Indoor Hands-on Activities and Games for Young Children

Whether it's in the middle of summer vacation, a declared snow day or freezing temperatures outside, young children inside can get very restless. This article provides some different ideas to keep them busy instead of relying on the electronics. These suggestions are best for ages three to five, but older children can certainly join into the fun!

Inside Science Experiments for Young Children

Even if you, the parent, are not science savvy, these ideas are simple hands-on experiments to keep the young children busy.

Making Goop:

This sensory, hands-on experiment involves only three ingredients: a box of corn starch, water and a few drops of food coloring. Use a big bowl, or pot for the goop and have another pot of soapy water and a towel nearby for clean up. Put the cornstarch into a big bowl. First, choose the color by adding a few drops of food coloring to a measuring cup full of water. The key for this mixture is to add the water slowly. If too much water is poured in, there is no turning back until the mixture evaporates over time. When the right amount of water is mixed with cornstarch, the texture will be hard on the bottom, with just a bit of moisture resting on top. When the mixture gets picked up, it will start to run down the fingers: a great goop mess. The goop is easily cleaned. The mixture dries and the corn starch is left and washes off clothes without any hassles. This goop mixture can be left on a shelf and brought back out at a later time. If it hardens, the children can have fun breaking it into little pieces, and then add more water to start enjoying all over again.

Sink or Float:

A classic game that does not lose its appeal. Fill the sink with water and allow the children to find safe things that can get wet in the house. Have a guessing game on whether the item will sink or float ( an apple is always a great choice). To extend this science experiment, find out why things sink or float as well as charting the results into a graph.

The Revise "Volcano" Experiment:

An experiment which should be done on a tray to keep the final result intact. The kitchen is a great location for this activity. There are only three ingredients required for this activity: baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring. The child will scoop a heaping tablespoon into a glass container and then fill a measuring cup with vinegar and a few drops of food coloring. The final step is to allow the child to pour the vinegar mixture into the baking soda. The ingredients will mix together and cause an explosion that will bubble up and out of the container. When the bubbles are gone, the mixture must be emptied before beginning again. Try different shaped vessels for this experiment and adding some popcorn kernels. The kernels will dance inside the mixture, up and down for quite some time.

An Art Project for Inside: Rainbow Spin Art

From Plum Pudding

This art activity does make a little mess so, it is best to be done on a large tray or the bottom of a large cardboard flat box. The material required:

• a salad spinner (an old one at home, or a cheap "dollar" shop find)
• different color liquid paint
• large paper

First step for this art project is to cut the paper to match the inside of the salad spinner. Then, allow the children to choose the paint they want for their creation. The amount of paint required is a minimum of one tablespoon each of two colors. Place the lid on tight and spin. The result is a swirling effect. Plan ahead for a good place for the art pieces to dry. Some learning concepts about colors are found in this project. For instance ask the question, "I wonder how green got on the paper, when we do not have green paint?"

Another version of this arts and crafts idea is to use a shoebox or an empty ice-cream bucket, paint and a marble or golf ball. Once the paper is inside, the children will shake the box to allow the paint and marble to roll around making an art piece that is worth framing.

Making a Board Game

Find a large piece of cardboard in your home, perhaps by cutting a box, and some drawing tools: crayon, felt pens, and pencils. Then allow the children to make their own game. The child might need help making the main path of the game (think of snakes and ladders) and the printing. Guide the child along with some ideas: "Should the person get a bonus on this square, such as moving ahead spaces or should they lose their turn?" When the game set up is complete, the children have to decorate the game. Stickers would work well in this step as well. When complete, the game can be played. Young children enjoy having the ownership of this activity and their ideas being honoured.

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Opposite Preschool Theme

Introducing Opposites at Circle Time

Introduce a theme on opposites at a group circle. Ask the children what they know about opposites. They will immediately begin giving examples. Pictures work well when describing opposites to children. There are many opposite posters available at teacher resource centers. Sometimes all it takes for better comprehension is to ask children for some opposites, such as "what is the opposite of day?"

Preschool Song for an Opposite Theme

To the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man:

Opposites, oh opposites

We know them,

We know them,

Opposites, oh opposites

I think that we know them

The opposite of black is _____ (let the children answer)

Black and white

Black and white

The opposite of black is white

We know our opposites

Continue the song with different opposites, here are some suggestions for this age group:

•boy and girl

•day and night

•full and empty

•big and small

•soft and hard

•hot and cold

Opposite Crafts

1) Opposite Pictures: The young children will be required to cut out the individual pictures and then paste them another sheet of paper with proper pairing. The blank sheet should have squares drawn on it to aid the preschoolers on where to place the pictures, with some opposite pairs already done to provide visual guidance. This craft is developmentally appropriate for four year olds and older.

2) Jars Empty and Full: A great craft for younger ages is to provide children with a sheet displaying two big jars or containers. Give the children bingo markers and explain that they have to fill up one jar and leave the other one empty. This craft activity could be completed with other material, instead of a bingo marker, such as sand art (glue with sand), shredded paper, pom poms, and so forth.

3) Hot and Cold Pictures: find pictures in magazines or symbols, such as stickers or foam pieces, representing hot and cold weather. The children must decide which paper to place their item on, the one with a sun showing or the one with snowflakes showing. This project could be changed according to the age group. If it is older preschool ages, then have the words hot and cold printed onto the paper as well and perhaps have them draw and decorate their hot and cold papers first before gluing the collage pieces on.

Preschool Games for an Opposite Theme

1. Transition children out of a circle time by giving each child a small toy, and then give directions to help teach the opposite concept. Tell a child, "Before you leave circle, please take this toy and place in on top of your head, and now place it on the bottom of your shoe". Some other directions could be:

•on and off

•in front, and in the back

•over and under

•forward and backward

2.  Choose an opposite pair and place items into a bag for children to pick out and then place into the right group. The two spots to place the items to will be in the middle of the circle and be established by the teacher. So, for instance, if you chose day and night, then place into the bag such items as pjs, stars, sunglasses, something used at preschool, moon, flashlight, sun, sleeping bag, suntan lotion and more.

3. Another game to play is the shoe game. Begin by telling the children to take one shoe OFF and keep one shoe ON and then ask the children if there was an opposite in the sentence just said. All the children will place one shoe into the middle of the circle, and one child at a time will be asked to leave the room or close his/her eyes. A shoe will be removed (or the child whose shoe it is will hide) and the selected child will have to guess whose shoe is missing.

Fun Theme Days for Opposite Preschool Lesson Plan

Within the length of the opposite lesson, plan to have some fun theme days.

1. Pyjama and Teddy Bear Day. (DAY-NIGHT)

2. During the winter months,  try having a  beach party inside. (WINTER-SUMMER)

3. Opposite Dress Up Day. Some ideas are:

•backward clothes

•one sided hairstyles

•black and white clothes

•day and night clothes

•clothes for hot and cold weather

4. Opposite Oder: have parts of the preschool schedule done in an opposite order, such as the good bye song sung first and the welcome song sung last.



Opposite Preschool Theme



Suggested Books about Opposites

There are many book on opposites. There are some classic stories that have opposites riddled throughout the pages, such as The Three Little Bears. Here are a handful of other suggestions:

•Opposites by Sandra Boynton (Little Simon, 1982)

•Foot Book by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1996)

•Olivia's Opposites by Ian Falconer (Atheneum, 2002)

Opposites is a really fun topic to discuss with young children. The theme days allow children some silly moments of doing something out of the ordinary. Hopefully this article will trigger ideas for more opposite activities within your preschool curriculum and/or early childhood setting.

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