Preschool activities for 5 year olds
Fun learning activities for 5-6-year-olds
Your child will probably have started synthetic phonic activities at school so finding time to enjoy playing with letters and sounds in games at home will really help them with that.
Other activities can help your little ones to develop key skills such as speaking, listening and numeracy. If you’re not sure what your child’s doing in school, you can find out more about it in our school section and click on their year group to disover more.
We’ve pulled together our top five ideas here and hope you’ll have fun testing them out!
1. Rhyming games
- Listen to and join in with rhyming stories, like Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo.
- Play rhyming games, or sing an action rhyme.
- Make silly rhyming jokes. For example: What do you call a smelly elephant? A smellyphant! What do you call an elephant watching TV? A tellyphant!
2. Phonic games
- Play snap or bingo with letters and sounds.
Write letters on pieces of papers or cards, to create homemade flashcards. Make two for each letter. Use them to play snap. You could also create a bingo card with eight boxes – each one containing a letter. Put the flashcards into a pile, facing down and take it in turns to be the bingo caller.
- Play phonics fishing! Use homemade letter flashcards, add a paperclip to each, tie a magnet to some string and a stick and ask your child to ‘fish’ for a particular sound.
- Play ‘I spy’ games (for example, ‘I spy something beginning with a…’, using the letter sound) when you are out and about. For help with letter sounds, take a look at our sound chart.
Activity: Vowel sounds
Practise phonics by matching the pictures to the vowel sounds.
Activity: Phonics guidance
Learn how to say all the phonics sounds (phonemes) and letters.
3. Memory games
- Play ‘Kim’s game’. Put a few items on a tray (for example, a crayon, an apple, a building brick, a toy car).
Then look, cover, remember and check! - Talk about, photograph or write out some ‘events’ from something you have done together – can your child remember the correct order?
- Go shopping – try to remember the list together!
4. Listening games
- Play games such as ‘Simon says’ – party games are often good ways to practice speaking, listening, and memory skills, without them even noticing!
- Listen to music and talk about the instruments being played – find pictures on the internet together.
5. Action games
- Make a puppet theatre with cardboard boxes or a towel over a chair and encourage your child to make up or retell a story to you (or any willing family members!).
- Have lots of fun dressing up with clothes and props at home so that your child can dress up as a character and act out favourite stories. You can find lots of cheap props and clothes for dressing up in charity shops.
- Play games such as ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’, but write the times down for them to read instead of saying them.
6. Tactile games
- Use magnetic letters to spell names and simple words on the fridge or radiator.
- Use modelling clay to make your child’s name or simple words like mum.
- Enjoy jigsaws together and chat about finding the right pieces!
7. Screen games
- Watch TV programmes linked to books and then read the books afterwards. Little Princess, Katie Morag, and Charlie and Lola are good places to start. Talk about what they like or don’t like about the characters.
- Find story-telling sites like Little Kingdom, story-telling TV programmes, or story apps for your phone.
8. Car journey games
- Play ‘The cook’s cat is an amazing cat/beautiful cat/clever cat/daft cat…‘ and so on, and then make up your own versions (for example, ‘The doctor’s dog…‘).
- Play this noisy version of the car game, ‘Who can spot…?’. It’s great fun – but check out with the driver first before you start this one! Decide on a noise, or a word to call, when you spot the things you’re looking out for.
For example, ‘Bang!’ for a yellow car, ‘Buzzz!’ for a bus, and ‘Wow!’ for a bird. - Listen to an audiobook.
Video: Car journey games
Get ideas for fun and educational car games for kids! Educational author and parent Isabel Thomas shares her ideas to relieve the boredom of long car journeys.
9. Out and about activities
- Ask your child to find the things you need to buy when out shopping by reading the labels on products together.
- Check out your local library or community centre to find out what special activities or clubs are running.
- Try to do a few visits or find some information together to link with the topic or project work at school.
