Skip to main content
Wolverhampton Information Network

A-Z of Activites for Young Children

Action Rhyme

Jumping Beans

Ensure there is a wide-open space to play this game. Demonstrate to your child the action required for each type of bean. Shout out, and if possible show the type of bean and wait for your child to make the movement that corresponds to that bean, as follows.

  • Jumping bean (jump up and down)
  • Runner bean (run around)
  • Baked bean (curl up as it packed in a tin)
  • String bean (hold hands to make a string)
  • Broad bean (stand with legs and arms stretched out wide)
  • Jelly bean (wobble and shake)

Description_of_Image

Or try a number action rhyme:

Ten Jumping Beans (to the tune of ten fat sausages)

Ten jolly jumping beans

Bouncing up and down (Hold up ten fingers and bounce hands up and down)

Ten jolly jumping beans

Bouncing up and down (Hold up ten fingers and bounce hands up and down)

One went bo-ing (curl up one finger)

And another went Pow (curl up another finger)

There were … jolly jumping beans bouncing up and down

(Repeat until there are no beans left)

 This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to develop spatial awareness, strengthens co-ordination and control of their body.
  • Communication and Language - to link a name or object to an action, enjoys and listens to rhythmic patterns, shows interest in music and song, to begin to explore mathematical language.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to play co-operatively with a familiar adult, and to follow instruction.

Bubbles

Most children love bubbles - watching them and/or catching them. Look for bubble mix or make your own using a little washing up liquid and water. Blow the bubbles for your child to catch, also talk to them about how many there are and their size.

Let you child have a go at blowing bubbles, encourage slow, steady blowing. This can get messy!

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - with their eye to hand co-ordination and strengthens facial muscles.
  • Communication and Language - to begin to use mathematical language (size, shape and measure), to use descriptive language and to descrive what is happening.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to develop a sense of achievement, to concentrate on chosen task.

Crawling Car Wash

This activity can be done both indorrs and outdoors (weather permitting).

Arrange dining chairs to create a tunnel, over the top drape and secure clean scarves, strips of ribbon, and strings of light weight, medium sized beads and various materials with different textures.

Let your child crawl through the tunnel and draped materials a bit like a car wash. Ensure that your child is supervised at all times.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to strengthen muscle groups, and to develop and stimulate their sense of touch.
  • Communication and Language - to extend vocabulary with new words such as crawl, through and above. Talk about how eash different type of material feels.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to develop the sense of achievement completing chosen task, and to develop a sense of self as an individual.

Den Building

Description_of_Image

You don't need much more than a table and a sheet to make a great den, either in the house, garden or outside in the park or woods. All good dens need a sturdy frame.

For this activity you will need:

  • Chairs and Tables - are a quick way of building a structure.
  • Bamboo Canes - light, strong and fairly cheap.
  • Poles - if you  can't get bamboo, you are going to need something similar, such as broom handles or tent poles.
  • Bendy sticks - make all sorts of interesting shapes with these, or with plastic bendy pipes.
  • Fallen Branches - not just branches you can reach. If you can only find thin ones, try tying them together to make them stronger.
  • Bright Materials - these can help you turn your den into a palace, fancy restaurant or castle.
  • Waterproof material - if you want to use your dens in the rain you'll need waterproof material, such as plastic dust sheets or tarpaulin. Leaves are also good for this, but you'll need loads if you don't want it to leak.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to develop spatial awareness, and control of movement.
  • Communication and Language - to talk through their actions and predict future actions, to begin to use mathematical language.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to extend and elaborate play ideas, play co-operatively and to explore new environments.

Egg & Spoon Races

Do not do this activity, if you or your child are allergic to eggs.

For this activity you will need:

  • A tray of eggs
  • A large wooden spoon each
  • Water
  • Saucepan
  • Egg cups
  • A plate

Before your races, spend some time looking at the eggs; the shape, feel and colour. Allow your child to crack one of the eggs onto the plate, and explore what's inside.

