3–4 years
75 activity ideas for 3–4 years. Each one lists how long it takes, where it works, what you need, and anything to watch out for.
75 ideas
Just One Page
Open a picture book on any page and talk about one picture. Stopping after a page is a complete success.
4 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm
Watch the World Go By
Sit on a bench or a step outside and watch what passes — people, cars, a dog. Say what you see and let your child pick the next thing to watch.
12 mo – 4 yr · 5 min · Outdoors · Calm · No materials
You're the Leader
For a moment, copy the movements your child makes. Then make one movement yourself and see whether they want to copy you.
12 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
Kick It Back
Stand a few steps apart and take turns kicking a soft ball to each other. Cheer the attempt, not the accuracy.
18 mo – 5 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Active
Keep the Story Going
Start with: "Today we found a tiny elephant in the kitchen…" Each person adds one part of the story.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Where Does This Live?
Pick up one object and ask where it belongs. Walk there together and put it away, then stop. One object is enough.
18 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · At home · Calm · No materials
Big Ones, Small Ones
Put out a handful of safe household objects and sort them into big and small together. Let your child move things between piles.
20 mo – 3 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Hello, Who's Calling?
Hold a block or a banana to your ear and have a short pretend phone call. Pass it to your child and answer them back.
16 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm
Walk Like a Bear
Cross the room as a bear, then a cat, then a bird. Let your child choose the next animal.
20 mo – 5 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Active · No materials
Build It, Knock It
Stack three or four safe objects together, then let your child knock them down. Knocking down is the good part.
12 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · At home · Gentle
Puddle Stomping
Put on boots and jump in a puddle together. Count the jumps out loud if your child enjoys that.
20 mo – 6 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Active · No materials
Find Something Red
Choose a colour and take turns finding things around you in that colour. Three finds is a full game.
2 yr – 3 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
What Was That Sound?
Stop and listen together for a moment, then name one sound each. A car, a bird, the fridge.
22 mo – 6 yr · 2 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Three Slow Breaths
Before sleep, take three slow breaths together with a hand on your tummies. Make it quiet and unhurried.
2 yr – 6 yr · 2 min · At home · Calm · No materials
One Line Each
Share one sheet of paper and take turns adding a single line. See what it turns into together.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
A Proper Hello
When someone comes home, stop what you are doing and greet them together — a wave, a hug, a shout of their name.
12 mo – 6 yr · 2 min · At home · Gentle · No materials
Hide and Seek, Small Version
Hide somewhere very obvious in the room and let your child find you. Make a small sound if they need a clue.
18 mo – 3 yr · 10 min · At home · Gentle · No materials
Through the Slot
Cut a slot in a shoebox lid and let your child post lids or cards through it. Lining the piece up is the interesting part.
15 mo – 3 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
One Song, Two Actions
Pick a song you both know and give it two hand actions — a clap and a wave. Do the same two every time you sing it.
14 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
What's Missing?
Put four objects on a tray, look together, then cover them and remove one. What is missing?
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Count as We Go
Count the steps out loud together as you climb the stairs. Whatever number you reach is the right one.
2 yr – 3 yr · 2 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
Guess by Touch
Put a familiar object in a bag and let your child feel it through the fabric and guess what it is.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Sing It Wrong on Purpose
Sing a song your child knows but change one word to something silly. Wait for them to correct you.
2 yr – 6 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Today I Feel…
Name your own feeling first: 'I'm happy today', 'a little sad', 'a little angry'. Then invite your child to choose a word for theirs if they want. One word is enough; they do not need to explain why.
3 yr – 6 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Find the Other Sock
While folding laundry, hold up one sock and ask your child to find its pair in the pile.
2 yr – 4 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Dance, Then Freeze
Play or hum some music and dance together. Stop the sound suddenly and everybody freezes until it starts again.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Active · No materials
Chase Your Shadow
On a sunny day, find your shadows and try to make them wave, jump or grow taller.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Gentle · No materials
Cooking for the Toys
Use an empty bowl and spoon to cook a pretend meal together, then serve it to a toy. Ask what is on the menu.
20 mo – 3 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Three Stops on the Way
On a walk you are taking anyway, stop three times. Each time, look at one thing properly and say what you notice about it.
2 yr – 3 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Calm · No materials
A Big Sheet, Two Crayons
Tape a large sheet of paper down and give one chunky crayon each. Make marks alongside each other without asking for anything in particular.
16 mo – 3 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Tap the Beat on Your Knees
Sing or play a song you both like and tap the beat on your knees. Let your child tap wherever they like, at whatever speed.
16 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
I Spy Something…
Take turns describing something you can both see without naming it, until the other person guesses.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
What Happens Next?
Stop halfway through a familiar story and ask your child what happens next. Follow their version, even if it is new.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Aim for the Basket
Put a basket a few steps away and take turns tossing rolled-up socks into it. Move closer or further to keep it fun.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Active
Who Knows Who?
Take turns asking easy questions about each other: favourite food, favourite colour, funniest moment.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Make a Den
Drape a blanket over two chairs and make a small hideaway. Sit inside together for a few minutes.
2 yr – 6 yr · 15 min · At home · Calm
Sort by Colour
Sort the clean laundry into two piles by colour together, talking about each choice.
2 yr – 4 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Count Five Things Outside
On a walk, agree what you are counting — trees, red cars, birds — and count until you reach five.
2 yr – 4 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Gentle · No materials
Twenty Questions, Small Version
Think of an animal and let your child ask yes-or-no questions until they guess it. Three questions is plenty at first.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
The Best Bit of Today
Each say one good moment from today. Small moments count as much as big ones.
