«Game — this is a huge bright window through which a life-giving stream of ideas and concepts about the world around flows into the spiritual world of the child. Game — it is the spark that ignites the flame of inquisitiveness and curiosity.
V.A. Sukhomlinsky
Some parents tend to underestimate the role of play in a child's development. Adults recall the famous saying «Cause– time, fun – hour" and consider such fun a useless, frivolous activity, stealing precious minutes that could be used for study. However, there is nothing more important than playing for a child of 4 years. If you want to start teaching your kid, then do not rush to put him at the desk and give textbooks – better try on the role of a provocative animator and offer your kid fun joint fun.
Remember that games with a 4-year-old child – this is not just a way to keep the baby busy so that he does not get bored at home or during a walk, but also an important way of learning. During the game, children develop mental and physical abilities, learn new information, learn to interact with the outside world.
There are many entertainment options for parents and preschoolers: sports and psychological games, games in English, quizzes and puzzles. Choose activities based on your 4 year old's preference, and KidPassage will offer you some suggestions.
Games with a 4-year-old child at home together
It is extremely important for parents to find time to spend time together with their child. And it’s not enough just to be in the same room and go about your business while the kid is busy playing: close interaction is needed, the parent needs to be completely immersed in the game, without being distracted by the smartphone screen or an interesting moment of the series. In addition, spending time with a four-year-old is already much more interesting than, say, with a one-year-old baby.
There are a large number of interesting games that will help you have fun and effectively spend time, strengthen communication with your child, and also teach your child new knowledge and skills. Depending on the temperament and hobbies of the child, parents can choose either quiet games or active activities.
1. “Who will be who?”
An interesting word game of a mother with a 4-year-old child, the rules of which are quite simple. The kid needs to answer the questions:
- Who will the egg be? (A bird, a snake, a crocodile.)
- Who will the chicken be? (A hen or a rooster.)
- Who will the boy/girl be? (Male/female.)
- Who will the foal be? (A horse.)
- What will the calf be? (Cow.)
- Who will the puppy be? (A dog.)
- What will the water be like in winter? (Ice.)
- What will the seed be? (A plant.)
- What will flour be? (Pancakes.)
By the same analogy, you can play the questions “Who loves what?”, “Who was who?” etc.
2. “Car relay race”
Props: toy cars, masking tape.
Using masking tape, mark the route on the floor (don't forget about sharp turns and obstacles, speed bumps and traffic lights). You can do this in a room or even throughout the apartment. When the track is ready, start racing. It is recommended that you time yourself for each lap so that you can then try to improve your results.
Role-play elements can be introduced into this entertainment: arrange an “accident”; on the road and ask the kid to figure out the situation or come up with an interesting plot for the race (the police are trying to catch the robbers, the mother is trying to catch up with the school bus to give her daughter a notebook forgotten at home).
Games for children 4 years old at home
Despite Given that four-year-olds are already attending daycare with caregivers, moms and dads need to have a few games to keep their kids entertained at home.
At the age of four, children already know how to entertain themselves, but the game will be more useful if the parent also takes part in it. It is not enough to pour a mountain of toys in front of the baby and leave him alone with this belongings. An adult should teach a child to play: explain the rules, interact with him, immerse himself in the game process together.
3. “Animal Charge”
Ideally, every morning at least a baby, at least his parents should begin with a charge. Ordinary boring exercises will not be interesting for a four-year-old, so add game elements to sports activities, make children's imagination work. Invite the kids to try themselves in the role of certain animals:
- “The bear got out of the den” – sipping.
- "Kitty" – back arches.
- “The dog hides the bone” – active waving of the arms, you can also “wag your tail”.
- “Bunny” – jumping alternately on the left, right and both legs.
4. "Home football"
What to do at home with a 4-year-old child who cannot sit still for a minute? Coloring books and books in this case will be powerless, but active games will come to the rescue. Invite your fidget to play home football. Make an impromptu goal, take a rubber ball, assign some toy as a goalkeeper and start the match.
The ball can be scored:
- with your heel, standing with your back to the goal;
- blindfolded;
- squatting.
It is also recommended for the adult leader to confuse the baby a little. So, the ball should be hit only after the command “Start!”. The host pronounces, stretching the vowels: «Staaaa… can of water!”, “Staaaa” hellip; little grandfather! Such “tricks” very popular with young children.
Didactic games
Educational games play an important role in the development of the child. The main task of didactic games – provide new knowledge and instill certain cognitive skills, but they can also serve educational and entertaining functions. Ordinary cubes or pyramids are unlikely to interest a four-year-old, an inquisitive children's mind requires more complex and intricate tasks. Development games can be different – these are puzzles, and cards, and lacing.
