Learning materials for 3 year old

31 Things That You Can Teach Your 3 Year Old

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Whether your 3 year old is in full or part-time preschool, home schooled, or simply hanging out at home with grandma, there are so many learning opportunities at this age. Three year olds are like little sponges, picking up every bit of information about the world around them.

They love learning all the ways that their mind and body can do new things and jump at every opportunity to try something new.

Three Year Olds Can Still Learn Through Play

Although your child is transitioning from toddler to preschooler, they can still develop and practice new skills from structured and unstructured play. A lot of what they learn, you won’t even realize that you’re teaching them!

However, once your child is 3 years old, they can begin to learn from more structured activities based on appropriate concepts that are able to be learned and mastered at this age.

Does My 3 Year Old Need Preschool?

I found preschool to be so beneficial for my daughter at this age. The socialization is one of the biggest benefits of a preschool program.

They’ll be exposed to so many new opportunities that may not be available at home like different toys and learning materials, daily structure and routines, learning to respect their teachers, various educational activities, much more.

I don’t believe that preschool at 3 years old is absolutely necessary and your child will be fine without it. However, I would enroll a 4 year old in some sort of program to get them prepared for Kindergarten.

Some schools or daycares offer full day or half day preschool and you can choose whether your child goes every day or a few times a week.

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What You Can Teach Your Three Year Old

If you’re not in the education field, you may be unsure of simple ways to teach your three year old or ways to incorporate new learning into everyday activities.

Below are a bunch of things that you can help your 3-year-old learn and understand. Practice and exposure is the best way to develop new skills with your child so try and make every opportunity a learning opportunity you can.

This list is for children in the 3 year old range up to 4. Not exclusively once they turn three.

Also, always remember that every child develops at their own pace so don’t worry too much if your child doesn’t have all of these skills yet. This isn’t a list of what they should know at this point, but rather a guide to help you understand what they are capable of learning at this age.

1. New Vocabulary

Your 3-year-old will probably be speaking in full sentences or at least long 4-5 word phrases by now. Three year olds should have at least 250-500 words in their vocabulary as well.

Although there are way too many words to give you a full list, here are some of the common words, phrases, and concepts that your three year old should be able to say and understand:

Body parts, Animal sounds and names, Friends/Family Names (and their own first, middle, last), Vehicles, Household objects (food, utensils, furniture, clothing, etc)
Colors and Shapes
Direction words (below, above, next to, on top, underneath, etc. )
Days of the week, Months of the year, Seasons, Weather (sunny, rainy, cloudy, windy, snowy, hot, cold, etc.)

If your 3-year-old isn’t talking much at this point or is not trying to speak in full sentences, mention it to your pediatrician. Here are more tips to get your child to talk here.

2. Conversational Speech

Your 3 year old should be able to ask and answer simple questions and tell simple stories or anecdotes. They’ll probably be asking a lot of WHY questions as they are curious to learn all about the world around them.

Be sure to answer them with the correct responses and not just ignore their requests for information. Every question is an opportunity to teach your child and you don’t want them to miss out on those experiences.

It’s also important to make corrections in their grammar. When they were 2, some of the things that they said wrong sounded pretty cute. However, now that they’re 3, you don’t want them to get into bad habits of the way they speak.

Whether they’re pronouncing a world wrong, using the wrong tense, pronoun, or grammar, the only way they will learn the right way is if you correct them. So let them know the right way to say the word or sentence and have them repeat it back to make sure that they understand.

In order to get your child to initiate conversation or answer your questions, you can:

Ask them about their favorite characters/shows/books/toys. What easier way to get a kid to talk than to get them talking about their favorite tv show or super hero?
Ask them about their day, ie. what did you eat for lunch? What did you play with in the bath tub?
Ask them for their opinions
Tell them to ask you about the above mentioned things

If they still tend to give you one-word answers, ask them more questions to get them to elaborate. The more you ask. the more responses you will get. In turn this will help them to realize that they need to add more detail in their responses.

3. Reading books

At 3, your child should understand the concept of “reading” a book. They won’t actually be reading the words, but they should know how to grab a book, hold it the right way, and flip through the page independently.

They should be able to get a good understanding about what is happening in the book by looking at the pictures. They should even recognize that there are letters and words on the page that mean something, but won’t know exactly what they say or mean.

Read to your child everyday to instill their interest in reading. When you are reading to them:

Use your finger to follow the words on the page so they start to associate the letters with what you’re saying
Read word-for-word what the text says on the page instead of making up words or describing what the pictures look like
Ask them questions about what they see on the pages

Your 3 year old may even be able to answer some inferential (why) questions (although this is a tougher skill), but it can’t hurt to try and ask them some of the questions. These are questions that the book doesn’t actually give the answer to, but the child has to think about their own answer or reason. For example, Why is the girl sad in this story? Why shouldn’t the boy have crossed the street? Why did the dog jump over the bone?

Reading doesn’t have to begin and end with books; labels on cereal boxes, words on toys, printed words on street signs, text on the television, or signs at stores are some examples where you can point out words and letters.

Related Post: The Outstanding Benefits of Reading to Babies and Toddlers

4. Promote Independence

Your three-year-old should be doing many things on their own now so be sure to give them these opportunities to learn, understand, and make mistakes (within limits, of course).

Of course they may not have perfected every skill yet, but the only way a child will learn is by doing it themselves. You can give them a hand completing the task once they’ve finished.

