Preschoolers are bundles of energy and have to be kept busy, to expend all that energy. There are many ways to do that, which are great fun and some activities can help them learn too. Simple art and crafts, games, blocks, and playing in the snow, building snowmen, etc can help to keep your preschooler engaged and happy. Boredom can lead to temper tantrums and a cranky kid, so here are a few interesting and fun activities to keep your preschooler busy during the winter vacation:
Being creative with blocks
Kids love creative activities such as building things with blocks. Medium sized blocks are a good choice for toddlers as they can get a good grip on them. They are also impossible to swallow, as kids of that age do have the tendency to put everything in their mouths! Blocks can keep kids busy for hours (well, at least an hour!), especially when it’s too cold outside. You can help them play with blocks at least twice a day. Alphabet and number blocks can help your preschooler learn the alphabets and numbers. You can teach them colors and their hand co-ordination will get better by playing with blocks.
Act out stories
Children love to dress up in mom and dad’s clothes, so give them some old party outfits which they can wear to be princesses and princes and act out their favourite fairy tales. You can get them to color paper plates and paper bags, they can cut out crowns and necklaces and using paint and glitter, they can add shine to everything. Little boys love pizza box armor (just cut a circle where it folds).
Play memory games
One way to increase their memory is to play memory games. A simple one is for both of you to look at an assortment of things, and then hiding them. Each of you have to remember all the things. Keep increasing the number of things at each round, and reward your preschooler with a cookie or candy as a prize when he/she wins.
Explain the concept of time in a fun way
Preschoolers’ concept of time could extend t knowing just when its day or night, and that each follows the other. You can teach them about days, weeks and months with easy calendar games. You can take a calendar and show them how the days are organized into a year – they can look at theirs and their family member’s and friend’s birthday months, learn when Christmas would be, and might even memorise the days of the week!
Watch children’s movies
Instead of letting your child watch a movie on his/her own, watch it with him. Movies like Happy Feet, Lion King, Bambi, in fact all the new ones as well as the ones you enjoyed as a child. This will while away the time and deepen your bond with your child. So get all toasty and warm, cuddle up and watch your favourite children’s movies.
Bake a gingerbread man
Winter’s the perfect time to bake – all the preparation and the lovely, hot cookies fresh out of the oven make it the favourite season of small children. They love to help you with the dough, shaping the cookies, and decorating, and they are extremely excited to see the cookies they baked. It’s a fun activity to keep them busy and interested, while you can get ahead on stocking up cookies and muffins for the holiday season.
Make your own stories
Give your preschooler a starting point for a story and let him and other kids continue with the story invention, or they can just fill up the blanks in the story you tell. Kids usually love this game, as anyone can say anything, and the story becomes quite weird and fun and usually ends up in peals of laughter.
Make dinosaurs from empty TP and foil rolls
Finished toilet paper and foil rolls can be used to create any shape. As dinosaurs are a favourite of kids, your preschooler and his friends and siblings can make different dinosaurs, using the rolls and a piece of string.
Nature walks and bike rides, camping in the living room, making snowmen, drawing and painting, and making holiday decorations and putting them up, puppet shows with sock puppets, are some other fun activities your preschooler would enjoy.
