20 Best Learning Activities for Toddlers to Get Them Ready for Kindergarten
Have fun with letters, numbers, and shapes using these educational activities for toddlers.
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Just because your toddler isn't in elementary school yet, it doesn't mean their path to learning hasn't started. Encourage them to experiment with the concepts behind math, reading, science — even engineering and social studies — with these fun, at-home learning activities for toddlers and preschoolers, most of which can be done with items that you've pulled from around the house (which makes them easy to enjoy any time there's an unexpected rainy day and you need some fun indoor activities for the kids). Pretty soon, they'll be counting, reciting their letters, and sorting their toys by color or shape. After that ... the world is theirs!
A word of caution though: Even though toddlers and preschoolers seem so big compared to the babies they once were, they still have no common sense at all, so any activity still has to be closely supervised. This is especially true for counting activities or projects that involve small pieces, which may present choking hazards, or anything involving water, which could be a drowning risk (even if it's just a small bucket of water). But with you guiding them through, they'll love these projects so much, the'll forget all about those buzzing, blinking toys in the toy bin.
Clothespin Color Match
Not only does this activity help toddlers shore up their knowledge of colors, it works on their fine motor coordination, since they have to pinch, pull, and place the clothespins.
Get the tutorial at Chalk Academy »
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Paper Building Blocks
Paper can't be as strong as a wooden block — can it? For this engineering activity, you can show kids how even a flexible material like paper can become sturdy enough to hold up a weight (like a couple of Oreos!) if you shape it a certain way.
Water Walking Experiment
A super-easy way to bring a bit of the science lab home, the "water walking" experiment illuminates two concepts: First, the water "walks" over the paper towel bridges (demonstrating capillarity), and then the colors mix to make new ones (the yellow water and the blue water "walk" into the same cup to make green). All you need is cups, food coloring, and paper towels.
Get the tutorial at Fun Learning for Kids »
RELATED: 23 Easy Science Experiments for Kids You Can Do at Home With Everyday Items
Number Pom Pom Challenge
Another activity that uses hand-eye coordination as well as number recognition, this cardboard tube maze is an exciting challenge for little counters. The object is to tilt the box so that the pom pom rolls through the tubes in number order.
Shape Scavenger Hunt
Sure, your tot can recognize shapes in block form, but can they find the same shapes out in the wild? Send them on a scavenger hunt to see how shapes are used in everyday life.
Get the tutorial at The Many Little Joys »
RELATED: 22 Fun Scavenger Hunt Ideas to Keep Your Kids Guessing
Adding Boxes
What's 2 + 4? This simple machine will help kids figure it out. Put two poms in one tube, four in the other, and count the total in the box at the end.
Word Family Houses
For preschoolers who are learning to read, "word families" show how one group of sounds can form different words. Spin the wheel to show how the "-un" word ending can turn from "run" into "fun" or "bun."
Get the tutorial at The Measured Mom »
RELATED: The 20 Best Toddler Activities
Muffin Tin Counting
Muffin tins are perfect for sorting and counting activities, because the whole point is keeping all the pieces neat and tidy. In addition to sorting by number, you can also use them to match colors if you line the tins with different shades of construction paper instead of the numbered circles.
Craft Stick Names
Teach them to spell the most important words ever: their names. This easy matching activity lets kids practice the order of the letters in their names; if you don't have craft sticks on-hand, clothespins would also work.
Get the tutorial at Play-to-Learn Preschool »
RELATED: 20 Fun Activities for 1-Year-Olds You Can Make With Items You Already Have
Sink or Float
It's an introduction to the Scientific Method: Kids can make a hypothesis about whether or not an object will sink or float in a tub of water, test out their theories, and record their results.
Feed the Monster
The monster is hungry! But what does he want to eat? Move the strip of paper below him to reveal his lettery cravings, then have your tot find a block to match.
Missing Number Match
If they're counting from 1 to 10, give them a little challenge: Write a number line on a craft stick, but leave a blank space that needs to be filled by one of the numbered clothespins. Once they've mastered the matching game, move on and do 10–20!
Felt Board Shapes
Remember Colorforms? Felt shapes can offer the same kind of pleasure, and kids can combine and re-combine the shapes to make different pictures. It's a learning activity and wall art in one.
Rhyming Dominoes
Traditional dominoes are good for practicing numbers, but with a few tweaks you can also make the game a way to practice rhymes, too. For kids who can't read yet, you can use pictures instead of words and still match up word sounds.
Counting Carrots
Part-craft, part-counting practice, this activity gives kids a chance to put the correct number of sprouts on top of a construction-paper carrot. The geometry of this craft is so simple, too, you can also use it as a shape refresher for triangle and rectangles.
Shape Match Game
A twist on the classic memory game: Instead of flipping over cards, kids can make matches by pulling craft sticks out of an old egg carton. The great thing about this game is that it's so easy to pack up, it's the perfect activity to bring to Grandma's house.
"Bear Hunt" Map
Plot out the route that the characters take in the We're Going on a Bear Hunt book (or song), and teach kids how certain geographical features (water, landmarks) are represented by certain symbols on a map. If they're excited by maps, show them how to make one of their rooms, their backyard, or even their neighborhood.
DIY Musical Instruments
It's easy to make different percussive instruments out out household items. Experiment to see how different fillers (beans, rice, pebbles) make different sounds, then try using them in different rhythms to sharpen those counting skills, too.
Monster Craft
This craft ties in multiple subject areas: After reading the book Love Monster, kids can design and create their own creatures, then count the number of eyes, teeth, ears, and feet.
Tape Shape Sorting
Combine shape sorting with a scavenger hunt, and use painter's tape to make different outlines all over the house. Then, kids have to take their construction-paper shapes and search high and low to find a match.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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