Games and activities for 3 year olds that promote learning

As a homeschool mom to four children. with my youngest, Joshua, being three, activities to promote his development as well as occupy his time are an essential part of our schooling; not only for his development but also to make sure the other three can complete their school work. I have to have activities that are not overly demanding on my time, that I could pull off of a shelf, get him started and then he could run with it from there. Some of our favorites are pattern blocks, which are great for learning colors, sorting, creating patterns. Puzzles are fabulous, they develop fine motor skills and are a great way for Joshua to visualize his accomplishment. I made a puzzle for him with the letters of his name JOSHUA on the bottom piece and then individual tiles with each letter for him to match and place on top of the puzzle. Another one of my favorites are simple cut and paste activities. Joshua has made a color book where I printed pictures from my computer, a red fire-truck, apple, the word 'RED', and then he cut them out (with help) and pasted them onto the red construction paper, and so forth for each color. This works for numbers, ABC's, big and small, anything really. I have also printed parts of a face and given him a pink construction paper oval and he placed all the parts and then colored on the hair but you could also glue on yarn for hair. They turned out really cute! These activities are all really good for fine motor development. We play hide-and-seek, one of Joshua's favorites, which he can now count to 40 only missing a few numbers along the way. For large motor-skills we kick a soccer ball, do stretching exercises (touch you toes, reach for the sky), and play follow the leader, For social and emotional development, helping with chores is a great exercise, as well as to role play sharing. And of course reciting nursery rhymes and reading favorite stories (great activity for older siblings) help to develop communication skills.

Joshua is a very active child, as are most three-year-olds, and he will find his own mischief to get into if I don't keep him busy. These are some of our favorite activities but it is important to keep in mind that every child will have their own personality and ideas and different activities work for different children. Whatever activities you use with a three-year-old, they will learn best if they are having fun.