of which the beads cling to one another. The set keeps my girls busy for a long time. And what decorations are obtained from these bright beads!

We also include all kinds of puzzles (from 30 to 100 pieces). The complexity of puzzles depends not so much on age, but on the experience of the child in collecting them. The same rule applies here as with constructors: from simple to complex. If for the first time, then we take it easier, and if the child is an expert in collecting puzzles, then you can safely take more than 100 parts. 9

creative tasks, children's creative notebooks, books and games with stickers, soap bubbles with various accessories for blowing, and of course, various options for children's furniture for creativity.