They should be increasing their independence in areas like:

Dressing: choosing their own clothes, dressing for the weather (warm items or cool items), taking on/off a shirt, pants, underpants/pull-up, shoes, and socks, and learning the right way to put on items (backwards, forwards), and that shoes are on the right feet.
Self-feeding: using utensils without spills, choosing their own meals and snacks, opening containers, drinking from an open cup with some supervision, and why it’s important to eat healthy. I love these utensils as my 3 year old graduated from her “baby utensils” to wanting to be just like mom and dad- these look like our silverware but are a perfect size for preschoolers.
Brushing teeth and hair: Teach them how to brush correctly on their own (back and forth, top and bottom), putting toothpaste on (with help), and why it’s important to keep our teeth clean. My 3 year old LOVES using an electric toothbrush like this one, especially the ones with their favorite characters.
Cleaning up: wiping up messes, putting toys away, bringing dishes, cups, & utensils to the sink when done, throwing away their garbage, using handheld vacuum to clean, and putting away toys when completing activity
Hygeine: Blowing their nose, washing their hands, using a washcloth to wash themselves in the tub. Make washing hands and standing at the sink much easier by using stools and sink faucet extenders.
Transitions: Getting in and out of the car on their own, going up and down the stairs, ending one activity and moving to the next without complaining, turning on/off lights when entering/leaving the room

Be sure to model and show your childhood to do these skills the right way so that they don’t keep practicing something the wrong way.

5. Pretend Play

Using their imagination opens up a world of fun and play for your 3 year old. This skill typically comes naturally as they copy and imitate what they see in the real world, in books, or on tv.

They will use a combination of imagination and reality to copy the things they see daily, like these:

Cooking in a play kitchen with pots and pans
Hosting a tea party for their dolls and stuffed animals
Feeding, burping, and changing a baby doll with play spoons, bottles, and diapers
Talking on the phone with a play cell phone
Playing doctor with a doctor or nurses kit
Going shopping with a shopping cart and fake food
Driving a car
Sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming the floor
Dressing up as their favorite princess, super hero, or character

6. Drawing

At 3 years old, your child should have moved passed scribbling and be able to make intentional marks on the paper. They should be able to draw a:

straight line down
straight line across
circle
cross ( + )
other shapes such as a square or triangle come later, but they can still attempt these, but may need help or the angles won’t be perfect

Image credit: The Happy Handwriter, used with permission.

You can also guide them into making drawings using those elements (lines and circles), for example to draw a sun, a person (stick figure), or a flower. Of course, these drawings won’t be perfect, but they’re gaining insight as to how to make their marks on the paper look like something real.

Imitation is the best way to have your child learn to draw at this age, meaning that you draw one line and have them watch and repeat the same thing. This as opposed to copying (where you just show them the picture and expect them to figure out how to draw it).

7. Coloring and Painting

At age 3, your child can start learning how to color a picture correctly. You can guide them by showing them how to:

Stay within the lines of a shape, border, or object
Finish coloring each section without leaving a ton of white spots
Use correct colors for certain objects, ie. coloring a strawberry red and a horse brown, instead of just picking any color that they choose
Use different colors for different sections of a picture, ie. Coloring a beach scene with blue for the water, yellow for the sun, green for the palm tree, etc. instead of jut coloring the whole thing one color

Be sure that they are holding their crayon with the correct grasp at all times. I highly suggest these finger crayons for the young ones. They are perfect for little hands and promote a good grasp when holding the crayons.

If your child likes markers, but you don’t trust them being alone in a room with them, these Crayola Mess-Free Coloring Sheets are my absolute favorites!

The markers come out clear if they are used on any other surface besides the paper. On these special sheets, they’ll turn a color so your toddler sees the masterpiece that they are creating. They have so many characters available so I’m sure you can find a pack that your child will love.

8. Tracing

Tracing is a great visual motor skill (hand-eye coordination). You can teach your 3 year old to trace lines and letters by:

Having them use their finger first to trace the line on the paper
Tracing straight lines first and then working toward shapes, zig zags, and curved lines
Making sure that they know to stay on the line the best that they can
Tracing letters in preparation for writing

9.

Cutting

Cutting is a skill that 3 year olds can begin practicing. They may still have a difficult time, but here are some tips to get your preschooler cutting:

Be sure to use child safety scissors so they can’t hurt themselves.
Teach them how to hold the scissor correctly with their thumb toward the ceiling on both the cutting hand and helper hand
Position the paper in front of them while they are cutting instead of holding it off to the side or way up high.
Make sure that their arms, shoulders, and elbows are down and relaxed as they cut right in front of them. As they’re concentrating, children tend to hike up their elbows and cut up high.
Once they are able to make small snips on the paper by just opening and closing the scissors, teach them how to cut on a straight line
Use sturdier paper like construction paper to make holding and stabilizing the paper easier on them.

10. Numbers and Counting

Your 3 year old may be able to count up to 20 (with some errors at times) from memory and maybe even up to 30 with more practice. They can also work on recognizing and identifying numbers and counting objects.

You can practice counting with so many different, everyday objects:

count each step while you’re walking up the stairs
count the number of blueberries on their dinner plate
count the number of toys in their toy bin

Numbers are everywhere so be sure that they are counting whenever they can.

The concept of one-to-one correspondence (one object is one number) should be emerging now. Just show them how to point to each object as they count it and correct them if they start saying 2 numbers as they count one object or skip over objects when counting.

11. Letters and Sounds for Beginning to Read

Your child may already know many of the letters of the alphabet. At this age, they should probably be able to recite the ABC’s from memory (with some errors and help as needed).

Now you can work on recognizing letters, as well as the sounds they make. To make letter learning easier, try these tips to teach your 3 year old:

Look at both uppercase and lowercase letters when learning. The lowers case letters are the ones that they will see more often when they read or see words.
Point out letters to them everywhere: on cereal boxes, on street signs, on banners, and on snack bags
When talking about a letter, always tell them the sound that it makes and a word that has this letter as its starter. For example M: say M says mmm for mom. Always have them repeat you to etch it into their memory.
Use different sensory modalities to trace, write, or copy their letters. For example, writing them in sand, placing stickers inside the written letter, tracing the letter written in puffy paint with your finger, erasing the letters from a dry erase board, matching upper and lower case letters, etc. Here are some more fun sensory activities for letter learning.
Sing songs that help them to remember the letters
Use puzzles with letters for letter matching

These name puzzles from Bloom Owl are a great way to get your child learning the letters of their name. They’ll love playing with the puzzle as they start to recognize the letters they see all the time.