In the meantime, hard boil two eggs each, one for a snack after your races; this will allow your child to observe the changes that have taken place during cooking, as well as giving them a healthy snack, and the other egg for the race itself.

Mark out your start and finish line, and explain or demonstrate the rules to your child. On your marks, get set, go ...

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to develop spatial awareness and control, develop eye to hand co-ordination, to strengthen large muscles.
  • Communication and Language - to strat to use descriptive language, talk about the activity and observed changes, to explore mathematical language, such as shape, and explore scientific processes.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to start taking turns, demonstrates sense of self as an individual.

Find the Shoes

At this age children will be attempting to dress themselves. Put out three or four different colours and styles of shoe, including the child's own, in a pile. See if your child can find theirs and sort out the others into pairs.

Encourage them to try on different pairs of shoes, especially those with different types of fastening (laces, buckles, velcro etc ...) to practice their skills.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to strengthen muscle tone and eye to hand co-ordination.
  • Communication and Language - to start to use descriptive language, and to extend vocabulary by introducing new words (match, pair, fit etc ...).
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to show an interest in a chosen activity, to respond to adults and start to enjoy the responsibility of small tasks.

Gloop

For this activity you will need:

  • 2 cups of corn flour
  • 1 cup of water
  • Food colouring
  • A large container
  • An apron or some old clothing for your child

Place the ingredients into the large container. Allow and encourage your child to mix the ingredients together. Corn flour is made of lots of long, stringy particles. When water is added they do not dissolve in water, but they so spread themselves out. This allows the gloop to act both like a solid and a liquid. When you roll the mixture in your hands or apply pressure to it, the particles join together and the mixture feels solid. But if it is left to rest or is help up and allowed to dribble, the particles slide over each other and it feels like a liquid.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to experiment with mark making with preferred hand and to develop their sense of touch.
  • Communication and Language - ask simple questions on what may have been observed, or make statements on what they are doing.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to explore new activities, play co-operatively, concentrate on chosen task.

Description_of_Image

Hanging out the Washing

Description_of_Image

Children love to copy what they see adults doing.

For this activity you will need:

  • Long piece of string
  • Pegs
  • Basket
  • A washing up bowl
  • Water
  • Washing liquid (optional)
  • A selection of small clothes or dolls clothes

Attach the two ends of the string to sturdy objects at the child's height, e.g. outdoor table or chairs. Help your child to fill the washing up bowl with water and liquid (if desired). Once the clothes are 'clean' match up any paired items and peg them out to dry. Don't forget to bring the laundry in once it's dry!

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to create a sequence of physical actions; rub, rinse repeat, to strengthen pincer grip, eye to hand co-ordincation.
  • Communication and Language - to talk through their actions and to predict what they need to do next, extend vocabulary by introducing new words (lather, rinse, laundry, dripping, swaying etc...)
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to make connection with real life experiences, to engage in pretend play.

Ice and Rice

For this activity you will need:

  • Two ice trays
  • Blue and Yellow food colouring (or Red and Blue)
  • 1 cup of uncooked rice
  • Water
  • Large container

Prepare a tray of blue ice cubes and yellow ice cubes the day before (to prevent ice burn, remove the ice trays from the freezer a few minutes before allowing your child to touch them). Add the rice to the container and help your child to add the ice cubes. Talk to and ask your child about what is happening, how the ice/rice feels, what's happening to the colours etc.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to develop eye to hand co-ordination and to begin to use preferred hand.
  • Communication and Language - to start to recognise rhyming words, to use descriptive language and scientific language, such as solids, liquid, melting, absorbing etc.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to concentrate on chosen task, to make connections with real life (food).

