Role Playing Games
Provide your 4-year-old with dress up clothes, accessories and props. You do not have to buy expensive ready-made outfits. Search your closets for interesting items such as an old party dress, a jazzy shirt, bags, scarves, hats, belts and beads. For props, buy inexpensive play food, toy tools and kitchen items. Provide empty boxes, food packages, plastic bottles, old blankets and curtains. With his growing imagination and a little encouragement, your child may build a camp site, run his own pizza parlour, create a hospital ward or become a fearless fire-fighter. At this age, there is no limit to his imagination.
Active Games
An energetic 4-year-old will thrive on active play that helps him develop his new-found skills. Set up a simple obstacle course game that includes a balancing activity, a hopping game, crawling through a tunnel, jumping a low hurdle and throwing a ball into a bucket.
A game of tennis, using a balloon and rackets, is a fun way of helping your 4-year-old with hand-eye coordination. The aim of the game is to keep the balloon off the ground for as long as possible.
Quieter Games
Simple board games, such as Ludo or Snakes and Ladders, are a good fit for your child's attention span. Your 4-year-old will now enjoy playing with friends and family, and will delight in showing you that she can count and recognize numbers.
Make a memory game by having your child press different colored handprints on cards. Print two cards of each color. When the paint is dry, turn the cards face down on a table. Taking turns, players take 2 cards. If the colors match, the player keeps the cards; if not, the cards are replaced face down. When all pairs have been found, count the cards to see who has the most.
Musical Games
By the age of 4, your child is developing a sense of rhythm. Use household items to make musical instruments. Put rice in plastic bottles to make shakers, use wooden spoon drumsticks on cardboard box drums. Play your child's favourite songs and let her become part of the band.
Your 4-year-old will love to dance. Play a game of musical statues. Ask your child and his friends to dance around until the music stops, when everyone must freeze. Add variety by asking the children to hop on one leg, jump like rabbits or prowl like lions as the music plays.