By far my favorite resource for having your child learning letters and letter sounds is the Leap Frog shows on Netflix. They include Letter Factory, Phonics Farm, and more. If you have Netflix you can access these shows! My 20 month old was reciting all of the letter sounds because he loves this show so much!

Once your child has a good memory of most letters and their sounds, you can teach them how to put them together to form short words. At 3 years old, a child may be able to start reading 2 or 3 letter words. Teach them how to use those sounds to read short words from the -at, -et, -it families, such as mat, rat, bat, get, set, let, sit, fit, kit, etc.

Related Post: Sticker Activity for Learning Letters

12. Building

Building helps to improve your child’s hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. They’ll be able to use their imagination and creativity to create masterpieces and then knock them all down when they’re done.

This Melissa & Doug Alphabet block set is great to stack and Bristle Blocks are also perfect for stacking, putting together, and taking apart at this age. My 3 year old is also obsessed with Magnetic Tiles– it’s the one toy that just never gets old!

Have them use blocks to encourage imaginative play and see what they can come up with. Building blocks let them problem solve and investigate the world around them.

13. Puzzles

Puzzles are a great activity for fine and visual motor skills (hand-eye coordination). Having to fit a piece into it’s correct spot by turning and manipulating it is great for visual-spatial awareness.

Your 3 year old should have moved past inset puzzles and can do more complicated interlocking puzzles. Start them out with small interlocking puzzles like these or these, which only have 6-9 pieces per puzzle.

14. Physical Activity, Sports, and Getting Outside

Three-year-olds are known to be pretty wild so you probably won’t need much coaxing to get them active. However, make sure they’re getting plenty of physical activity to learn new gross motor skills. These include:

Jumping and running
Climb up and down playground equipment or a jungle gym
Start learning how to ride a balance bike or a bike with training wheels
Throwing/catching/kicking a ball
Hop or stand on one foot for a short time
Walk backwards

The best way to get them active is to give them lots of outdoor time. Take them to playgrounds to climb on the equipment as they offer so many opportunities for enriching gross motor skills. Take them for a walk and point out all the sights you see.

Your child can also start playing cooperative sports with peers and follow directions by watching someone do a movement. Activities like gymnastics, dance, soccer, swimming lessons, and tee ball are all great organized activities to practice all of the above skills.

15. Music, Dance, and Rhythm

Children love rhythm and music so get them singing, dancing, and exploring their bodies with music. Put on music for them to dance to, sing along to their favorite songs with a microphone, or make their own music with toy instruments like maracas, xylophone, tamborine, etc.

You can also make musical ‘instruments’ with so many household objects, like shaking pill bottles, banging wooden spoons, or filling plastic Easter eggs or water bottles with uncooked beans or rice.

Do the Hokey Pokey to get them moving and learning body parts. Imitating movements that they see you doing is a great way to develop body and spatial awareness, as well.

Singing songs and doing dances are also a great way for your preschooler to learn and memorize new words and concepts like the days of the week song, months of the year song, head shoulders knees and toes, finger family song, etc. They’ll know their days of the week s quickly if you just put a tune to it!

16. Potty Training

Around 3, many children will be fully capable of using the toilet. If you haven’t started yet, give it a try! Your child may do better than you think.

If they’re already potty trained, make sure that they are fully independent with pulling their pants and underwear up and down, wiping themselves both back and front, and washing their hands afterward.

Be sure to wait until they’re ready and don’t force it on them. Here are some great tips on potty training your child here.

17. Sense of Time

Of course your three year old will not be able to tell time, however you can still teach them a basic sense of time, including:

Understanding morning, afternoon, and night. They should understand the concept of when they wake up it’s morning, lunch time is the afternoon, and before bedtime is night. They can also understand this better by seeing outside when it’s light or dark.
Recognizing the numbers on a digital clock. If they can identify numbers, they should be able to see the first number and say it’s 7 o clock. With my daughter, we tell her that 7 o clock is bedtime so when she sees 7 on the digital clock, she knows it’s time to go to bed.
Knowing when they have 1, 5, or 10 more minutes left. They still won’t have a true sense of how long these increments of time are, but you can try to make them aware that 1 minute is quick, compared to 10 minutes or 20 minutes.
Days of the week. They may be able to get a sense of what day it is today, what it will be tomorrow, and what it was yesterday

Before they fully have a sense of time, try setting an audio or visual timer when you need to show them when time is up. For example, when you say clean up in 5 more minutes, set a timer for 5 minutes to ring when it’s time.

We love the Time to Wake clocks for my little ones. They let them know when it’s time to call for mom or get out of bed by simply turning a different color when it’s almost time to get up or when they should leave their room.

This is a great visual way for them to “see” and understand time.

18. Safety

Of course, safety is a crucial lesson to teach your child. This is the age where they will probably have no fear or understanding of dangerous situations. The following practices need to be taught to your 3 year old as they may not just come naturally:

not running away in public
not running out into a parking lot
stranger danger
staying close to mom or dad
being cautious when crossing streets
holding hands when in public or outside
sun safety: applying sunscreen, wearing hats
being careful of hot items: kitchen appliances, flames, etc.

Speaking of safety for your little ones, the Whystle App is a great resource for all parents to have that tracks all safety information that’s important to your family. This includes product recalls for toys, food, and more that could promote dangers into your home. Download this app free on your phone and then there’s a free trial for the subscription so you never miss an important safety warning.

19. Manners and Respect for Others

Understanding how to properly treat others is a valuable trait to instill in your child. This goes for respecting both adults and other children. It’s important to teach your children how to use polite words and actions to show manners.