Jack in a Box

With your child decorate a large cardboard box. Once complete allow your child to hide in the box while you sing:

'The jack in the box jumps up like this'

(child jumps up or out of the box)

'He/she makes me laugh as he/she waggles his/her head'

(child nods head)

'I gently press him/her down again saying jack in the box you must go to bed'

(gently pat your child's head and let them hide again)

Repeat.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to develop control over their movements, and to strengthen large muscle groups.
  • Communication and Language - to be able to follow simple instructions, to associate actions with words, to follow and join in with simple rhymes.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to develop awareness and patience and the sense of anticipation, and to extend play ideas.

Kick About

Games involving balls can be done in a small garden or a large playing field. To start with, use a medium-sized, light soft ball. Test out and practice a range of skills; throwing, kicking, catching and rolling.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to improve co-ordination and balance, to strengthen large muscle groups.
  • Communication and Language - to extend vocabulary by introducing mathematical language, to begin to associate an action to a word.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - start to take turns and to follow instruction.

Lovely Lather

Lovely Lather

Sand foam play is an alternative to foam play that helps to develop the sense of touch.

For this activity you will need:

  • A large container
  • 3 cups of play sand (this can be coloured sand)
  • 200ml of shaving foam

(Glitter can be added if you want a bit of sparkle)

PLace the sand in the container and allow your child to gradually add the shaving foam, until the mixture reaches your desired consistency. Once your child has finished exploring the mixture, the activity can be used to support their imaginative play, through the use of small world resources, such as dinosaurs, to create a dinosaur land, or small people to create a beach scene. Or, to help pre-writing skills, use fingers, the blunt end of a paint brush and sand rakes to draw or write in the mixture.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to develop eye to hand co-ordination and strengthens fine muscles, to help to stimulate and develop the sense of touch.
  • Communication and Language - to start to use descriptive language and start to talk through their actions.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to focus on a chosen task, start to elaborate and extend play ideas.

Mirror, Mirror

Use a variety of mirrors (different shape, size, reflection - concave/convex) explore each other's facial features and expressions; 'can you make a happy face?'

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical - to strengthen facial muscles.
  • Communication and Language - to extend vocabulary by introducing new words (brow, nostrils, chin, cheeks, lashes etc...).
  • Personal, Social and Emotional - to associate facial expressions with emotions, to interact with other children.

Mirror,Mirror

Nature Hunt

This activity can be done in the garden, in the park or on a visit to the woods.

For this activity you will need:

  • Magnifying glasses (adult and child size)
  • Binoculars (adult and child size)
  • Small paper or cotton bags, or a basket
  • Plastic pots with ventilation holes pierced in the lids
  • A pocket size nature book for identifying creatures and noting down what you find
  • A camera

Encourage your child to take time to carefully look what is around them; under foot, above, under logs/rocks etc… When a creature or item is found (before allowing your child to touch, check it if not poisonous). If safe, allow your child to explore the creature or item in more detail. Ask, do they know what it is, what it does, where it lives/grows. Carefully place creatures or item in the plastic pot, bag or basket. Remember to return living creatures to the wild once your nature hunt is over.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop spatial awareness, to strengthen pincer grip and develop eye to hand co-ordination.
  • Communication and Language – to extend vocabulary by introducing new words (names of creatures., how they move and their environments).
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to develop a sense of caring for other living thigs, to explore new environments and to express their own interests.

Nature Hunt

Obstacle Course

This activity can be done indoors or outdoors. Ensure there is enough space before starting. Use any available items to create obstacles that will stimulate and challenge their physical skills, e.g. place cushions on the floor as leap pads, use dining chairs and blankets to create a tunnel, or use small planks of wood as balancing beams.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to gain confidence in their physical skills and abilities, and to develop spatial awareness.
  • Communication and Language – to be able to follow instructions and or directions, and to extend vocabulary with new words (balance, through, under, over etc…).
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to show interest in their chosen activity, and to respond to what others are saying to them.

