Preschool Activities that Make Use of Play Food

Are you the parent of a toddler or a preschooler? If you are, your child may own a play kitchen. Even if not, there is still a good chance that your toddler or preschooler has play food. Although play food is most often associated with play kitchens, tea parties, and other preschool pretend play, did you know that there are a lot more preschool activities that can be done with play food? There are and to help get you and your child started, some of those preschool activities are outlined below.

Sorting the play food that your child has is a fun, yet educational activity. When it comes to this preschool activity, you and your child will have a number of different options. You may want to start with colors, as this is a little bit easier. Once your child is familiar with all of the foods and the food groups, you may want to sort based on fruit, vegetables, snacks, dairy products, and so forth. This approach is nice, as your child practice their matching and sorting skills and they can also learn about healthy foods.

Having a scavenger hunt with your child's play food is another great preschool activity. In addition to simply hiding the play food pieces and letting your child find them, you may want to take it a step farther. You can give your child clues to find a specific food item, like a strawberry. This extra step can help your child understand the importance and the rewards of following directions.

You can also play a game with your child's play food that we tend to call "what is it?" What you can do is line up a number of play food items. Be sure to choose a wide range of products, including fruits, vegetables, and snack items. You pick an item in your head and give your child clues. For instance, for a jug of play milk, your clues could be that the item in question is healthy for strong bones, can be flavored with chocolate or strawberry, is a dairy product, or comes from a cow.

For extra fun, you may want to play a tossing game. This works best with plastic food pieces, such as plastic fruit, as opposed to small boxed play food. What you can do is place a bucket or a small laundry basket a few feet away from your child. Have them toss their play foods into the basket or bin. To add education and excitement to this preschool activity, you may want to give them a number of food pieces. Have them shout out what each food is before tossing it. You may even want to time your child or see how many play food pieces they can get in the basket or bin in one minutes worth of time.

The above mentioned preschool activities are just a few of the many that you and your child can do inside your home with play food. As a reminder, play food can be used for a lot more than just play kitchen accessories.