Sports can also be a way to teach sportsmanship, gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination.Ĭare.com is the world's largest online destination for care. Whatever your 4-year-old’s favorite sport might be, sports equipment is a great way for her to be more involved in the activities that she loves. Obstacle courseįor more substantial physical activity, try creating an obstacle course with a variety of different activities like balancing, hopping and running throughout your yard or local park. Visiting the playground in your community is a great way for your 4-year-old to socialize with other kids as well as get a little exercise to burn off some of that extra energy he has. Ice is an exciting substance to discover, and because it melts, the fun lasts for a long time. Plan ahead and freeze a few small plastic toys in water, and then let your kids dig and chip the toys out. Although this cleaning activity could get messy, she will take great pride in the chore. Let your child wash things with a bin of water, some soap and a rag or scrub brush, or even let her wash a few dishes. You can also let them add dish soap or mud so they can experiment with materials and their results when added to water. Use a few bottles of colored water to allow your children to mix and create new colors. Providing an opportunity for your children to express themselves, their ideas and their emotions helps them develop valuable communication skills that they will use for sharing with others their entire lives. Paint, crayons, markers, pipe cleaners, tissue paper - the supplies and possibilities are endless. This type of play helps him to learn about other people in the community and is a great way to introduce new vocabulary words. Dramatic playĪ few costumes or props are all that your 4-year-old needs to act out different roles such as pretending to be mommy or daddy, a chef, farmer, ice princess or whatever his growing imagination thinks of. Manipulating clay or modeling compound is an open-ended way for kids to create and express their imagination with the benefit of developing their fine motor skills. Letting your child play with stickers is a great way for her to manipulate materials, develop fine motor skills and control the progress of the activity. Without a lot of different materials to confuse or overwhelm him, this simple activity is perfect to entertain. Your child can practice new writing skills or draw a picture from his imagination. Looking at pictures, imagining their own stories and reading aloud are all invaluable. Letting your 4-year-old explore books is an important activity as she develops the skills necessary to read. Sand can also be one of the best activities for 4-year-olds who love building and construction. SandboxĪdding a few plastic dinosaurs to your child’s sandbox for a dinosaur dig or even coins for a treasure hunt can make sand really exciting and ignite a hunger for exploration and discovery. Be sure to supervise that what they’re touching is not something harmful like poison ivy. Collecting leaves, interesting rocks or acorns can be a great way for kids to learn about their environment. Nature walkĪ great way to make fresh air educational is a nature walk. Sidewalk chalk can also be used for hopscotch, tic-tac-toe, tracing out a roadway for toy cars or even making life-size game boards, which is the perfect combination of creativity and physical play. Using the sidewalk as a canvas inspires them to think big. Here are several activity ideas for 4-year-olds that can both entertain and engage them. They’re also curious to discover new things and constantly learning. If you’re the parent or nanny of a 4-year old, it’s no surprise children this age have a short attention span and always seem to be in search of something to do.