Pasta Worms

Description_of_Image

For this activity you will need:

  • Slightly wet sand/soil from the garden
  • A large container or tray and cooked spaghetti (left overs are great)
  • Large child tweezers for the added fun and development of fine motor skills
  • A jar, tub or bowl

Slightly hide the spaghetti worms under the top layer of the sand or soil, too much sand or soil can be too heavy and may break the worms as they are being dug out. Use your hands to squeeze, squish and dig out the spaghetti worms from the soil. Use the tweezers to catch the worms and place them into a container. Count out loud as each worm is caught and placed into the jar. Measure the different lengths of the worms such as “this worm is the longest” or “this worm is shorter than the last one”.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop eye to hand co-ordination.
  • Communication and Language – to extend vocabulary by introducing mathematical language, begin to use descriptive language.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to work co-operatively and to explore new activities.

Q-tip Painting

As an alternative to paint brushes, why not use Q-tips (cotton buds).

For this activity you will need:

  • A flat protected surface
  • Tub or Q-tips (cotton buds)
  • A variety of paints
  • Small pots or containers for paint
  • Paper

Painting with Q-tips creates a spotty paint affect. Demonstrate to your child how to hold and use the Q-tip. Allow your child to explore the use and affect created by painting in this way.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop a tripod grip and strengthen smaller muscles.
  • Communication and Language – to begin to hold a conversation, and to talk through actions.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to concentrate on chosen task and to express own interests and preferences.

Description_of_Image

Remember When

Remember When

Share photographs with your child, pictures of family members, events and special occasions. Talk about and recall the event (weather, location, clothing etc…), and sequence the occasion (first we did … then we …). Extend the activity by making a scrap book of your child’s favourite photographs.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop smaller muscles by picking up each photograph.
  • Communication and Language – to increase attention and recall and to begin to understand more complex sentences.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to develop an awareness of their place within a family unit, to remember feelings and emotions and to build self-esteem.

Sweep away the Cobwebs

Description_of_Image

Children of this age are keen to help with domestic chores, let them get involved. Use size appropriate brooms, dustpan and brushes, etc. Start off by doing the action yourself, and allow them to follow your action. Your child won’t be very competent at first, and they may deliberately put items on the floor in order to continue sweeping up.

Remember practice makes perfect!

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop a hand preference, and to strengthen small muscle groups.
  • Communication and Language – to begin to understand more complex sentences and use gestures to support communication.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to play co-operatively with a familiar adult, and keeps the activity going by responding to what others are saying.

Tea for Terrific for Twos

For this activity you will need:

  • Either a child or adult size dining table and chairs or a blanket for the ground
  • A selection of cups, saucers, cutlery, bowls, plates etc…
  • A selection of real or play food

Working together with your child discuss, what ‘tea’ you are going to have and what needs to be done to achieve this. Allow your child to spread, cut, chop, stir, etc… Also help your child to lay the table in the appropriate manner with the utensils needed. Allow your child to serve the food and pour the drinks. Then enjoy a special tea time with your child, don’t forget, your child can also help to tidy up afterwards!

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop control in holding and handling utensils, develop own likes and dislikes in food and drink.
  • Communication and Language – to be able to follow direction, begin to talk about people and things that are not present.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to enjoy the responsibility of carrying out small tasks and begin to engage in pretend play.

Description_of_Image

Under the Sea

If you are able to, or have had the opportunity to visit a sea life centre, this activity will help to extend your child’s learning.

For this activity you will need:

  • A glass aquarium or large clear plastic bowl
  • Small pebbles, rocks
  • Shells
  • An assortment of plastic sea life creatures
  • Water
  • Blue food colouring

Help your child to fill the aquarium/bowl with water, and add a little blue food colouring.

Talk about what can be found at the bottom of the sea; add the pebbles, rocks and shells.

Add the creatures and create your own stories.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to strengthen fine muscles, to develop eye to hand co-ordination and develop their sense of touch.
  • Communication and Language – to extend vocabulary by learning new words (creatures and environments), to talk through their actions and stories.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to make connections with real life experiences, to enjoy the therapeutic nature of water play.

