Toddler/Preschool Games on a Budget

Whether you are an Early Childhood Educator or a parent of a little one, here are some fun, educational games that can be made on a budget. They can be made with things that you have around your house and/or items that you can find at your local Dollar Tree store.
I was able to share these ideas with a great group of EC Educators at the MIAEYC Conference that was held at the Amway Grand Plaza. I presented on Family Nights--I took them through the process of creating and implementing a Family Night program as well as sharing ideas on funding, volunteers, themes, activities and meals.

                          


                     Alphabet Soup:  Building words with magnetic letters & a cookie Sheet. 

Sorting letters/colors using a plastic relish tray.

 ABC Memory Game--using fun paper plates

                                               

ABC Order-write letters on fun paper plates and have little ones put them in ABC order across the floor.

 Work fine motor skills by using small plastic tongs to find colored letters and pom poms in a bowl.

Womens shaving cream is fun to use to for handwriting practice.

                          Soft foam cubes are perfect to use for all kinds of dice games .

                           For this fine motor game, I just took a coffee can, cut some slots on the top, hot glued some tiles and wala!! Children can work their fine motor and practice color I.D as they drop the tile into the matching slot. This will work with any manipulatives (cereal, beans, dinosaurs...)

 The Dollar Tree has some fun little frogs that can be used to "flip" into this baby-wipe box. I cut a picture from the frog-game package and hot glued it on the box just to jazz it up a bit. Little ones get to have fun flipping their frogs into the whole

This little sorting game is made out of a used frosting can. I simply cut a hole in the top and hot-glued some pom poms around the sides just for fun. Your little one can use a small pair of plastic tongs to work on their small motor skills and color identification.

I hope these activities have sparked your interest and creativity!

Vicky