Obstacle Course
Prep: 5-10 Minutes / Activity Time: 15 Minutes
An indoor obstacle course can be an oral language adventure zone! This activity provides physical activity and practice in following directions, number words and positional words.
At-Home Activities for 3-Year-Olds
Body Beatbox
Prep: None / Activity Time: 10 Minutes
The ability to attend to sounds is a part of phonological awareness. In this activity, your child will watch and hear you produce sounds with your hands, feet and voice and repeat what you’ve done.
The Write Time
Prep: 5 Minutes / Activity Time: 5-10 Minutes
A child who starts writing and drawing first may start reading earlier. The beginning stages of writing include drawing, and this activity encourages you to start a file for your child’s writing to show progress over time.
Sidewalk Writing
Prep: None / Activity Time: 10-15 Minutes
Having fun with activities that build your child’s fine motor skills will build her confidence and the ability to use her hands. This activity provides a fun way for your child to practice her emerging drawing and writing skills outside.
My Name!
Prep: 2 Minutes / Activity Time: 5 Minutes
Children love to recognize and write their own names. At 3 years old, children can learn to spot the letters in their names, especially the first letter. This activity provides your child with failure-free practice in tracing her name - one step toward believing she is a writer.
Sound Race!
Prep: 2-3 Minutes / Activity Time: 8-10 Minutes
Your 3-year-old has gained good control over her large muscles and probably enjoys hopping, running and jumping all over your house. She is also probably able to follow simple two-step instructions. This activity combines these skills in a fun way, allowing your child to practice listening for beginning sounds.
Shopping for Sounds
Prep: 5 Minutes / Activity Time: 10-15 Minutes
3-year-olds are fascinated by the simple things adults do every day, whether it be laundry, dishes or food shopping. These routine activities provide a perfect way to introduce your child to the concept of beginning sounds.
Letter Monster
Prep: 10-15 Minutes / Activity Time: 10-15 Minutes
Children usually learn letters in their own names first. This is a great place for you to start talking about letters. In this fun activity, your child will love feeding the letters of his name to the Letter Monster.
Find the Letter
Prep: None / Activity Time: 5-10 Minutes
Manipulative letters, such as magnetic letters, are important for helping children build letter knowledge at their own pace. This is a fun, active activity where your child will match a magnetic letter to an oversized letter written with sidewalk chalk.
Letter Soup
Prep: 1-2 Minutes / Activity Time: 5-10 Minutes
Small details and shapes of letters are how we tell letters apart. Talk with your child about the characteristics of letters to help her learn to distinguish them. In this activity, children will compare letter shapes as they learn the names of letters.
Lola Loves Stories
The DOs and DON’Ts of Developing Your Young Child’s Pre-Reading Skills
Down by the Bay
Eating the Alphabet
Top 10 Things You Can Give Your Child to Build Pre-Reading Skills
HOW You Read to a Child Is Important