Vacation Packing

Description_of_Image

For this activity you will need:

  • A suitcase of holdall for each person
  • Two piles of matching holiday clothing and accessories (these can be for a winter or summer holiday, or for different types of holiday, e.g. camping or skiing)

Place the open suitcases/holdalls at one end of the room and the clothes and accessories at the other end. Take it in turns to call out an item of clothing or accessory, or if your child is able to, give a clue to what the item is. The first to put that item into their suitcase/holdall wins a point.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop spatial awareness, show control in holding and handling items.
  • Communication and Language – to extend vocabulary by introducing mathematical language, begin to talk about people and things that are not present.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to select and use chosen resources, and to explore new activities.

Wonder Walks

Listening Walk – When out walking, stop and listen. Allow your child to name as many sounds as they can. If possible, make a note of these sounds, and when you return home try to make the sounds you heard.

Collection Walk – When out walking take a small bag for your child to collect interesting objects. When you return home, look and talk about each item (What are they? What do they do? How do they feel? Where did it come from?)

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop smaller muscles and develop eye to hand co-ordination.
  • Communication and Language – to increase vocabulary by introducing new words, recognise and responds to familiar sounds, select objects by name and find objects when asked.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to express their own feelings, to select and use resources, and seek out others to share experiences.

Description_of_Image

Xylophone

For this activity you will need:

  • A sturdy show box (lid not required)
  • String
  • A selection of wooden strips (different lengths and thickness)
  • Tape
  • Colouring pens, crayons
  • A small xylophone/drum beater

Using the colouring pens or crayons, allow your child to decorate the shoe box and pieces of wood. With the string and using an up and over method, link the pieces of wood togethers, leaving a gap between each piece. This should be done at both ends of the pieces of wood. Balance horizontally over the top of the shoe box, and tape down each end of the string to the side of the shoe box, ensuring this is pulling tightly. The beater should be used when playing the instrument.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to develop eye to hand co-ordination, to use tools appropriately, to make connections between their actions.
  • Communication and Language – to enjoy and listen to rhythmic patterns, shows interest in music and song.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to explore new activities, expresses own preferences and interests.

Yoga Animals

Young children are naturally flexible and enjoy testing their bodies. Before starting, ensure there is plenty of room with non-slip flooring and that the room is quiet. Demonstrate to your child the exercise you wish them to do, then allow them to try. Here are a few exercises to try:

  • The Butterfly – Start on the floor rolled into a ball, slowly move to a standing position and raise your arms to the side like wings.
  • The Frog – Start in a full standing position, moving down into a squat position. If you wish to do so and have the space, you can jump forward.
  • The Cat – Start on all fours, alternate between raising your head skywards to looking down to the floor and arching ones back.
  • The Monkey – Start in a full standing position, swing your arms up into the air, as you swing your arms back down bend forward and drop your hand to the floor.

Description_of_Image

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical – to strengthen muscle tone, suppleness and co-ordination, begin to recognise the effects of activity on their body.
  • Communication and Language – to increase vocabulary by introducing new words associated with the animals and movement.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to understand and co-operate with some boundaries, welcomes and values praise for achievements, and seeks out other to share experiences.

Zig Zag Zebra

Description_of_Image

For this activity you will need:

  • Black coloured play dough
  • White coloured play dough
  • Child scissors
  • Dough tools (rolling pin, dough wheel etc…)
  • Plastic table or table cloth
  • Large piece of paper with zig zag patterns and Zs drawn on (if, you can, draw a zebra too)

Allow your child to explore the different coloured dough, talk about what you are doing. Try to cut/mould the dough to follow the patterns, letters and zebra drawn on the paper, or make your own zebra model out of dough.

This activity helps your child:

  • Physical –  to strengthen small muscle groups, to develop eye to hand co-ordination.
  • Communication and Language – to start to recognise rhyming words, to start to use mathematical language and to explore letter sounds.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional – to concentrate on a chosen task, to have fulfilment in completing chosen task and to work in partnership.
Back to top