60 No-Prep Activities for Preschoolers

As parents we’re juggling a ton right now. We’re attempting to educate our kids, keep them entertained, somehow get some work done at home, and maintain our sanity.  That’s why I totally appreciate a good list of little to no-prep activities. 

I stumbled across a gem of a resource from Fantastic Fun and Learning. It shows how we can think outside the box when we teach and play with our kids. Plus, it’s a great combination of no-prep activities to do with my kiddos, as well as things my kids can do independently when I need some time to work. Or, let’s be honest, to get a moment to myself too. And yes, all of these ideas are educational! You can get them here.

Below are some of our favorite no-prep activities that you can do with your preschoolers: 

No-Prep Literacy Activities

Read together as a family. 

Listen to a favorite author or actor read a book online. 

Put your books into bins and play library. 

Share a favorite story from your childhood. 

Read a a book of rhyming poems. 

Create a poet tree.

Sing favorite songs.

Listen and watch an animated storybook.

Fold some paper in half and staple it to create a “book.” Fill the book with drawings. 

Sing your favorite rhyming songs… but change the ending! 

Read a historical children’s book and talk about when it was written.

Trace letters in a wipe-clean book.

Play Mad Libs. 

Say out loud the first line of a story. Take turn adding lines to the story. 

Make letter cards and unscramble names. Challenge your kiddo to put their name together in the right order.

Turn your letter cards into a game of hopscotch. Call out a letter and jump to it!

Write your name using different colored markers and crayons. 

Play “I Spy” in your house or backyard.

Write a letter or card to someone. 

Call someone to talk on the phone. 

Math Activities

Tell your kids to get one object in the house for every color of the rainbow. 

Make a scavenger hunt with your child’s favorite doll. Give your kid clues using words like above, behind, and below. 

Go on a scavenger hunt outside.

Sort laundry by color. Count how many shirts everyone has! 

Give your child a pipe cleaner and ask them to put some dried noodles on it. This is a great fine-motor test too.

Stack blocks then challenge your kiddo to count them before knocking them down. 

Measure things using gummy worms.

Play a game of hop scotch and count out loud as you jump from square to square.

Stand on one foot. Count how long you can balance.

Make a shape garden.

Make a jelly bean or cheerio bracelet.

Make a pattern out of snack food, like goldfish and cheerio. Finish the activity by eating them.

Do some connect-the-dot printables.

Count how many figurines you have. 

Count how many doors there are in your home.

Roll a ball. Measure how far it goes by counting steps. 

Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. Shake nine pennies and drop them onto the paper. Count how many land on each side of the line.

Roll a dice. Count out that many objects.

Practice skip counting with this printable.

Practice adding with balls of play dough.

No-Prep Art & Science Activities

Print off some coloring page printables for your kiddos to color in. 

Draw a picture of a place you want to visit. (And add it to your bucket list!)

Paint a picture of your favorite food.

Gather cardboard boxes. Build something out of the boxes and then decorate them. 

Build a fort out of sticks and things from outside.

Bake your favorite dessert with an adult.

Make cloud dough with just 2 ingredients and let them play. 

Paint with water on the sidewalk on a warm day… and then watch what happens when it dries. 

After it rains or snows overnight, go outside and look for animal prints. Guess what animals made those tracks! 

Make art with baking soda and vinegar. Here’s how.

Watch the sunset. Draw a picture.

Shout out a name of an animal and then walk like that animal. 

Add colored ice to your water table, see what happens, and have fun playing in the water.

Play a card game, like Go Fish.

Do a matching game.

Make shape monsters out of scrap paper.

Create puppets using old socks or paper bags. 

Play a game of tag (or Sleeping Lion, my preschooler’s favorite).

Listen to music and dance your sillies out. 

Play Simon Says.

There are so many fun non-prep activities to do with your little ones. For even more fun no-prep learning activities, get a whole lot of awesome ideas from our friends at Fantastic Fun and Learning. 

MORE FUN THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU’RE STUCK AT HOME:

• Check out these kids education websites offering free subscriptions.
• Help your kids learn how to make bubbles at home!
• My kids are obsessed with these active indoor games.
• 5 minute crafts are so fun and easy!
• Coloring is fun! Especially with Easter coloring pages. 
• You won’t believe why parents are gluing pennies on shoes.
• Rawr! Here are some of our favorite dinosaur crafts.
• Get kids off technology and back to basics with learning worksheetsyou can print at home.
• Make being stuck at home fun with our favorite indoor games for kids.
• Have fun coloring our awesome Fortnite coloring pages.