At this age, they are still testing their boundaries and exploring new ways of getting what they want. Instill rules for respecting others even through times of frustration.

Saying excuse me when needing someone to move or get their attention
Patiently waiting for a parent to finish talking to another parent before chiming in
Saying please and thank you shows consideration and appreciation
Making eye contact when speaking to others
Apologizing when you do something wrong
Ask questions to others about how their day is or how they are feeling
Compliment others on their clothes, hair, or something they did
Share their toys or items that belong to them
No pushing, hitting, biting, or pulling hair to hurt others in any way

20.

Staying Healthy: Good Hygiene and Eating Well

Teaching your 3 year old to practice good hygiene and healthy eating is great to start young. Build-in their hygiene routine throughout the day and they will become accustomed to this regimen. Eating healthy foods early on to set them off for a healthy diet for the rest of their life. These include:

eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and proteins. Avoid: processed foods, unhealthy snacks, and sweets
washing hands after meals and potty
brushing teeth morning and night
bathing daily or every other day
keeping their clothes and body clean while they eat or play
covering their mouth when they sneeze or cough
blowing their nose into a tissue
wiping their own privates after going potty

Complying with:

brushing and combing hair
cutting fingernails and toenails
cleaning inside ears with a child safety q-tip

Related Post: How to Get Your Picky Toddler to Try New Foods

21.

Acting Appropriately in Public and Understanding “No”

Preschoolers are very ego-centric (only care about themselves). It’s totally normal for them to only think about how things will affect them. This almost always leads to inappropriate behaviors as they learn what behaviors get them what they want.

Don’t always give in to every cry and teach them that sometimes they can’t get everything that they want. Don’t always give them the cookie that they’re begging for or the new toy at the store. If they must get the object that they desire, make them earn it.

Teach your 3-year-old how to act appropriately to avoid tantrums in public. Try putting rules in place when you are out so they know what is expected of them. Always have a way to redirect or distract them when you see a tantrum starting (using something else they are interested in). Lastly, just avoid situations that could set them off.

This is a great article about Tips for Cry-Free Shopping with Your Toddler

22.

Empathy and Compassion

From a young age, you want to fill your child with compassion and empathy for others. Teach them about emotions and to be conscious of other people’s feelings.

If they see someone crying, ask what’s wrong.
If they see someone alone, go over and play with them.
If they see someone that looks different than them, treat them equally.
If they hurt someone, apologize and make it better

It’s never too early to talk to your children about race, ethnicity, disabilities, and recognizing differences between others.

23. Structure and a Routine

Your 3 year old probably already has some routine in place throughout their day. However, you want to ensure that they are consistently doing what is asked of them so that they could even do it on their own if needed.

The more structure that your child has in their day, the more they will start to understand time and a daily schedule.

I love using a routine or responsibility chart (like the blue/green one on the right) so my toddler can have a visual cue of everything that is expected of her. Use one with pictures instead of just words, (like this Mickey Mouse chart), so your toddler actually understands what it’s for.

Here are some examples of day-to-day routines that you can create a specific pattern for:

Bedtime: Brush teeth, go potty, wash hands, put pajamas on, read a story, go to sleep
Morning: Go potty, wash hands, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast
Before naptime
Pre-dinner wind-down time
Cleaning time
Getting ready for school/daycare: Packing their backpack, putting their jackets and shoes on, getting themselves into the car

Related Post: Why Your Child Needs a Daily Routine and How to Make One

24.

Staying on Task

A 3 year old’s attention span is still quite short, although it should have increased a lot since toddlerhood. It’s only reasonable to ask them to focus on a task for around 6-10 minutes at this age.

However, it is important for them to be aware that once they start a task they should finish it to completion. My daughter loves to grab a puzzle and put in 3 pieces and walk away or sit down and read 2 pages and then walk away.

The goal of teaching your child to stay on task is to complete what they start. Here are some tips:

While playing with your child, make sure that they complete the entire activity, ie. puzzle or read through the whole book, before they get up and run around.
If they’re coloring or building a tower, keep them engaged in that one activity for as long as possible before you let them move on to the next.
During mealtimes make sure they remain seated and finish their meal before getting up and playing.
Make sure they clean up one activity before moving on to the next

25. Be a Helper and Doing “Chores”

Little kids LOVE to help grown-ups. They want to do everything that you’re doing because they’re starting to gain this growing confidence and independence. Invite them to perform tasks that they may not be able to do independently, but that they can help you with.

Get the mail
Take the trash out
Refill the toilet paper roll dispenser
Help with cooking: mixing, adding ingredients
Carrying in bags or groceries
Fill the dog bowl
Entertain a younger sibling
Cleaning up their toys
Cleaning up after themselves: throwing their dishes in the sink garbage in the trash can
Wiping down the table or floor when they make messes

26. Technology

Technology or screen time should be limited for preschoolers to no more than 2 hours a day, but it is still important for your child to learn how to use these devices. The fine motor skill of swiping, clicking, and sliding to nagivate through tablets and smart phones are something that your 3 year old can easily learn.

Ipad educational games like ABC Mouse are great to sharpen a lot of the educational skills listen above, as well as practice using a tablet or smart phone. There’s a great curriculum based on age and developmental level that teaches them so many new skills.

My 3 year old loves ABC Mouse because of the wide variety of games and fun. She’s learning how to trace letters, numbers, make new sounds and words, etc.

Leapfrog Laptop is also a fun interactive computer that little words can learn letters and typing on.

27. Sorting and Comparing

Sorting and comparing is a skill that you can teach your 3 year old. Make them aware of how objects are the same and different. Some of the criteria that they can use to sort is by:

color
size (big, medium, small)
shape
categories (fruits vs. vegetables, farm animals vs. ocean animals)
pattern (stripes, polka dots, solids)

This sorting pie from Learning Resources is a great way to practice sorting and categorizing objects by the features mentioned above.

