Learning Games for Ages 3-6

Matching Games

• Practice matching skills with a game of memory. Print pictures of animals, such as a duck, cat, dog, rooster, pig and cow, on card stock paper. Be sure to print two of each animal. If possible, laminate the pictures to make them more durable. Place the pictures face down and have the children play a game of memory. Increase the number of possible matches according to the ages of the children. If a child finds a match, she can go again. The child with the most matches at the end of the game wins the game. Make cards to advance other recognition skills by printing pictures of letters, numbers or even random items.

Begins With

• Create a game to help children identify items by their beginning letter by using the same cards from the memory game, or make another set. Hold up a card and ask the children "What letter does this begin with?" The first child to raise their hand and tell you what the word begins with wins a small prize. For another game, divide the children into small groups. Give each group up to 10 pictures. Go over the pictures with each group and have them work together to tell you what letter the picture starts with. The teams earn a point for each correct answer and the team with the most points wins the game.

Command Games

• Move any tables and chairs out of the way, and have the children stand in front of you. Go over certain commands, such as a salute, marching in place, spinning in a circle, hand clapping or jumping on one foot. Tell the children you will call out a command and they must do the command as quickly as possible. Award participation prizes to all children. Additionally, have two children stand side-by-side. Call out a command and the first child who completes the command correctly wins a prize.

Counting and Color Games

• Use balloons to reinforce young children's knowledge of colors and numbers. Place several inflated balloons on the ground. Call out a color and have the children count the balloons of that color. The child who calls out the correct number first wins a prize. Another variation on this game is to time the children to see who can separate the balloons by color in the fastest amount of time.