Summer Fun for Preschoolers

Let's face it, kids get bored. They are always looking for new things to do and they are looking for you to come up with new ideas. This can be a lot of pressure on a parent. Here are some surefire ways to keep your preschooler entertained.

Ice Painting-
One thing that my two preschoolers love to do is ice painting. It is easy to set up and will keep them busy for a long time. The only downside is that it is an activity that needs to be planned ahead of time so the water will freeze into ice cubes. My three and four year old will request this activity every couple of days so we just keep a supply of ice paint in the freezer.

Materials needed: Ice cube tray, paint, toothpicks or popsicle sticks, white paper.

Pour a few drops of paint into each section of the ice cube tray. Fill with water and stick a toothpick or popsicle stick into each section. Put into freezer until ice cubes are fully formed. When water is frozen separate ice from tray. Let the kids paint on the white paper. I normally do this activity outside since the ice melts and it can get a little wet and messy.

Bubble Painting-
Another fun activity is bubble painting. Any kid that loves to blow bubbles will love this activity. This is another activity that can get messy so it is best done outdoors.

Materials needed: Bubbles, little cups/bowls, bubble wand, paint, white paper

Pour some bubble solution into each of the little cups or bowls (or any other small container you have handy). Pour a few drops of paint into each cup of bubble solution. Dip wand into paint/bubble solution and blow bubbles onto white paper. If you poured too much paint and the bubble solution is too heavy, just add more solution to thin it out.

Wet Chalk-
Something else my kids really like to do is to color with wet chalk on the driveway. Wetting the chalk will make the colors very bright and really stand out against the dark driveway.

Materials needed: Sidewalk chalk, a small bowl of water.

Dip the chalk into the water and draw and color on the driveway and have fun!

Another really easy activity that will keep the kids busy is to let them paint the house (and anything else they want!) using a painter's paintbrush and plain water. My three year old loves to "paint" the house and to watch what happens to her pictures as the water dries.

All of these activities are great ways of keeping your preschool aged children entertained. They will be busy being creative, being happy, and having fun.