Activities to Do With Children Under 5

Children learn and grow every day. And children between 2 and 5 experience dramatic growth in language, motor, cognitive and social skills. Take advantage of the opportunities around you. Make an effort to spend time with your child. You will bond with him as well as encourage his creativity and learning.

  1. Reading

    • Spend time reading to your child. Get a big picture book and read the story with enthusiasm to get your child interested. Ask him questions. You can even use different voices for the characters. Point out different letters to him and ask him his favorite characters. Get him involved in the reading process so he develops an early appreciation.

    Arts and Crafts

    • Spend time doing arts and crafts with your child. To make placemats, for example, get clear contact paper and art paper. Have your child draw pictures on the art paper, then cover with the clear contact paper. Your child can use this when she eats. Make different placemats for holidays and special occasions. Do other activities with art such as making shapes. With cardboard, cut out different shapes, including squares, rectangles and circles. Give your child a big piece of paper and have her trace the shape on the paper. Encourage her to fill it in. She will be doing something fun while learning shapes.

    Outdooor Activities

    • Do things outdoors with your child. Take a walk in a park and point out the different plants and flowers. Ask your child to pick his favorite flower and draw a picture when you get home. Pick up leaves and place them in a scrapbook when you get home. Take advantage of the winter and play in the snow. Get some spray bottles and fill halfway with water and add three drops of food coloring. Let your child paint pictures and objects in the snow.

    Playing Games

    • Play pretend with your child. One pretend game is playing supermarket. Get old food boxes and containers along with play money. Use a toy cash register and have fun playing store. Teach your child to count as you play with the money and "buy" different items. Another counting game uses clothespins. Get an empty milk carton and 10 clothespins. Ask your child to hold the clothespin at eye level and drop into the container. Have him count how many times the clothespin went in after 10 times.

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