5. “Assemble the picture”
Props: a frame from your favorite cartoon or a family photo, scissors.
This is a more interesting version of puzzles. Take the printed image and cut it into several pieces with your child, and then try to put the picture back together. To make things more difficult, cut several images and shuffle the pieces together.
6. “Literary quiz”
A four-year-old kid probably already has favorite fairy tales, cartoons and heroes. Having chosen a work, the parent comes up with quiz questions (What was your name? What did you do? What did you say? Who owns these words?). The second option: the host, together with the child, chooses a letter, after which the kid comes up with as many fairy-tale or cartoon characters as possible for it.
Musical games
Dance and song games are fun for kids of all ages. Who doesn't love to dance, release energy and show creativity! Such tasks will be especially appreciated by a hyperactive child, who, as a rule, cannot sit still for a minute.
Musical games – this is a wonderful way to develop acting skills, hearing and voice of the child. Moreover, this kind of fun can be educational. During the game, you can, for example, teach your baby national songs, the alphabet, mental arithmetic, etc.
7. “Coming up with songs”
Props: task cards.
The facilitator prepares cards with tasks in advance, after which they mix them thoroughly. The child draws a card and fulfills the conditions. The task of the game – compose songs in different styles: sing like a wolf, like an Englishman, like a person with a sore throat, like a merry pig.
8. “Concert”
Props: any objects that can make sounds (pan lids, baby rattles, toy tambourines and drums, maracas, whistles).
< p>Children love to arrange a noisy outrage, and if in such a “holiday of disobedience” Parents also participate, then this is exactly the event that the child will remember for a long time. Invite the child to repeat a well-known melody, using improvised means for this. A good mood is guaranteed for all participants of this noise maker game.
Board games
Entertaining games – it is not only active noisy fun. Some children, on the contrary, prefer quiet entertainment. If your child between “run” and «think» chooses the latter, he will definitely like board games.
At the age of four, it is still difficult to focus and focus on the progress of a complex board game. If your child likes dynamic entertainment more, then do not impose cards or children's dominoes on him. Leave the Monopoly for older children, and let the active four-year-old enjoy other fun.
9. "Geoboard"
Props: playing field, pushpins, jumpers, rubber bands.
Before the start of the game, the parent together with the child needs to create a playing field. To do this, push pins are stuck into the board or cardboard, on which rubber bands are attached – they will be the sides that hold the jumper. You need to fasten the elastic bands in such a way that they form a labyrinth. We put a jumper at the start and tilt the board to one side or the other so that the ball rolls to the finish line along the tracks with rubber bumpers.
- Board games for the whole family< /li>
- DIY board games for kids
10. “Quick Cups”
Props: plastic cups (5+ per player).
Each participant takes five plastic cups. The task of the players – Build a tower as quickly as possible by using all your glasses. You can complicate the task and create cards with the image of various structures that the participants will have to build.
Games for a group of children 4 years old
Each a person who, at least once in his life, had the task of organizing and captivating & nbsp; something a group of four-year-olds knows how difficult it is. However, nothing is impossible for someone who has a few exciting group or team games in store.
11. “Fancy Balls”
Props: several socks, string, cereals.
Together with the children, make “balls” for Game. To do this, fill the socks with different cereals and carefully tie with a string. Next, the players should stand in a circle and start throwing a projectile to each other. If there are more than three players, then two or more socks can be passed around the circle – Just make sure you catch them! The peculiarity of this idea is that such “balls” They don't fly like regular rubber ones. In addition, filling with cereals perfectly develops fine motor skills.
You can complicate the game and invite the participants to throw the projectile into the basket, throw it to the ceiling, throw it over an obstacle or ring, put the projectile on the head and try to walk in a straight line, knock down with a “sock ball” skittles. At first glance, this is a very simple game, but it is great as a game for a group of children.
12. “Dragon tail”
Props: rope or skipping rope.
A dragon is chosen, around whose waist a rope or rope is tied so that it hangs from behind like a long tail. At the command of the leader, the dragon and the participants scatter, and the players must grab the dragon's tail and run in this way.
When the last participant grabs the dragon's tail, it (at the command of the leader) turns into a fiery whip. Children throw their tail and stand in a circle around the dragon. The dragon spins, and the participants must jump over its tail. Anyone who does not have time and touches the fiery whip is out of the game.
Logic games
Logical thinking is necessary in order to correctly express thoughts, build correct chains of conclusions, prove true and refute false judgments. It should be developed from childhood, because kids are extremely receptive to new information and absorb it like a sponge.
At the age of four, you can’t sit a child at a desk for a long time and you won’t set text tasks, as teachers do at school. So how then to develop logical thinking? There are many ways that are suitable for this tender age: associations, matching, quizzes, confusion texts and more.
13. “How to know?”