28. Follow Multi-Step Directions

Your 3 year old should now have progressed from only understanding and following 1-step directions (i.e. put your shoes on) to following 2-3 step directions (i.e. get your shoes from the closet, put them on, and go wait by the car).

Practice with 2 steps at first to make sure they can focus on the direction given, process it, and carry it out. Then you can try adding in another step to see if they can still follow.

At times, your little one may be distracted to get all the distractions, and that’s ok since their attention span is still short, but as they approach 4, they should really be listening to you intently and follow your commands.

29. Rhyming Words and Opposites

You can teach your 3 year old some rhyming and opposite words at this age, as well. Short words that sound alike (ie. rat, bat and sky, tie) should be easy for them to catch on to.

Opposite words, for example in-out, up-down, should also be learned at this age as they use these words all the time. They should already know the words, but now understanding the meaning and how they are opposites of each other will really get their mind stimulated and understanding these concepts.

30. Sight Words

The first sight word that your preschooler may be able to spell and recognize is their name. Teach them how to spell their name and how to recognize it when it’s written. Those name puzzles shown above are great for practicing this!

Although your child isn’t expected to know sight words until later on, it can’t hurt to expose them to it now. Sight words are words that may not sound the wya they are spelled so they will have to just memorize the way the word looks.

These are typically commonly used words, for example, like, the, and my. As you read to your child, you will probably come across these words several times.

Point out the words to them and tell them what they say. If you tend to read the same books over and over, they should quickly pick up on what a word looks like and say it as you read. Not only soul you point these words out in their favorite book, but wherever you see it whether it’s a cereal box or sign.

Flash cards are also great for learning sight words, however they are a bit young for this.

31. Days of the week/Months of the Year/Seasons

By going over the calendar daily or singing songs, your 3 year old can learn the days of the week and months of the year pretty quickly. They still may not get a true sense of how these time periods work, but they can memorize a list of these items.

Most of these skills listed above can be accomplished at some point while a child is between three and four, but every child develops at their own pace.

This article is not intended to skew your mind into thinking that your child MUST know these concepts. However, if you are looking for activities to do with your child, ways to engage their mind, or knowledge to teach them, these are some great tips. Your child is NOT behind if they can’t adequately do all of these things, but if you are concerned, please speak to your pediatrician.

Have fun teaching your three-year-old and enjoy watching them blossom this year. They’ll be growing and developing before your eyes so don’t blink! Here are some more great activity ideas to do with your little one.

3 Years - 4 Years

Puffy Paint: There is something magical about Puffy Paint and it is a must try for any child or toddler to paint and play with. It is super easy to make with all the ingredients you need right in your pantry and after your child has finished painting, place it in the microwave for the magic to happen…….It is SO much FUN!! Read more……

Jelly Play Dough Critters: Recently I shared a recipe for Jelly Play Dough; this is what we did with it! We created some funny Jelly Play Dough Critters, frogs, owls, funny faces, monsters and a little kitten. The ideas and the imagination are endless. Read more…..

What is Hiding in Our Jelly?: Hiding items inside some jelly for kids to squish and squeeze to find them. Fun sensory activity for finding numbers, alphabet letters and animals hiding in the jelly. Read more……

Create a Spring Play Dough Garden: Here is a great spring theme activity for the kids, creating a Spring Play Dough Garden. The play dough has been scented with a herbal shampoo to smell like flowers and is textured with small coloured flower petals. It is a great activity for kids to explore their creativity and imagination as they create their very own spring garden. Read more…..

Pompom Hockey: Keep the kids entertained with Pompom Hockey. It is a super simple activity you can set up at home for the kids, that is fun, challenging and exciting. It also gets little bodies moving! Read more…..

Back Yard Water Park: We set a range of different theme stations for the kids to play and explore, some were more sensory play based and others were imaginative play based. Altogether we had seven water play stations in our Back Yard Water Park. Read more…..

Counting and Subitising: The aim of this activity to develop the skill of subitising by creating an environment (visual scene) to recognise the number associated with a particular pattern on the dice, with the clusters of circles on the paper and collections/groups of pompoms and tokens made to match that of the dice. Read more…..

Sensory Play with Ice World: Ice World is a sensory activity for toddlers and pre-school children involving playing with ice, water and sea theme props. The amazing thing about sensory play is that it opens the door to so many wonderful learning opportunities such as imaginative play, language exploration, fine motor development for pre-writing skills, coordination, social interactions and so much more. Read more…….

Sorting Colours with Pompoms and Cardboard Rolls: Making learning your colours fun with this interactive game using pompoms and cardboard rolls! It involves sorting and placing coloured pompoms into the matching coloured cardboard roll and catching them in a bowl. It was a great way to reinforce the learning of colours, checking for understanding and having some fun with colours. Read more……

Free Printable Number Tracing Cards: This is a great way for kids to practice writing their numbers!! The Number Tracing Cards are a free printable that can be laminated to allow kids to draw on with a white board marker as it wipes away easily with a tissue. Kids can practice writing their numbers correctly and wipe it away and try again. Read more…..

DIY Skittles & Games: Our Homemade Skittles would have to be one of the most played with toys in our house. My girls are continuously finding new and fun things to do with them. Read more….

Imaginative Play – Planting a Garden : Coming Soon!!

Play Dough and Buttons: Setting up an invitation to play with play dough, and buttons to inspire the imagination and creativity. Read more…..

How to make Gloop? If you haven’t made Gloop yet, then this is a must for any toddler or child to try. It is super fun and super messy, I am not sure who had the most fun, me or the kids!! Gloop is an interesting mixture with a unique texture to explore and play with. Playing with Gloop is a fabulous sensory and science activity to learn about the concepts of what a solid and liquid is. Read more…..

