As parents or caregivers, it’s your job to impart wisdom to your child. This includes the physical and emotional development of your kids. This can feel like a lot of pressure, but it shouldn’t be.
Children learn through play, so you don’t need to worry too much about teaching them anything in particular. As naturally curious beings, they will ask questions (a bunch of questions) to learn more about the world around them.
However, if you’d like to include some learning games in your daily activities, to pass the time, that’s fine too. There are also a lot of educational apps but make sure to have screen time for your kids. Always remember some important concepts in creating this idea of kid’s work.
We’ve compiled this list of fun educational games that you can play at home. There is a mix of learning games and activities on the list, so you can find something you’ll both enjoy and will let your kids progress at the same time.
Educational board games for toddlers
There aren’t many available board games suitable for younger toddlers, but we’ve compiled a few below. An important reminder: every toddler has her own pace. If you’re looking for learning games that you can sit and play with your toddler, the following suggestions for the best board games for toddlers are worth checking out:
Old McDonald Lotto
Old McDonald Lotto is one of many board games brought to you by Orchard Toys, a company that produces a lot of learning games. This game is suitable for children aged two and up. The cards are sturdy and designed for little hands, making them ideal for younger kids.
It’s a simple lotto game based on animals. Each player is assigned a playboard and must first collect the necessary cards to win the game. Your little ones will love playing this game and improving their matching skills. Having ideas of this concept will help your kids improve their learning while having fun.
Order Old McDonald Lotto today.
Memory
Memory is one of the educational games on offer by Ravensburger. Featuring sturdy cards and fun designs, this game is suitable for children aged two and a half and over. For very young toddlers, restrict the number of matching pairs used in each game to make each round easier. Then, as your kid masters the game, you can add in more cards until you’re using the complete set. This will help your kids develop their memory.
Educational wooden toys for toddlers
Wooden puzzles
Wooden puzzles are a great and long-lasting wooden toy for younger toddlers. This will capture your kids’ imagination and keep their interest. Two and three-year-olds will love fitting the pieces into the right holes. This will benefit their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
Opt for puzzles that feature different shapes, numbers, and letters to optimize learning opportunities. Make sure you choose those with wooden pegs sticking out of each piece so your toddler can easily move them around.
You can buy a set of wooden puzzles from Amazon today.
Montessori screwdriver board
The Montessori screwdriver board is perfect for three and four-year-olds. Preschoolers are working on their hand-eye coordination and becoming more skilled in how they handle toys. The Montessori screwdriver board is a great way to help them improve their fine motor skills. They will love screwing and unscrewing the screws, using real tools.
Far from the plastic toy toolkits of previous years, this one uses real tools so your child can build their confidence. This is a great activity to set your child up with when you have DIY to do; they can use their tools when you use yours.
Order the Montessori screwdriver board from Amazon today.
Educational games for toddlers at home
One of the most important things to remember about young children is they learn through play. Play is valuable. Don’t worry too much about imparting wisdom to your child. You don’t need to spend a fortune on specially designed learning games. Toddlers are naturally curious and so fascinated by the world around them they will find learning opportunities wherever they go. Their interest in everything is unexplainable.
Here are some suggestions for learning games you can try at home with your kids:
Educational activities for one-year-olds
Music time
This could also be called loud time (or headache time, if we’re honest). Gather up all the noisemakers you have in the house and let your toddler go wild. Find rainmakers, drums, tambourines, and whatever you can get your hands on. If you don’t have any instrument toys, make your own. An empty plastic bottle filled with pasta makes a great shaker, and Tupperware can be a drum. Your one-year-old will love exploring the different sounds.
Super cereal
One-year-olds love to touch and feel and chew everything in sight. For this reason, your life will be a lot easier if you use messy play items they can eat. Cereal is a fantastic choice because it is loud and crunchy, and fun to pour.
Set up a play area for your kids. This could be a big tray to contain the mess, or you could use a muffin tray as a fun container. Pour in some cereal, but not too much. You could stick with one type or use a variety. Give your toddler a range of scoops and containers to use.
Educational activities for two-year-olds
Color wheel
This is a game of two halves. First of all, you need to create a color wheel. Use paints and help your two-year-old to paint each section in a different color. Have some other paper on hand to mix the colors and go wild without spoiling the color wheel. Once the wheel is dry, challenge your toddler to find toys to match each color on the wheel. This activity teaches children about different colors and about problem-solving.
Obstacle course
There are a few different ways to play this game. On a nice day, you can head out to an outdoor space and create an obstacle course for your child to complete. Include as much variation as possible.
Create games that require them to jump. Focus on skills that can help them cope with older kids. This kind of game will also help your kids to learn how to follow directions. Your two-year-old will be developing their gross motor skills and burning off some energy at the same time.
Alternatively, you can create an obstacle course for their toys. For example, make a course for their car or doll to complete. Of course, your children will want to come up with their own toy obstacle courses, too.
Educational activities for three-year-olds
Role play
Three-year-olds love to role play, which is excellent news because it’s a fantastic way to learn real-world skills.
Set up a shop in your house or in a room and take turns being the shopkeeper. Think about what you’re going to sell. Is it a greengrocer, a toy shop, or something else altogether? Through role-playing, you can teach your child about how to go shopping and be polite.
Alternatively, set up a doctor’s practice and teach them the importance of good health and compassion. Roleplay is fantastic for social-emotional learning.
Color sorting
For this activity, you’ll need some little craft pom poms in a variety of colors and some plastic tweezers. Draw some jars on paper and give each one a colored lid. Your three-year-old must match the colored pom-poms to the correctly colored jar and move them there with the tweezers.
This concept will help to develop toddlers’ fine motor skills, their hand-eye coordination, and their concentration. As they learn their numbers, you can even write a number on each jar and challenge them to move across the correct number of pom-poms, to improve their counting and math skills.
Educational activities for four-year-olds
Cutting and sticking
Is there anything four-year-olds love more? We doubt it. Making a mess with scissors and glue is a four-year-old’s dream.
There are lots of things you can do to incorporate these two things at home. First of all, you’ll need some child-friendly scissors and glue.
Essentially, you need to draw colorful shapes on a piece of paper for them to cut out and stick on another piece of paper. For example, you can draw a doll and have them cut out clothes to stick on her. Or they could cut out facial features to stick onto blank face shapes.
Get creative. The important thing is that your child gets to improve learning in fine motor skills and to master the scissors.
Playdoh fun
Playdoh is always a big hit with four-year-olds. They’re old enough not to eat it and young enough to be entertained by it.
Have a play station set up with some Play-Doh and accessories. You can give them plastic knives to cut through the Playdoh or a selection of shaped molds they can use. If you don’t have any Play-Doh, you can make a salt dough by mixing 1 cup of plain flour, 1/2 cup of table salt, and 1/2 cup of water.