Invite your child to think about the following questions:
- How can you tell if a toy is in a closed box? (Shake and listen to the sound.)
- How do you know if the stripes are drawn the same length? (Measure with a ruler.)
- How do you know if it's warm outside? (Look at the thermometer outside the window or what passers-by are wearing.)
- How do you know if the compote is sweet? (Try.)
- How can you tell if a pen is writing or not? (Try writing.)
- How do I know if anyone is home? (Ring the doorbell or telephone.)
14. “Find the extra one”
An adult can name a number of words, inviting the child to choose an extra one (for example, pineapple, apple, pear, cucumber). However, four-year-old children still do not perceive information well by ear, so it is better to make cards with images of certain objects, among which you also need to find an extra element.
Educational games
At the age of four, cognitive activity is noticeably activated, this is an excellent age for exciting educational games. A four-year-old will eagerly listen to stories about the world around her, but only if the new information is presented in a “beautiful wrapper.” The usual boring narration, as in a natural history lesson, in the case of a four-year-old will be completely ineffective. The preschooler perceives only the game form of presenting information. The child will surely enjoy games about dinosaurs, the underwater world, acquaintance with the forest or games about space.
15. “Assemble the Dinosaur”
Props: split cards with images of dinosaurs.
The dinosaur image needs to be cut into three parts: legs, torso and head. All fragments are mixed with each other, and the child needs to make the correct image out of them.
In this way, you can collect not only dinosaurs, but also other animals, underwater inhabitants, birds, trees, flowers, and more. In addition, you can select images of representatives of different professions.
16. “Fables”
The facilitator reads a short story, deliberately making some mistakes. The child needs to listen carefully to notice all the inaccuracies:
“One cold snowy summer, when daisies were just beginning to bloom on the trees, the squirrel decided to stock up for the winter. In her lair, the squirrel began to collect her favorite foods: fish, mushrooms and nuts. The red squirrel also carried sausages that grew on forest bushes, etc.».
Math games
Yes such sciences, without which one cannot do in an adult independent life. While many people live peacefully, for example, without astronomy or philosophy, the lack of mathematical knowledge can create many problems every day.
At the age of four, children already master simple counting and study geometric shapes, orientation in space, the ratio of the sizes of objects and their number. Learning will be more effective if the child is offered useful mathematical games.
17. “More-Less”
A simple game that can be played even by two. An adult calls an object or animal to a child, and a child should name something larger/smaller. It is important that the named words are of the same category. For example: eraser – notebook, mouse – cat, gazebo – house, chair – sofa.
18. «Trailers"
Props: trailer cards with images of numbers from 1 to 9.
Draw a steam locomotive and, together with your child, attach wagons to it, which should go in order, starting with the number 1. After the train is ready, send it on a journey: let the child depict the whistle of the locomotive, the sound of wheels, tell what the passengers are doing. An adult can quietly remove one card, draw the child's attention that one trailer is lost, and ask to determine the number of the loss.
New Year's games
With the help of New Year's games, you can not only create a holiday atmosphere and cheer up yourself and your children, but also tell the kids about holiday traditions and rituals, tell the story of the holiday.
- Children's New Year's games: how much fun have the most magical night of the year
19. «Holiday for toys»
Props: toys, toy dishes, a bag for gifts and various items that can act as New Year's presents.
Invite your child to arrange a New Year's party for his toys. Set the table with toy dishes, seat dolls and plush animals, and then proceed to distribute gifts. Assign the child as Santa Claus or the Snow Maiden, prepare a bag for presents and proceed to collect them. Putting gifts in a bag, give each of them a brief description (“Here is a felt-tip pen. It is green, long, thin. And this is a candy, it is sweet, round, chocolate.”).
Next, the child, on behalf of each toy, must read a poem, sing a song, show a dance. For the performance, Santa Claus/Snow Maiden gives a gift. The host says: “We will give the Bunny a thin, green hellip;”, “Doll Dasha will receive a round, sweet” hellip;, the child must complete the sentence.
20. “Everybody dance”
Both children and adults can play this game. The fun is also great for a costume party. All guests become in a circle. The host says: “And now they are dancing” hellip; – and in turn names the heroes who must perform the dance (“those who are in the costume of hares”, “in New Year's hats”, “the beauties of the Snow Maiden”, “only girls/boys”, “the most shy”, “ blue-eyed”, etc.).
Speech therapy games
Speech therapy games will be useful not only for children who have certain difficulties with the pronunciation of certain sounds, but for absolutely all kids. Phonemic games perfectly develop auditory perception and speech, making the latter figurative, literate and, most importantly, conscious. With the help of speech therapy classes, children learn to build sentences correctly, look for synonyms, and highlight the main thing from what has been said.
