I Spy Bag
Create a special I Spy bag for each child. This activity is good for a child by himself or for a group of preschool children. To make a bag, you will need two felt squares of the same size. Cut one so that the center of it is an open square, and sew a clear plastic window in place over the opening. Stitch the two felt squares together on three sides. Fill the pocket between them about half full of clear plastic crystals (available from a craft store) and add a variety of small objects (nothing that will poke through the plastic) such as plastic frogs, alphabet letters, plastic animals and colored beads. Stitch the bag closed. Laminate a list of everything that is in the bag and attach it to the top with a piece of ribbon. Give one to each child, and let him see what he can find by peeking through the window in the bag.
Sorting Game
Preschoolers love to sort things, and being given a bunch of items to sort is a fun game for most children this age. Provide each child with items to sort, and tell them to sort the objects into piles. If the child has small plastic toys to sort, she can separate them by color, by type (dinosaur, pet, person) or by any other characteristic she wants. Children this age can also sort objects such as buttons and plastic insects. A group of children can compare how many different types of objects each child has or how many different piles each ends up with. The comparison makes it interesting, but avoid letting them get too excited about the objects or this quiet sorting game will become a noisy competition.
Quiet Game
Playing the Quiet Game teaches kids self-control while letting them have fun and learn cooperative play. This game is best played with a group, such as a preschool class. To play, have the children stand in a circle. One child (selected by the teacher for the first game) tosses a foam ball to a classmate, who must catch it and throw it to another classmate. All the children must remain in their original places, and no talking or noise is allowed. Anyone who misses the ball, talks or moves from her spot must sit down and is out of the game. The person left standing at the end is the winner and gets to go first the next time the game is played.