Need simple and cheap activities to entertain your 3 or 4 year old? I’ve got you covered in this post with a wide range of kids boredom busters. This blog has a mix of screen free activities your child can do both independently and with you as a parent.
Activities For 3 Year Olds
Let’s begin with a couple very simple preschool boredom busters that are sure to please your little guy or gal. You can do all of these activities in a pinch with stuff you already own at home.
- Grab a ball and a laundry basket. Set your child up to “shoot hoops” indoors on a rainy day. Gradually move the laundry basket further away as your child masters making a shot in order to keep the game fun and challenging.
- Speaking of laundry baskets, what small child doesn’t love a cruise up and down the hallway in one? Beat boredom and entertain your high energy three year old with the occasional laundry basket NASCAR race. Give them a bike helmet to wear, a steering wheel prop, and make lots of “vroom vroom” noises as you push your preschooler around the house.
- Got a plastic toy boat lying around in the toy bin? Fill up the sink or plug the tub and fill it up with water. Stay nearby and supervise as your little one takes their boat for a ride. If you’ve got rubber duckies, barbies, and other bath toys, this is a perfect time to pull those out as well!
- Let your kids build a toilet paper or paper towel tower after you restock on shopping day. This is one of my preschoolers’ favorite activities. They love stacking the paper towel rolls as high as they can and then knocking them down with gusto.
Duck Pin Water Bottles
Do you have plastic water bottles and a basketball? Set up an indoor bowling alley for your 3 year old. This simple preschool activity is sure to keep your child entertained and happily playing independently for a solid chunk of time, so long as you look up from the dishes every so often and shower them with praise.
Indoor Slip N’ Slide
Take a midmorning break from house work and grab a pair of socks for yourself and your child. Set a timer for ten minutes, turn on a mix of your favorite music, and have a slip n’ slide race across the hardwoods in your socks. The giggles will be endless and sweet memories will be made.
Pretend Grocery Shopping
Set your child up with the fruit bowl, a reusable grocery bag, and a cardboard box full of Monopoly money for the cash register. First, let them be the shopper who gets to pick fruit, explore the kitchen cupboards, lay their findings on the checkout counter (your dining room table) and hand you the money. Next, switch roles and let your child be the grocery clerk who rings up the items and hands the shopper back change.
Baby Doll Walk
Strap your child’s favorite baby doll into her old stroller and take a walk around the neighborhood. Be sure to pack a bottle in case the baby gets hungry and stop at fire hydrants to pretend “fill up” the “car” (a.k.a) stroller with gas.
Montessori Activities For 3 Year Olds
Simple kitchen play is a great Montessori activity for preschoolers. My 3 year old’s have enjoyed freely grabbing mixing bowls from low cupboards, as well as pulling spatulas, spoons, and ladles from drawers within their reach. They have used these supplies both to pretend mix as well as to really mix dry goods such as pasta.
Young children also enjoy filling measuring cups with water, pouring it into their bowl, and stirring it around. In our home, we’ve found that this simple kitchen play has entertained our children for far longer than traditional store bought toys.
Young children want to do real life grown up stuff just like their parents do. Make a point to include your preschooler in preparing meals with you whenever you can and allowing them to pretend bake just for fun.
Easy Kitchen Activities Preschoolers Love:
- Decorating cookies
- Peeling boiled eggs
- Seasoning food
- Stirring soup
- Measuring rice
- Pouring water
- Kneading dough
- Mixing batter
Pretend Cooking
Pretend cooking goes a long way to entertain young children too. When I work with preschoolers at church, their favorite thing to do is to bring me “food” they made at the play kitchen. Invite your child to whip up something delicious with their imagination. Be sure to ask for seconds!
Fun Cleaning Activities For 3 – 4 Year Olds
Over the years, my kids have loved simple Montessori activities for 4 year old’s such as cleaning. Tending to a home is a large part of keeping your family running well. Kids look up to their parents and are interested in the tasks they do. You can either give kids their own set of toy cleaning supplies and allow them to mimic you or you can let them get their hands dirty doing the real things, just for fun!
Here are some things to try:
- Grab your 4 year old a mop or Swiffer Wet Jet that is shorter in length and let them have fun “cleaning” the floors
- Set your child up with a chair so they can reach the kitchen sink. Give them clean plastic bowls to “rinse” and wipe off with a wash cloth
- Allow your little one to vacuum nearby you with a mini handheld vaccum
Stay At Home Mom Schedule Free Printable
(A small gift to mamas of young children)
A large part of having a peaceful day with your preschooler is your state of mind as a mama. When our days feel chaotic and our to-do lists become insurmountable, it’s time for a reset. Use my free printable mom schedule to get back in control of your days so you can avoid decision fatigue and focus on the most important part of homemaking—enjoying your time with your child.
This Free Mom Routine will help you…
- Set goals
- Stay on task
- Establish structure
- Celebrate accomplishments
- Remember what is most important
Subscribe to grab my SAHM Daily Goals printable here:
Arts and Crafts For 3 Year Olds
Need some indoor activities for 3 – 4 year olds? Set them up with a safe space to create. You can keep it really simple with a pair of child safe scissors, a chunky glue stick, a stack of construction paper, stickers, and markers. Preschool aged children enjoy cutting, pasting, and scribbling their own works of art.
The best arts and crafts for 3 year old’s are truly the simplest. If the weather is nice, consider setting your little one up on a picnic blanket in the grass to contain the mess and increase the joy of their projects, as everything is more fun in the sunshine. You don’t have to go far to entertain your toddler without screens. No matter how big or small, your own backyard plus a few simple art supplies is the perfect breeding ground for creativity.
