During our recent Spring Festival holiday to my hometown, we didn’t have a play area set up for children in my parents’ home. So we had to creative with our preschoolers. Here are some fun games we played together.

 

Pillow Road 

We gathered a bunch of pillows from the bedrooms and laid them down on the floor. Then, the kids crawled and walked along our “pillow road.” We also encouraged our children to make a (safe) obstacle course. It was a fun way to work on gross motor skills.

 

Guess Where?

This is a quick and easy game. My husband put a candy in one of his hands, hid them behind his back, and then asked Judy: “Where’s the candy?” If you don’t want your kid to have a sugar high, you can use any small object. Another option is to put the object under one of three cups and let them guess where the item is. It’s a fun game that builds concentration skills.

 

Teach Mom!

Role reversal is a great way for 3-year-olds to think creatively about how to demonstrate an activity or to play a character for you. Judy is great at teaching me how to build a castle with her toy blocks. Playing the role of teacher helps children to express themselves more clearly. Judy also loves to teach her little brother everything!

 

Story Time

Storybooks are great but they’re not necessary. A fun game is to start a story with a traditional open: “Once upon a time, there was a little boy who went to the zoo.” Then, you can create the story together. “At the zoo, he made friends with an animal named...” Let your child fill in the blanks of your story. The older they get, the more they can take the lead in creating the story.

 

Whatever games you choose, if you’re children see that you enjoy the game, they’ll have a great time, too!