21. “Choose what you need”
The presenter names some object, and even better – shows it (picture, toy). After that, he says a few words, and the child must choose those that are directly related to the specified object.
For example: bear (fluffy, horned, roar, laughter, claws, feathers); vegetable garden (radish, compote, book, rake, TV, scarecrow); kindergarten (toys, teacher, bus, children, cat, pillow, soup).
In addition, you can ask the child why he chose this or that word as a characteristic for a given object.
22. “Rhymes”
A simple but extremely entertaining game that can captivate a four-year-old for a long time. This fun is suitable for a long walk or trip. The task is extremely simple: an adult calls a word, and a child comes up with a rhyme, after several times they change roles.
Important: before starting the game, you need to familiarize the baby with the concept of “rhyme”. So, you can read together the chapter “How Dunno wrote poetry” or watch a related cartoon.
Attention games
Four-year-olds learn to concentrate on an object or activity for a long time. If it is still difficult for a three-year-old kid to be attentive to details, then a four-year-old child masters this science much easier.
23. “Animals and their babies”
The host reads a poem:
The dog has a son —
This is a little puppy,
And the cat has a baby —
This is a white kitten.
And the mother hen
There are chickens – kids too.
The horse has a baby –
A long-legged foal.
And a she-wolf lives in the forest
He is proud of his wolf cubs.
And the birds also have babies –
Chicks are sitting on a branch.
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After that, he asks the child to name the animal children mentioned in the poem and their parents.
24. “Attention to detail”
Props: cards with color images of objects.
Show the child a picture of the object, and then list all the details one by one. For example, “this is a house, it has: a roof, a door, a window, a chimney, a porch”, “this is a chair, it has: legs, a back, a seat” etc. To make the game more interesting, you can come up with a plot and the main character: “The hare came to an unfamiliar house, what did he see there?”, after which the host hides the card, and the child lists all the details of the picture.
According to the same principle, the game “Pictorial identikit” takes place. The host becomes a policeman, and the child – a witness to a crime. “Policeman” offers to identify the criminal and shows several images of people, describing the details of clothing, facial features, eye and hair color.
Role-playing games
At the age of four, the imitative activity of the child begins to develop – the baby is aware of his connection with adults and wants to be like them in everything. During this period, it is extremely important to offer the preschooler the right role model, story games help with this. Moreover, children can not only try on the role of an adult, but also transform into fairy-tale characters and thereby realize their desires and dreams, express inner fears and anxieties. Theatrical games will also help parents to better understand the child, reveal his creative abilities and give him the opportunity to express himself.
25. “Waiter”
While mom is preparing dinner, children often wander around the house doing nothing. To captivate the baby, do not drive him out of the kitchen, but offer to play in a restaurant. Assign the child as a waiter and instruct him to set the table: arrange cutlery, put napkins, help mom serve food, decorate the dining table, etc. The kid will feel his importance, and will also learn the basics of serving.
26. “Bus driver”
Props: a large car or tolocar, toys.
In this game, the child becomes a bus driver, and the toys – his passengers. You can come up with a fantasy route or choose some path familiar to the child, mentioning the names of real stops. During the game, you need to follow the rules of the road, you can also tell the young driver about the rules of etiquette in public transport.
Games for children 4 years old
Above, Kidpassage has already told you what to play at home with a 4-year-old child. And what to do with the baby on the street? Some parents bring a four-year-old to the playground and leave it to themselves, but not all kids are able to independently come up with an activity for themselves that would be not only fun, but also safe and educational.
- Children outdoor games: 17 replacements for shooters, fighting games and arcades
Here are some examples of children's outdoor games:
27. “Air Tennis”
Props: balloons, tennis rackets.
Similar to regular tennis, but with balloons. The game perfectly trains accuracy and coordination of movements. You can try several different options: stuff the ball with a racket, throw it to each other, try to throw it as high or far as possible, throw it into the ring.
28. Treasure Hunt
A simple quest for the little ones, requiring preliminary preparation from parents. Draw a map of the playground or your yard, marking with crosses on it the places where clues or treasures are hidden. Using the map and the parents' clues, the children must find the treasure (it can be sweets, toys, stationery, or other small nice gift). Every child in the shower – a real adventurer, so the game simply cannot fail to please the kids!
To captivate a four-year-old with an interesting game, you do not need to have a pedagogical education and experience working with children. The only thing you need is – it is enthusiasm, rich imagination and, most importantly, a great desire to spend time with the baby. Think of joint games with a 4-year-old child not as an annoying routine, but as a way to take a break from household chores, remember childhood, fool around and spend time with your family.
You will find even more interesting entertainment with preschoolers in the article Kidpassage « ;30 games with children 5 years old at home and on the street. You will definitely have something to do with your child!