Hobbies And Interests
Easy Games
Teach your pre-kindergarten class letters and numbers with a tossing game. Pour a bag of magnetic letters on a table. Use a dry-erase marker to write a letter on three or four plastic buckets. One at a time, the children must toss the corresponding letter into the correct bucket. If she makes it and it is the correct letter, she earns a prize. Alternatively, use number magnets instead of letters. The dry-erase marker will easily wipe off the plastic so you can change the letters and numbers often.
Matching Games
Print letters (two of each) on small slips of paper. Laminate the cards to make the cards durable. Place the cards face down and have the children play a matching game. If a child finds a match, he keeps that pair and draws again. The child with the most pairs at the end of the game wins. For a variation, play this game with numbers, shapes and colors.
Bingo Games
Young children can enjoy playing educational games of bingo while trying to earn a prize. Print bingo cards with shapes in each square and give one card to each student. The children can use candy pieces to mark the cards. Hold up one shape at a time and have the children mark their cards. Each child who earns a bingo wins a prize. Other bingo ideas include letters, numbers and colors instead of shapes.
Memory Games
Test the memory of your pre-kindergartners with a few memory games. Place several random items like an apple, a key, a piece of yarn, cookie, a cup and a puzzle piece on a tray. Allow the children to look at all the items before taking it out of the room. Give each child a chance to tell you one item that was on the tray. If she is correct, award him a small prize. You can also see who can remember the most items from the tray. For another variation, remove one item from the tray when you take it out of the room. Bring the tray back in the room and the first child to tell you which item is missing will win a prize.