Preschool Summer Activities

Preschool summer activities are great for helping your toddler stay active and continue growing healthier and smarter.

Nature Walk

Materials:

1. Wooded area with trails to walk through.

2. Binoculars (optional).

Steps:

1. Walk through the woods along the trails.

2. Identify wildlife that you see on your walk.

3. Ask your toddlers to help you find more things to identify.

Variations:

1. This preschool activity can be done as an “Eye Spy” game.

2. You can focus on identifying things in a specific category such as birds, trees, insects, or anything else on your nature walk.

Additional Resources:

1. Water Bottle (keep your little ones hydrated)

2. A “walking stick.”

3. Sun block.

4. Insect repellent.

Extra Tips/Suggestions and Comments: Have your toddler where light weight pants because it is hot, yet pants will protect their little legs from getting scratched up along the trails. My children love the outdoors and each “trail walk” provides a unique experience.

Obstacle Course:

Materials:

1. Public park with playground equipment or an open field.

2. Stopwatch or a watch with a second hand.

Steps:

1. Decide on your “obstacles” by selecting different piece of playground equipment for your children to run, climb, jump, or slide on, over, under, or around.

2. Walk through the obstacle course, instructing your children on what to do at each obstacle.

3. Time your children as they take their first run through the obstacle course.

4. Challenge them to run the obstacle course again and again, attempting to beat their “best time.”

Variations:

1. Designing and running an obstacle course are favorite preschool summer activities in our family. An obstacle course can also be done in a large open field, using cones, or empty boxes to jump over or run around, balls to bounce or kick, roll, or throw, and open space to run, skip, gallop, crawl or any other mode of movement. (Open fields provide more space for longer running distances.)

Additional Resources:

1. Cones.

2. Athletic balls: soccer, basketball, or activity ball.

Extra Tips / Suggestions: In our family we strive to do our personal best and to set “New World Records!”

Summer Reading Program:

Materials:

1. Public Library Card

2. Books on Tape/CD

3. CD / Tape Player

4. Books (Independent Reading Level and above)

Steps:

1. Sign you children up for your local public library’s summer reading program.

2. Post the “Summer Reading Program” chart (from your local library) on your refrigerator or somewhere else that is accessible for your toddler.

3. Visit your library regularly to checkout books and “books on tape/CD.

4. Block out “Reading Time,” in your daily schedule to read to your toddlers.

5. Make the books on tape/CD and other reading books accessible.

6. Celebrate the journey as your children complete the summer reading program.

Variations:

1. Make up your own “reading program,” any time of the year.

Additional Resources:

1. Home library of children books and books on tape/CD.

Extra Tips / Suggestions: Not all preschool summer activities need to be done outdoors, although when the weather is nice, that is a great place to be! A summer reading program makes for an excellent indoor toddler activity.

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