Here are some other fun materials you can use for art time to entertain your preschooler at home:
- Coloring books and crayons
- DIY Doodle Blanket with markers
- Dollar Tree crafts to paint
- Dot marker pens / Bingo Markers
- Glitter glue pens and paper (our favorite!)
- Jewelry making supplies for kids
- Melissa & Doug Water WOW! Books
- Easy peel reusable stickers
- Water color paint set
- Poster board for finger painting
- Rainbow scratch paper set
- Sketch pad and colored pencils
- Wooden Magnet Painting Craft
Best Games For 3 Year Olds
There are all kinds of games marketed to kids out there, but so far these are the ones I have found to be tried and true, simple, and entertaining for young kids.
- Candy Land Kingdom of Sweet Adventures Board Game
- Connect Four
- Hide and Seek
- Hi! Ho! Cherry-O Board Game
- Hopscotch
- Lil’ Lemonade Stand Off
- Memory Matching Card Game
- Go Fish
- Tag
- Uno
Social Development Activities For 3 – 5 Year Olds
Feeling a little cooped up in the house with your preschooler? There all kinds of fun programs you can sign up for. These social development activities for 3 – 5 year olds will teach your child new skills, familiarize them with group settings, and give you a chance to fellowship with other mamas in a similar season of life as you.
- Craft Time at your local library
- Home Depot In-Store Kids Workshop
- Library Story Time and other scheduled activities
- Mommy & Me program at your local Rec Center
- MOPS meet ups (Mothers of Preschoolers)
- Wild and Free outdoor playdate groups
- Gymnastics
- Dance class
- Soccer
- T-Ball
Don’t underestimate frequent trips to the playground either. You don’t have to sign up for a weekly extracurricular activity in order to get out of the house or give your child opportunities to develop socially. If traditional programs aren’t for you, consider circulating through local parks. You can invite friends you already know or meet new families who are there. Mothers who take their kids to the park during hours when school is in session will either be in a similar season of life as you with young preschoolers or they will be homeschool moms. Either way, you’ll be in good company at the park!
Want to make your outdoor trip extra memorable for your preschooler? Grab a large rainbow play parachute for kids offline and find enough little friends to enjoy it in the field. 3 year old’s delight in play parachutes. They like to swing it up and down, run underneath, and skip in a circle as they steer it with their friends.
Science Activities For 3 – 4 Year Olds
These projects will definitely require parental supervision and leadership, but they are quick and easy and your child will love them.
- Make slime in a large disposable foil pan outdoors
- Microwave marshmallows and watch them rise
- Make a tornado in a bottle with two 2 liter soda bottles
- Take a nature walk and collect, photograph, or journal your child’s findings. Look up various types of birds, animals, insects, leaves, and flowers in science picture books from the library to further your child’s learning
Sensory Activities For 3 Year Olds
Sensory bins are super easy to make and customize to your child’s current interests. All you have to do is grab a few supplies and then set your child up for a time of independent play nearby you where you can supervise.
Sensory Bin Ingredients:
- Plastic tub to put everything in
- Kinetic Sand (I like to mix and match several bags with various colors)
- Scoops, measuring cups, spoons, plastic tweezers, scissor scoopers for kids
- Sand shape molds such as castles and sea turtles
- Figurines such as animals, army men, astronauts, construction workers, fish, mermaids, or princesses
- Small toy supplies such as airplanes, castles, dump trucks, seashells, spaceships, and trees, depending on your sensory bin theme
- POM POMs, Rocks, Pebbles, and other assorted material for your child to move around and scoop (Remember to supervise your child as these materials are choking hazards. Never include water beads in your sensory bins. They are toxic to children and pets.)
How do I keep my active 3 year old busy?
The easiest way to keep an active 3 year old busy is to give them a healthy outlet in which to burn their energy. Eliminate overstimulating preschool screen time and allow your child 3 or more hours a day (on decent weather days) to free play outdoors. Through running, jumping, climbing, swinging, and exploring in nature, kids naturally expend energy, learn, and behave better. Don’t let the 3 hour recommendation intimidate you. You can spread this time out naturally throughout your child’s day.
Here are some ideas for how to get your 3 year old outside more:
- Take the laundry outdoors with you so you don’t feel stressed about the housework you aren’t getting to while your child is playing. I used to fold basket of laundry on our porch while the kids ran freely through the yard. I could keep a close eye on them, gift them the time they needed to release preschool energy, and get ahead on my chores.
- Instead of propping up a device during breakfast time, give your 3 year old their breakfast outside. They can sit on the porch, steps, deck, patio or on a picnic blanket in the grass. Getting sunlight and fresh air first thing in the morning does wonders to set a better tone for the day.
- Try getting outdoors with your 3-4 year old for an hour in the morning, afternoon and evening. Make it a habit.
- Take an afternoon and evening walk with your child. Not only will this boost your own mood an energy, it will help you entertain your active 3 year old.
Here are more posts to support you as you try to keep your 3 year old busy each day:
How do I entertain my 3 year old at home?
Next to cultivating a low-tech environment in which your child learns to love free outdoor play, I think the next most important part of entertaining a 3 year old at home is reading aloud to them. Great books will ignite the imagination of young children and give them all the more mental material for independent play.
Here are a couple posts with excellent books and play based learning activities for 3 – 4 year old’s: