Preschool Games

What makes a good preschool game

Three and four year olds are still learning to point, tap and wait for something to happen, and most cannot read yet. A good preschool game shows one clear thing at a time, explains itself with pictures and sounds instead of words, and never punishes a wrong tap. Every game on this page works that way, and none of them asks for a sign-up.

Keep sessions short. Five to ten minutes is plenty at this age, and stopping while your child is still enjoying it is the easiest way to make them want to come back tomorrow.

Three or four, and how to tell the level is right

The gap between a three year old and a four year old is wide. At three, stay with counting small groups, color and shape matching and the shortest memory games, and praise taking part rather than getting it right. At four, most children manage longer memory patterns, spotting games and the first letter sounds, and many start enjoying watching a score climb.

The signal that the level is right is simple. Your child is smiling, managing most of it, and asking for another go. Frustration means make it shorter or easier. Wandering off usually means it went on too long rather than that it was too hard.

The order to try them in

The sections follow the order most children learn in. Capital letters and their sounds come first, then counting small groups, then shapes and colors. Memory games, art and music fit alongside all of them. There is no need to finish one section before starting the next, and most children happily move back and forth.

If a game feels too hard, step back to an easier one and try again in a few weeks. If your child already knows most capital letters and counts to ten with confidence, the small letters, tracing and first sums in our kindergarten games are the next step.

How to tell your child is ready for the next step

Each section has a signal that tells you it has landed. Looking and listening: your child finds a matching pair from six cards without help. Letters: they pick out the letters in their own name. Sounds: they can tell you what their own name starts with. Counting: they count five objects and tell you how many without starting again.

Writing takes the longest. Copying a circle and a cross is the usual sign the hand is ready for letter shapes, and plenty of typical four year olds are not there yet. None of this runs in a straight line, and if a step feels like a fight it is usually the one before it that needs more time.

Play alongside your child

Sit with your child for the first few rounds of any new game. Say what you both see: "That is a B. B for ball." Count out loud together, and let your child do the tapping. Talking about the game is where much of the learning happens, and it turns screen time into time spent together.

When a tap is wrong, keep it light. "Oops, that one was blue. Can you find red?" A child who feels safe getting things wrong keeps trying, and trying is the whole point at this age.

Away from the screen

Every skill on this page can be practiced without a device too. Look for letters on cereal boxes, count the stairs as you climb them, sort socks by color and sing nursery rhymes in the car. The printables above give you ready-made letter cards, tracing sheets and color by number pictures for the table.

For help choosing by age, read our guide to games for 3 and 4 year olds.