10 Play Ideas for Kindergarteners

Entering kindergarten is such a fun (and emotional!) time for the whole family! It’s a child’s first opportunity to attend “big kid” school, and at the ages of 5 and 6, kindergarteners are full of fun, hope, love, and play. Kindergarten used to be known for learning letters, listening to stories, and playing in the kitchen corner. As kindergarten has evolved, younger children are now spending their days engaged in following classroom routines, while reading, solving math problems, writing sentences, and doing homework. With such busy days, playtime for kindergarten students is often limited to after school hours and weekends.

Here are 10 learning games and toys for kindergarteners that offer fun ways to play that don’t at all feel like school or “work.”

Let's delve into the multifaceted benefits of play and how it enables parents to better understand and nurture their child's unique characteristics.

Balance Bikes
Some children are ready to ride a 2-wheel bike without training wheels, but others aren’t and that’s okay. Kindergarten students need the opportunity to run, jump, and climb, so finding ways outside of school to promote their balance and coordination while releasing some energy is important. So how do balance bikes promote learning? They improve balance, coordination and strength, the underlying skills a child needs to be able to sit in their chair for longer periods of time at school. Balance bikes sit low to the ground, and kids learn quickly how to put their feet down to stop. Since kids spend a lot of time sitting in school, fun outdoor bikes and play opportunities are a must.

Construction Toys
Free building with blocks is a great way to build strength in the fingertips and hands, which kids need to hold a pencil and write. Learning how to follow directions is also an important skill for kindergartners. Many construction toy sets have step-by-step directions, which are perfect for teaching children how to start and complete projects, helping to improve their overall confidence.

Cash Registers
Kindergarten students are working on identifying coins, with simple addition and subtraction. While they might not be able to make change for a $10 bill just yet, adding a cash register to pretend play opportunities is the perfect way to reinforce everyday math skills. Add tags with simple dollar amounts to toys in the playroom, like pretend food, and let them practice buying and selling.

Sand, Dough and Other Sensory Play
Learning letters is a lot more fun when kids can pair it with sensory play. Adding letter themed stampers and cookie cutters to dough, sand and other sensory textures is a fun way to practice identification of letters for spelling. Kneading, pushing, and pulling the dough is also a way to improve hand strength.

Add Tweezers & Tongs
Learning how to hold a pencil and scissors is an important part of kindergarten, but it can be boring to practice. Take kitchen tongs and tweezers, then add them to your dice games, sensory play and arts and crafts activities. Using these tools is a great way to improve hand strength and add a fresh element to an old game.

Go Fish
The classic card game of Go Fish, where players receive cards, then search for the match by asking other players to share a specific card, is the perfect first card game for kindergarten aged children. Keep the rules simple at first. Try matching a pair of numbers first, then work up to finding all 4 numbers in suit. Little hands will gain dexterity as they practice holding all the cards in their hands.

Sight Word Bingo Games, Card Games & Puzzles
For some, learning to read is a breeze, for others it’s a challenge. Sight words are lists of words kids need to memorize and spell so they can learn to read. There are lots of sight word card games, bingo games and puzzles that can be bought in stores or downloaded online that are fun for kids to play to reinforce learning how to read.

Make Calm Down Jars
So much learning can be a lot for young kids learning to manage their emotions. A calm down jar is an activity where, with a parent’s help, kids add glitter glue, small toys, and other personalized items into a water bottle or jar. Then, when they are stressed, anxious and overwhelmed, kids can spend a few minutes shaking, turning, and watching the items float within the bottle to help them relax and calm down.

Social Emotional Skills Books & Games
Learning about emotions when kids are calm, and aren’t feeling frustrated or upset, is important, so they can notice the differences between feelings like being happy, sad, frustrated, angry, and even hungry and thirsty! Spend some time reading picture books together about emotions, so kids can find additional ways to cope with worry, fear, shyness, making mistakes, and making friends.

Candyland, Checkers and Turn Taking Board Games
Classic board games like Checkers, Candyland, Connect 4, Trouble, and Chutes and Ladders are great opportunities for kids to learn how to follow directions, count spaces and plan simple strategies. But kids also need to learn to patiently wait for their turn and have good sportsmanship when playing games. Winning and losing are tough concepts for young kids to understand, but with a lot of practice and support, they can learn to enjoy playing games together as a family.

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