10. Reading books of all kinds together
- Carry on reading books of all kinds to and with your child: picture, pop up, information, poetry, eBooks, print books… and the levelled books brought home from school.
Video or record your child reading them for fun! - Why not choose a book from our free eBook library to share on-screen together?
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:
- Boredom Busting Activities
- Arts & Crafts
- Fun Learning Activities
- Sensory Activities
OK Let the fun begin!
Boredom Busting Activities for 5 Year Olds
- Make a chalk maze – create a maze for toy cars using sidewalk chalk
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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!
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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!
Events for children
Events for children.
1. Summer entertainment “Summer Park of Professions”
In the summer health period, children get acquainted with professions in connection with the implementation of the escort concept
of professional self -determination in continuing education.
Entertainment was held for groups No. 5 and 8 on acquaintance with the professions of a cook and an artist, groups No. 7 and 12 - a magician and a salesman, groups No. 10 and 9vegetable grower in the kindergarten garden. To learn more about the events we offer in presentations:
- Get acquainted with the profession of a vegetable grower (junior groups)
- Introduction to the profession of a cook (senior groups)
- Acquaintance with the profession of an artist (senior groups)
- Acquaintance with the profession of magician and salesman (preparatory groups)
2. Quest - the game "Experts in the profession of preschool workers" for children of preparatory groups.
On the eve of the Day of Preschool Workers in kindergarten, quest-game “Experts of Professions of Preschool Workers”,
9000 In which pupils of preparatory groups No.
7 took part and No. 12. The participants of the game had to solve the problematic situation of filling out a map of the professions of kindergarten workers.To do this, the teams of groups went on an exciting journey through the institution.The children moved in different routes, guided by the scheme of the kindergarten.At stops, they got acquainted with the work of employees on workers places, completed creative tasks, received chips
for a profession card and congratulated adults on their professional holiday. The event was accompanied by dance-rhythmic compositions, word games, joint construction of a kindergarten from a constructor. The culmination of the quest game was the filling in of the professions card, in which the children pasted the chips of the pedagogical and non-pedagogical staff of the kindergarten. At the end of the event, the children made a conclusion about the importance of all professions of preschool workers for the successful life and development of children.
Each participant of the quest game received a certificate "Expert in the professions of preschool workers" and marked an attractive profession for themselves with the help of a sticker.
3. Cognitive - Entertainment Victorin “Olympiad in Rio 2016” ( Acquaintance with professions athletes, coach; for children of preparatory groups).
4. Leisure activities "A walk in the autumn forest " (acquaintance with the professions of ecologist, forester; for children of older groups).
5 . Material of the educators of group No. 7 Shabalina Anna Valentinovna and Denisova Lidia Timofeevna on the implementation of the project "The World of Professions by means of Fine Arts" on the formation of the prerequisites for professional self-determination in children of senior preschool age based on interaction with the Yaroslavl Art Museum using the museum and pedagogical program "Hello , museum!" educational course "We are entering the world of beauty" and the implementation of independent creative activities of children.
Presentation lesson for pupils of preparatory groups No. 12.1, senior groups 7,9,10 with the participation of parents in robotics at the MOU KOTS "Lad".
7. The long -term project of the teacher of group No. 10 of Demeneva Natalia Nikolaevna “Masters of Folk Crossings”: to form the prerequisites for professional self -determination by preschool age by means of artistic and aesthetic education, an educational situation educational situation "A thread spins - lace weaves."
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The group organized a museum of military glory.
Children practically lost the professions of "exhibition organizer", "tour guide".
Photo report "Museum of Military Glory", gr.
No. 1
On October 2, pupils of preparatory groups No. 7,9,10 and senior groups No. 12, 1 visited the exhibition of Zinaida Serebryakova from the collection of the Russian Museum of St. Petersburg, the main exhibition in this exhibition season.
