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Guessing Games for Preschoolers

Every day is an opportunity to enhance your preschooler's knowledge, and preschoolers often learn through play. According to ̶0;Preschooler Play and Learn̶1; by Penny Warner, children between 3 and 6 years old undergo remarkable changes in their thinking and language skills. Guessing games are one way to stimulate a preschooler's brain development. As a parent or teacher, organize guessing games that challenge children to use their senses and improve their memory.

Touching
- Gather together different palm-sized items that are of different shapes and textures and place them in a paper bag. Items to collect can include a ball, a cup and a cracker. Blindfold your preschooler and have him reach his hand into the bag and pick up one item. He must try to guess the item in his hand by using his sense of touch. Another idea is to collect different sized fruits, such as bananas, peaches and grapes. Have children close their eyes and try to guess which fruit is which by feeling them.
Smelling and Listening
- Collect a variety of fruits, such as limes, apples, watermelons and oranges. Blindfold or ask preschoolers to close their eyes. Cut the fruits in half. Hold a fruit under each child's nose and ask her to smell the fruit and try to guess which one it is. For a listening game, gather children in a circle and ask them to close their eyes. Create different sounds using objects. For example, bounce a ball or tap a building block. Ask children to open their eyes. Show them the objects that you used to create the noises and have them guess which objects created which sounds.
Drawing
- Divide preschoolers into pairs and provide each pair with an aluminum pie pan filled with sand. Have one child on each team draw a member of her family in the sand using her fingers. The child's partner must try to guess who is in the sand image. To erase their images, children can run their hands over the sand. Both partners should have a turn sand sketching. Rather than using sand, provide each child with paper and crayons to draw family members.
Thinking
- Think of a visible object in the room. Provide preschoolers with a clue, such as the shape, size or color of the object. Have them try to guess which object you are thinking of. Provide more clues if the children continue to guess wrong. For an alternate game, have your preschooler look at photographs of family and friends. Tell him that you are thinking of one of the people in the photographs. Ask him to guess which person you are thinking of by using yes or no questions. For example, he can ask if the person is a girl or a boy, or if the person has dark or light hair.

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