Number Sort: Number sort is a fun, hands on activity to play and learn with numbers. It sets a challenge of searching for specific numbers amongst a jumble of numbers. Read more…..

Homemade Alphabet Sponge Letters: So much fun for the bath…….and learning your alphabet too! A great tactile and hands-on activity for kids to play with while taking a bath. When wet, the sponges stick or suction slightly to the sides of the bath and tiles, making it a great canvas for creating endless ideas. Read more…..

Rainbow Salt Tray: Why would you need crayons, textas, pencils and paper to draw when you can have more fun with a Rainbow Salt Tray! Read more…. .

Pasta Play Dough: Let your child’s imagination run wild as they create and explore play dough and pasta. Read more…..

Make Your Own Solid Numbers: Combining science and learning numbers together in the one activities. Read more…..

Nature’s Paint Brushes: With the weather warming up, I have been planning more activities to do with the kids outside and I thought these paint brushes would be perfect for textured painting on a large paper canvas fixed to the fence. Read more….

Alphabet Play Dough: We had so much fun playing with our Alphabet Play Dough! It is a fun activity to help kids learn their alphabet letters and build up their fine motor skills at the same time. This activity involves using play dough to create letters in the alphabet, using the FREE Printable Alphabet Play Dough Mats as a guide. Read more…..

Sensory Play with Jelly: Ooey, gooey, slushy and messy! A fun sensory experience playing with Rainbow Jelly. Read more…..

Name Collage: Making a name collage using pom poms is an activity that will help your child become interested in their name and the letters that make up their name. Read more….

Paint Pops: Making painting fun using frozen paint on a pop stick. Create endless paintings as the paint melts! Read more……

Strawberry Scented Rice: Exploring and playing with strawberry scented rice with all kinds of scoops, shovels and sifts. Read more…..

Washing a Toy Baby: Watching Mum and Dad washing a baby sibling is an example of an experience that children copy and re-enact. Watching and learning from this experience then practising, imitating and experimenting this through imaginary play. Read more…..

Homemade Street Traffic Bath Sponges: This will keep the kids busy while having a bath as well as stimulating their imaginations and developing their storytelling skills. It is a great hands-on sensory play activity that promotes creativity, storytelling and the imagination. The bath tub is a great canvas for creating stories! A free printable too! Read more…..

Straw Flowers: A cute little gift idea! Something so simple, fun and easy to make and you will find all the items you need around the home. Read more…..

Sensory Play Rice and Bottle Tops: Developing fine motor skills through sensory play with rainbow rice and bottle tops that will also inspire the imagination and creativity. Read more…..

Pipe Cleaner Maze: Exploring and playing with pipe cleaners and beads with the Styrofoam while exercising the fine motor muscles. Read more…..

Play Dough Cupcakes: There is so much fun to be had creating pretend cupcakes as kids have the freedom to explore the imaginary world. This is a great activity to introduce and sing the Pat-a-Cake nursery rhyme. Read more……

We’re Going On a Teddy Bear Hunt: We have a gorgeous book which comes with a CD that tells the story of the adventure of going on a bear hunt. My kids have played this CD over many times as I watch them pretend to walk through long, wavy grass and run away from a bear. So I thought I would bring this story to life some more by creating the different scenes in the book. Read more…..

Pillow Case Hoppers: this wonderful activity reminded me of how the simple things can bring so much fun, while being active. This game is an oldie but a goodie replacing the hessian sacks with a pillow case……simple hours of fun! Read more…..

Soapy Slime FUN: This activity was FUN, REALLY FUN!! Kids love to get messy, it comes with being a kid as they explore their natural curiosity about the world around them. Read more…..

Paint Me: Paint Me is a cute and quirky activity that kids will enjoy making! I plan to use ours as keep sake to giggle at in years to come. It is a perfect snap shot of the size of your kids hands and feet to compare with when they get older. Read more…..

Play Dough and Cardboard Tubes: “Rolling play dough balls down a cardboard tube ramp!” Lots of fun with play dough. Read more…..

Colourful Pattern Collage: These Colourful Pattern Easter Eggs are a bright and colourful activity for the kids to do this Easter. They are super simple to make, don’t require a lot of materials and are lots of fun! Read more…..

Alphabet Hide & Seek: My kids get very excited when we play this game. The challenge and anticipation of searching for something brings so much fun to learning your alphabet letters! The Hide and Seek Letter Hunt involves hiding the letter pairs around the house and your child goes around finding them. Free printable. Read more…..

Great Places to Play at Home: There are so many wonderful places in the home where children can play imaginatively, creatively and get active indoors. Kids will create imaginary worlds to explore and play using the most inexpensive and simple things you can find right at home. Here are a few ideas for you to try! Read more…..

Indoor Camping: It’s raining, it’s pouring…. .and we have been stuck inside a fair bit lately with the weather.

To entertain the kids and give them something to do we set up an indoor camping trip to beat the boredom and promote imaginative play. Here are a few ideas for setting up your own Indoor Campsite. Read more…..

Pompoms and Mini Tongs: In the early years, we often hear discussions about the importance of fine motor and gross motor development in kids. Here is a great activity that is fun and exercises those little muscles to develop strength! Read more…..

Bottle Top Leaf Boats: What I love about winter is that there are lots of puddles to play in. Recently after days of rain and being stuck inside, we put our rain coats and gum boots on for a splash about in the puddles. Read more….

Imaginative Play Baby Care Corner: Encourage imaginative play by setting up a Babies Care Corner. This would be a fabulous imaginative play area to set up for families who are expecting or have a new baby and for children who have a younger sibling. Read more…..

Making Honeycomb, Exploring Bi-Carbonate Soda: After making our Homemade Volcano and watching the excitement on my kids’ faces as the vinegar and bicarbonate soda reacted together, I thought I would extend the fun, fizzing and frothing into the kitchen by making some simple homemade honeycomb. Read more…..