It was an excursion, a journey into paintings as into the world of an artist. During the tour, the children got acquainted with the life and work of the artist, expanded their knowledge about the main genres of painting: portrait, still life, landscape, everyday painting. The children got acquainted with the following self-portrait paintings “In front of a mirror”, “House of Cards”, “Portrait of E.N. Lancer. Mom”, “In the ballet dressing room. (Swan Lake)”, “Still Life with Works of Art”, “Peasants” and others. The tour ended with a walk through the Governor's Garden.
Excursion to the Yaroslavl Art Museum, 2.10.2018
Experience in the implementation of the museum and pedagogical program "Hello, Museum!" to introduce children to the professions of art museum workers.
On August 23, on the basis of MDOU "Kindergarten No. 221", a computer science teacher of secondary school No. 88 Uvarova Irina Arkadyevna held a charity event "Children for children!".
The purpose of the event is the presentation of the book "Primer of technical devices", which was created by children from all over Russia, to familiarize preschool children with technical creativity.
28 pupils of senior preschool age of MDOU "Kindergarten No. 221", the winner of the robotic competition "IkaRenok" Marashov Matvey and the participant of this competition, a pupil of kindergarten Maksimenko Ilya, took part in the action.
Children got acquainted with the book "Primer of technical devices", took part in competitions in algorithmics and Lego - design, designed characters, with the help of which they staged a fairy tale.
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Namely - Game program 9000
To create an atmosphere of a general holiday, to bring joy to children from meeting their favorite characters, to provide each child with the opportunity to show their performing abilities in games, dances, round dances, songs.
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Musical and sports entertainment "My cheerful, sonorous ball"
Develop physical qualities: speed, strength, endurance.
Promote the development of positive emotions, feelings of mutual assistance.
To form the habit of a healthy lifestyle through a variety of physical, artistic and aesthetic means and forms.
Cultivate feelings of collectivism, friendship.
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Theatrical performance "Masha and the Bear" (in modern processing)
To form the ability to concentrate on a toy, a theater puppet.
To develop interest in puppet shows, the desire to take part in them. Cause an emotional response to music and a desire to move to it.
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Dance and game program
"Children's disco"
"Hey, hali-gali!"
contribute to improving the quality of the performed repertoire, convey the image and character of musical works in singing and movements, and actively engage in actions.
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Sports and tourist entertainment "In Search of Treasure"
Cause a positive emotional and psychological mood and get a supply of vivacity.
To improve the motor skills of children aimed at strengthening health, to develop the endurance of the body.
To promote the development of the simplest tourist skills and abilities: make a hike, move in a column one at a time along a set distance with backpacks; perform technically competently a variety of simple obstacles.
Practice safe behavior while playing.
To promote the manifestation of independence, courage, goodwill, to cultivate perseverance in achieving results, to create a joyful mood for children during the holiday.
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Entertainment according to traffic rules
"Santa Claus and summer"
Strengthening children's knowledge of the rules of the road and creating a joyful emotional mood.
Recall with children the learned rules and teach them to apply them in accordance with the created situation.
Continue to cultivate a culture of behavior on the street, cultivate responsiveness and a desire to help a friend in difficult situations.
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Create an atmosphere of celebration and boundless children's fun.
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Kindergarten flash mob
“Dance while you are young…!”
Create a joyful festive atmosphere.
Arouse the desire to take an active part in the holiday.
Stimulate joint sports, music and games activities, emotional responsiveness of children and parents. To develop friendly relations between children, parents, dow employees, to cultivate a healthy lifestyle.
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Entertainment program "Summer Fiesta"
Involving preschoolers in the world of folk and foreign literature, and comparing their knowledge with the achievements of other participants.
Consolidate knowledge of fairy tales.
Develop memory, thinking, observation, speech.
Raise interest in reading, friendship.
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Garbage Fashion Holiday
Activate, unite children's creative manifestations, evoke their initiative, emotional upsurge and simply bring joy.
Continue to develop in children a sense of responsibility for the state of the environment.
Develop creative imagination, encourage song, game, dance creativity.
Closing event "Goodbye summer!"
Recall the events of the summer, form positive emotions.