3 yr – 6 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Wait for a Bird
Sit by a window or outside and wait quietly until you both see a bird. Then describe it to each other.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Copy My Rhythm
Clap a short pattern and let your child copy it. Then let them set one and you copy — theirs is allowed to be impossible.
20 mo – 6 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
You Know What Comes Next
Open a book your child knows well and stop just before a line they can finish. Wait, and let them say it.
3 yr – 4 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm
Catch the Bubbles
Blow bubbles and let your child chase and pop them. Blow them low and slow for younger children.
14 mo – 5 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Active
One Thing From Outside
On a walk, let your child choose one safe natural thing to bring home — a leaf, a stone — and put it somewhere special.
20 mo – 6 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Calm · No materials
The Cardboard Car
Turn a cardboard box into a car, a boat or a bus and go somewhere together. Ask your child where you are heading.
2 yr – 5 yr · 15 min · At home · Gentle
You Set the Table
Ask your child to put one unbreakable item on the table for each person before a meal.
2 yr – 3 yr · 5 min · At home · Calm
Squeeze and Poke
Give your child a lump of soft dough and squeeze one yourself beside them. No shapes to make and nothing to finish.
18 mo – 4 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Dance Your Name
Clap out the beats in each person's name, then invent a small movement for each beat.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
Do Something Kind
Choose one person at home and do one small thing for them together — bring them a glass of water or put their slippers by their chair. One thing is enough.
3 yr – 6 yr · 5 min · At home · Calm · No materials
Faces in the Mirror
Stand at a mirror together. Make one face and let your child copy it, then let them make one for you.
2 yr – 3 yr · 5 min · At home · Calm
Put Teddy to Bed
Before your child's own bedtime, put a soft toy to bed together — blanket, goodnight, lights down.
2 yr – 4 yr · 5 min · At home · Calm
Dry Your Own Arm
After the bath, hand your child the towel and let them dry one part of themselves before you help with the rest.
20 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · At home · Calm
Build an Obstacle Course
Use cushions, a chair and a blanket to make a short course. Let your child design at least one part of it.
2 yr – 6 yr · 15 min · At home · Active
Draw and Deliver
Draw a small picture together for someone in the family and deliver it to them by hand.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Dig and See
Find a patch of soil outside and dig a small hole together. Look at what you find, then fill it back in.
2 yr – 6 yr · 15 min · Outdoors · Gentle
The Slowest Race
Race across the room to see who can move the slowest without stopping. The last one there wins.
3 yr – 6 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
Say It How I Say It
Say one everyday word in a whisper, then very slowly, then in a sing-song. Let your child copy each one and then choose the next way.
2 yr – 4 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm · No materials
Shake Along to a Song
Shake a ready-made shaker along to a song together — fast, slow, or only when the song stops. Make it beforehand, away from your child: a spoonful of rice in a small plastic bottle, lid screwed on and taped shut.
2 yr – 4 yr · 10 min · At home · Gentle
Driving to the Shop
Push a toy car or a small box along the floor and say where it is going. Let your child decide what it collects and bring it back.
18 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · At home · Gentle
One Job in the Kitchen
Give your child one real job while you cook — washing vegetables, tearing lettuce, stirring a cold bowl.
2 yr – 6 yr · 15 min · At home · Calm
Walk the Line
Lay a length of tape or a scarf on the floor and walk along it heel to toe, arms out.
2 yr – 6 yr · 5 min · At home · Gentle
Whose Plane Goes Further?
Fold two simple paper planes and throw them from the same spot. Try again with one small change.
3 yr – 6 yr · 15 min · Anywhere · Gentle
Only When I Say It Twice
Give simple actions — hands up, turn around — but only do them when you say it twice. Getting caught out is the joke, not a mistake.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Anywhere · Gentle · No materials
Run to the Tree and Back
In an open space, pick something to run to and back from. Let your child choose the target and start you both off.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Active · No materials
The Toy Asks a Question
Give a soft toy a voice and let it ask your child one thing — what shall we do, or what is that. Answer as yourself.
20 mo – 3 yr · 5 min · Anywhere · Calm
Two Minutes of Tidying
Pick one small area and tidy it together for two minutes, then stop whether or not it is finished.
2 yr – 4 yr · 2 min · At home · Gentle · No materials
Tear It, Stick It
Tear an old magazine into pieces together and stick them anywhere on a sheet of paper. There is nothing it is supposed to look like.
2 yr – 5 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
Along the Low Wall
Find a low wall, kerb or log and walk along it holding your hand. Let your child set the pace and get down whenever they want.
2 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Active · No materials
Today's Weather Report
Look out of the window together. Let your child choose one thing about outside — a grey sky, a wet road, branches moving — then announce it in one sentence: "Today…"
3 yr – 6 yr · 5 min · At home · Calm · No materials
What Was Next?
While you cook, tell your child the next step and let them remember it. A little later ask, "What was next?" and let them remind you. The recipe can be in your head, on a phone, or on a card.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm
How Far Can You Jump?
Outside, mark a starting line with a stick or a shoe and jump forward from it. Mark where you land and take turns trying again.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · Outdoors · Active · No materials
Playing Shop
Line up a few items and take turns being the shopkeeper and the customer. Tear a sheet of paper into large notes to use as money.
3 yr – 6 yr · 15 min · At home · Calm
You Are In Charge of One Thing
On a short errand you are doing anyway, give your child one job for the whole trip — carrying the bag, or remembering what you came for.
2 yr – 6 yr · 15 min · Outdoors · Gentle · No materials
Shadow Shapes on the Wall
In a dim room, shine a torch and make shadow shapes with your hands. Let your child invent one.
3 yr – 6 yr · 10 min · At home · Calm