Number Cookies: An irresistibly yummy numeracy activity for kids! So much learning happens when we cook with our kids. The social interactions, processing information, following directions, problem solving and coordination. Read more…..

Bottle Tops & Bubbles: A simple unstructured and fun sensory play idea using water, bubbles and bottle tops. It was wonderful to see the creativity, imagination and fun happen just by adding bottle tops and bubble bath to the tub.

We develop attention. Textbook for children 3 - 4 years old

Electronic library

Raising children, today's parents educate the future history of our country, and hence the history of the world.
- A.S. Makarenko

	Author: Zemtsova O.N.
	Name: Developing attention
	Format: PDF (zip file)
	Size: 14.9 Mb
	Volume: 35 pages
	Abstract:
Studying this book, your baby will learn to concentrate his attention, listen and perform tasks correctly. Regular classes will help a small student to instill perseverance and interest in learning. The main thing is not to overwork. In order for the kid to study with pleasure next time, it is better to finish the lesson at the most interesting place. The lesson should last no more than 15 minutes! Do not rush the child with the answer, let him collect his thoughts and make his first small discovery. He will surely delight you with his successes. Sticking pictures will make the learning process not only an exciting experience, but will also develop fine motor skills and hand coordination. The baby may need your help. Find the right sticker with your child and help him stick it on the page. Do not forget to praise your child at the end of class!

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Children speak

“Mommy, please give me a sister, but only an older one!”

- Nastya, 4 years old

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Prescription for children

	Preparing for school
	Hand development
	Teaching writing
	Interesting tasks
	Modern techniques

TOP-10 educational aids for children from 1 to 3 years old

1. Smart Books series, Olga Zemtsova. Publishing House "Makhaon"

The "Smart Books" series is a whole set of educational aids for preschool children, and the series includes both educational aids and various collections of tests - so that parents can track what skills the child has require processing. Together with "Smart Books" children develop speech and memory, learn to draw with their hands and fingers, master the concepts of "up-down" and "left-right", learn to find differences, get acquainted with numbers and letters, broaden their horizons. The goal of the Smart Books project is to comprehensively develop the child and prepare him for school in a timely manner, because the series is designed for children from 1 to 6 years old. The author of "Smart Books" is Zemtsova Olga Nikolaevna, candidate of pedagogical sciences and head of the Center for Preschool Development and Education of Children.

"Smart books" for children 1-2 years old : "Developing tests", "Right-left, up-down", "Obediant sounds", "Memorize pictures", "Problems for the mind", "Develop speech" , "An obedient pencil", "Animated letters", "Funny hours", "Numbers and numbers", "Gramoteka", "What surrounds us", "Spot the differences"

"Smart books" for children 2-3 years old : “Tests”, “Draw with palms”, “What a child should know and be able to”, “Right-left, up-down”, “Find the differences”, “Draw with fingers”, Obedient pencil”, “Problems for the mind”, “ Gramoteika”, “Numbers and Numbers”, “From Word to Story”, “Funny Hours”, “Obedient Sounds”, “Drawing with Fists and Fingers”, “What Surrounds Us”, “Remember Pictures”, “Revived Letters”

2.

Preschool Mosaic series, Olga Zemtsova. Makhaon Publishing House

Another series of manuals from Olga Zemtsova - only brighter, more interesting and already with stickers. Children love colorful illustrations, and mothers appreciate manuals for interesting and useful tasks - thus, developing activities with a child become as effective as possible. In a playful way, kids master the sections “Thinking”, “Literacy”, “Speech development”, “Mathematics”, “The world around us”, “Motor skills”, “Sensing”, “Attention” and “Memory” - just imagine how much it is useful from a small series of books!

"Preschool mosaic" for children 2-3 years old : "Tests", "Develop intelligence", "Develop attention", "Develop thinking", "Numbers and counting", "Tests with a speech therapist", "Get acquainted with nature ”, “Developing speech”, “Preparing the hand for writing”, “Learning letters”, “Colors and shapes”, “Developing memory”

3. Series “School of the Seven Dwarfs”.

Mozaika-Sintez Publishing House

Perhaps the most famous series of educational aids in the Russian-speaking world, with which children get acquainted almost from birth. The series is aimed at developing all basic skills and includes 7 courses (one per year) of 12 books each. Benefits are issued with large, bright at the same time simple pictures, so kids really like it. In addition, the manuals include time-tested assignments, as well as parent pages that explain the scheme of work in detail. It is worth considering only one nuance: not all books in the course are equally in demand; therefore, many mothers agree that it makes no sense to purchase the “School of the Seven Dwarfs” in full sets. Study the proposed set and build on the interests and age characteristics of your baby.

“School of the Seven Dwarfs” 0+ : “Jests for a little one”, “Colored pictures”, “What does it sound like?”, “My favorite toys”, “Who is doing what?”, “My first book”, “ Cat-cat”, “What color is this?”, “Square and circle”, “Day and night”, “Merry round dance”, “Fold the picture”

“School of the Seven Dwarfs” 1+ : “Whose voice is this ?”, “Big, small”, “Plasticine snowball”, “Merry-sad”, “My house”, “In the village and in the country”, “Drawing with fingers”, “Walking around the city”, “Shape, color”, “Whose tail is this?”, “My first dictionary”, “Who is this, what is this?”

"School of the Seven Dwarfs" 2+ : "One-many", "Color, shape", "Plasticine pictures", "Seasons", "What are the professions", "In a forest clearing", "Drawing with fingers" , “Pets”, “Who lives where?”, “ABC for kids”, “What is good?”, “Smart cutter”

4.

