Keeping your toddler engaged is hard, especially if you’ve no idea what to do with them. Even worse, 3 year olds are always active, keeping you and everyone else on their feet all the time!
Here are 15+ fun and education activities for 3 year olds at home to get the fun started!
Top 15 Educational Activities for 3 Year Olds at Home
1) Sorting Colors and Shapes
This educational activity will teach your toddler about different colors and new shapes.
What You Need:
- Objects in different colors and shapes.
How to:
Place all the materials in one place and then, sort them together with your toddler as you teach them how to do it. Once they get how to do it, mix up the objects and leave them to sort.
To lean about the different shapes, you can ask the children to sort the objects in different shapes.
2) Doodling with Markers
Doodling with markers helps toddlers helps them gain fine motor skills. They’ll know how to hold markers while scribbling which will, in turn, strengthen their muscles.
Don’t worry if things get messy at the beginning. As they get more experience, they’ll learn how to control the markers, making their work better.
3) Reading Activities
To begin with, you can read out short stories or poems as your 3 year old listens. As you do this, remember to check out the beautiful photos in each story and try to analyze them.
Also, using different tones for each character will make the story more interesting.
4) Write Alphabets and Numbers
Though your toddler can’t write yet, practicing how to write letters or numbers will put them ahead of the rest. Using unconventional ways that includes crafting different letters with dough, writing them on sand, or finding different letters in the surroundings.
Here are some amazing ideas you can try out:
- Start with 1 letter: every day select 1 letter and discuss it the whole day. You can write down the letter, color it, and try to describe how it sounds.
Also, you can identify all the things that begin with the letter around the house.
- Buy dry erase boards: Because one can write and erase at will on a dry erase board, it really helps in learning letters and alphabets.
- Use a piece of chalk to write down one letter at a time on the chalkboard, sidewalk, or other ideal places.
- Get some printable templates that your 3 year old can trace different letters and numbers.
5) Learn Through Everyday Tasks
If you are searching for simple educational activities for 3 year olds at home, think about daily tasks. As you handle each task, let your child take it as a leaning opportunity.
For instance:
- Count the number of times she goes up the slide
- Count the stairs as you go up or down the staircase
- Measure the amount of ingdedients you use while cooking
- Count the number of cups, spoons, or plates in the kitchen
- Sort laundry piles according to colors. You can also ask her to search for socks and then, count how many there are in the pile.
6) Engage in Open-Ended Play
Does your 3 year old love play pretend? Let him have fun as he learns! For instance, he can dress up like a chef and pretend to wait on the guests, take up a firefighter role and pretend to fight a fire, and so much more.
If he loves playing with blocks, don’t tell him what to create. Let him stretch his imagination by creating whatever his mind tells him.
For 3 year olds that love art, well, most do, buy some art supplies like play dough, crayons, finger paint, and pencils and let the fun begin. While at it, you can teach him how to create different numbers, letters, and shapes.
7) Go for Nature Walks
Educational activities for 3 year olds that boost their curiosity will help them learn a lot. For instance, you can go to your backyard and observe the birds, leaves, flowers, bugs, and other creatures.
To make it more fun, you can get a magnifying glass so they can view these creatures at a closer range.
Another way to arouse your kid’s curiosity is watering the flowers, weeding, or planting new flowers.
READ ALSO: 16 Fun & Educational iPad Games for 3 Year Olds
Reading Games for 3 Year Olds
Learning on Balloons
Every child loves balloons! Well, do you know you can use balloons to help your 3 year old read better?
How?
List down some simple words you’d want your toddler to learn. Then, read out the words together and write them on the balloons. Remember, don’t use sharp objects to write on the balloons as they can easily burst.
Learn with Flashcards
This is among the most popular educational activities for 3 year olds at home. To play, write as many words as you can on flashcards.
Then, ask your toddlers to spell as many names as they can. To make the game more rewarding, you can reward the toddler that spells the most names correctly.
Read & Act
In this game, you’ll need to write as many doing words as you can on pieces of papers and then, put them in a jar. Your 3 year old will then pick one paper at random, read out the word and then, do what the word says.
This game will not only make you connect with your child but also boost their reading capabilities.
Treasure Hunt
Do you know that you can use treasure hunt game to help your child read simple sentences? Well now you know!
Simply, write down simple sentences as a clue to where the treasure is. For instance, the next clue is on the table. And because your child really want to find the treasure, he’ll give his all to be able to read the sentences.
Words in Sand
Fill a large box with sand. Then write down some simple words on different papers and hide them in the box filled with sand. One at a time, you’ll say the words and your 3 year old has to search for the name in the sand.
Point the Words
Write many words on a large paper. Then, begin dictating one word at a time and your child will need to read it and point it out.
What Should I be Teaching a 3 Year Old at Home?
Without an education background, it may be hard to know what to and what not to teach your toddler. Well, in today’s list, we’ve put down 10 educational activities for 3 year old to help your little one learn and remember.
But before we start, remember that each child is unique and develop at the right time. If your child cannot do what others his age can do, it doesn’t mean he has a problem.
Let’s check out some of the things you can teach your 3 year old at home:
1 New vocabularies
At 3 years, your toddler most likely speaks full sentences or up to 5 word phrases. Below are some vocabularies you can add to what they already know:
- Body parts
- Animal names
- Animal sounds
- Names of household objects
- Colors
- Shapes
- Letters and numbers
- Weather
- How to tell directions (here, there, up, under, above, etc.)
2. How to hold a conversation
Educational activities for 3 year olds at home should include teaching them how to respond during conversations. For instance, teach them how to answer basic questions, ask questions, and tell short stories.
Remember to lovingly correct them when they make mistakes so they can get better over time.
3. Reading books
At 3 year old, your kid is now able to hold a book and flip through the pages as though he was reading. Also, they can recognize pictures and sole letters.
When reading story books with your child:
- Use a finger to point out the words as you read
- Read slowly word-for-word
- Ask questions to know if they are following. You can also ask what they think of the pictures on that particular page.
4. Being independent
Though 3 year olds still need help, you can teach them to become independent in tasks such as:
- Dressing: choosing what to wear, taking off clothes, wearing shoes, and more.
- Feeding: be able to eat without spilling, drinking from open cups, and choosing their snacks.
- Brushing their teeth
- Combing their hair
- Cleaning up after making a mess
- Washing hands
- Blowing the nose
- Go up or down the stairs
- Get in/ out of the car independently.
And so much more. There are lots of educational activities for 3 year olds at home to help your child grown physically, emotionally, and psychologically.
Do you have some favorite educational activities for 3 year olds at home? Let us know in the comments section below.