Series “New child”, Elena Yanushko. Publishing house "Eksmo"

The series includes annual courses, each of which contains benefits for the development of precisely those areas that are most relevant for the age of the baby. So, for example, in the course for one-year-olds you will find aids for modeling, drawing and speech development, as well as reusable brochures for developing creative skills and detailed instructions for parents. The author of the series is Elena Yanushko, a recognized expert in the field of early development and the author of over 200 books on the subject.

Series "New Child" 1+ : "Magic seeds", "Plasticine beads", "Where did the sun hide?" "My Favorite Animals", "Little Sparrow Stories", "Magic Dough", "Who's Hiding Under the Christmas Tree?", "Hide the Fish!", "Colorful Balls", "Come to the Zoo!", "Little Frog Stories" , "Underwater world and a small world", "Hide the mouse!", "I draw the sun", "Little stories about a Kitten", "Little stories about a Bear cub"

Series "New child" 2+ : Mathematics (Giants and kids, “We count everything around”, “One, two, three!”), Speech development (“What the Bunny can do”, “The Bunny and his family”, “About the Bunny”), Application (“Funny hide-and-seek”, “Paper cloud”, “Paper balls”), Drawing (“Merry family”, “Colorful balls”), Construction (“Wand by stick”, “Building a house”, “Houses from shoelaces”), Sculpting (“ I'll Bake a Pie”, “Plasticine Oranges”)

5.

Series “Your Baby Can Do It”. Mozaika-Sintez Publishing House

A series of inexpensive, but bright and very useful aids for the development of fine motor skills and creative abilities of a baby aged 1 to 3 years. The tasks are fun, interesting, and most importantly - the power of the baby.

In the series : “Draw with paints”, “Seasons”, “Plasticine hide and seek”, “Funny drawing”, “Stick a picture”, “Paint with palms”, “Geometric appliqué”

6. Series "We're talking right." Rosmen Publishing House

You simply cannot find a more reliable method for developing speech. Very simple and understandable for parents - and very effective for children. Exercises to coordinate the muscles of the speech apparatus, improve phonemic perception, expand the vocabulary and form coherent speech are organized in a convenient sequence from simple to complex. Approved by leading speech pathologists.

In series : “Speech development album for the smallest”, “Speech development album”, “Speech development album for preschoolers”, “Speech development album for future first graders”, “Speech therapy primer”, “Speech therapy encyclopedia»

7.

A series of workbooks «Kumon». MIF Publishing House

Kumon is an international brand originally from Japan, behind which today there is a whole network of educational centers around the world, a unique method of learning mathematics and teaching reading, as well as a series of educational notebooks, which 4 million children study. The main principle of the benefits is to provide exercises in a playful way that is as attractive as possible for the child, so that the learning process does not become tedious for him. In addition, all exercises are given in a strict sequence “from simple to complex”, the load level increases so gradually that the child does not even notice it. Each age has its own set of notebooks: there are manuals for kids 2-4 years old, there are manuals for teenagers. With Kumon notebooks, preschoolers learn to draw, glue, cut, navigate mazes and more.

“Kumon” series for children from 2 years old : “Let's draw” (2 issues), “Let's glue” (4 issues), “Let's cut” (4 issues), “Let's add pictures” (2 issues)

Kumon Series for 2-4 year olds : Simple Lines, Magic Lines, Simple Mazes, Learn to Color, Learn to Cut

8.

Gakken Workbook Series. Publishing house "Eksmo"

Another Japanese series of educational aids - and also very popular. The tasks and the principle of their presentation are in many ways similar to Kumon, so the series are considered almost identical. It is curious that pupils of state kindergartens in Japan are currently studying Gakken notebooks - and there they certainly monitor the quality of preschool education. Therefore, feel free to purchase bright illustrated manuals with very cute characters on the covers - and develop the skills of coloring, drawing, passing mazes and creating applications with your baby.

Gakken series for children 2-4 years old : “Do it yourself and learn”, “Labyrinths”, “Learn to think”, “My first lesson”, “My first application”, “My first pencil”, “ Account, 1st step»

9. Series «Gifted child. Korean Teaching Methods. Eksmo Publishing House

Did you know that South Korea is one of the top five countries in terms of school performance? It is not surprising that their method of preschool and school education has become very popular. Take note of the Gifted Child series, the so-called “Korean” series. Its peculiarity is in the desire to simultaneously develop 3 main types of thinking of the child: logical (what we traditionally call the word "intelligence"), emotional (the child's ability to work with his own and others' emotions) and creative (imagination, mental flexibility, the ability to think outside the box) . At the same time, all tasks for all types of thinking are presented in a fun way, with a lot of stickers, and bright illustrations complement the image of a boring but effective manual. The series is designed for children from 1 to 7 years old. And remember: South Korean educators believe that any child can be developed to the level of a gifted child, you just need to create a favorable environment.

In the series for children 1-2 years old : “Mathematical thinking. Annual course”, “Mathematical thinking. Annual course. Advanced level”

In the series for children 2-3 years old : “I am learning to think”, “I am developing logic”, “I am developing attention”; "Logical thinking", "Creative thinking", "Emotional thinking"; “Mathematical thinking. Annual course”, “Mathematical thinking. Annual course. Advanced level”

10. A series of workbooks “I can!”. Publishing house "I can!"

The series appeared relatively recently, but immediately won a place in the hearts of preschoolers and their mothers. The manuals are really bright, very modern and incredibly exciting; this is the rare case when the child himself invites you to "work out." Workbooks "I can!" teach children to cut and glue, find solutions, memorize, draw lines and complete mazes. Each manual contains high-quality illustrations and a set of stickers, and tasks, in addition to the main direction like passing a labyrinth, are often accompanied by additional questions that stimulate logical reasoning and coherent speech. Particularly picky critics may reproach the series for partially failing to comply with the important principle “from simple to complex” - but even this does not make them less charming. After all, nothing enhances the effectiveness of classes as much as a child’s deep enthusiasm - and according to this parameter, the series “I can!” receives 10 points out of 10 possible.