3 Year Old Preschool Activities at Home

Inside: Looking to do 3 year old preschool activities at home? Today I’m sharing my favorite activity ideas to include in your 3 year old’s daily routine. 

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Life with a 3 year old can be challenging, right? 

You’ve just come out of the twos and your toddler is likely talking and asserting themselves more.

Their fine motor and gross motor skills have further improved and you’ve most likely noticed that your daily routine needs a little something more. 

You might be surprised to know that life with a 3 year old toddler doesn’t have to be all about finding ways to stay sane or just keep them busy. 

This is actually an incredible time for you and your preschooler to thrive, whether they attend a preschool program or not. 

But first, if we haven’t “met” on IG, Hi! I’m Marla. I’m a SAHM to 3 little girls + a Cavalier King Charles.

I teach a self-paced course called the Ultimate Stay at Home Mom Course that will help you get your stay at home mom life on track! 

Inside the course you’ll learn exactly how to establish systems and routines so that your home operates with ease. 

Can’t wait to see you inside the course! 

Does my 3 year old need to go to preschool?

This decision is likely to depend on multiple factors such as family finances, program availability, other siblings, etc. 

If your child is able to attend a morning preschool program near you, think of it more as a “break” for yourself and a little bit of socialization for them. 

At 3 years old, the road to learning is truly through play and everyday opportunities in their daily routine.

As moms, we worry that if we don’t enroll them in a 3 year old preschool program then they won’t be ready for Pre-K4, and then they won’t be ready for Kindergarten at 5, etc. 

Hey mama, don’t worry! 

Whether your toddler attends preschool or not, there are plenty of learning opportunities for them at home with you. 

At 3, preschool is great for meeting friends, learning to take turns, and providing mom with a little time off.

It’s not a prerequisite for academic success later in life. 

What should I be teaching my 3 year old at home?

That being said, there are so many easy things you can do with your 3 year old at home to not only improve your daily routine, but also help build various skills as they grow. 

Skills such as:

• Creative: Coloring, crafts, imaginative play 
• Fine motor: Using tongs, plastic scissors, puzzles 
• Gross motor: jumping, throwing, catching, balance
• Social/Emotional: Turn-taking, washing hands, cleaning up 
• Learning: Color sorting, letter matching, name practice, 1:1 counting

As far as what a 3 year old should know “academically” – this is really up to the individual child. 

Some 3 year olds might know the ABCs, others might be able to climb a structure at the playground with ease. 

All children learn and develop at different rates.

At their 3 year old checkup, your pediatrician will go over the appropriate milestones for that age, and this is the perfect time to bring up any concerns you might have. 

For toddlers, meeting developmental milestones is a better measure than worrying whether your child can recognize letters or numbers at this age. 

Read: My Simple Homeschool Room Setup

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Preschool Homeschool Curriculum 

As far as whether or not you need to use an actual curriculum that really depends on your preferences! 

• You may enjoy scrolling Pinterest and finding fun activities to try
• Or you might be looking for an activity plan that is already done for you

Either way, there’s no right or wrong way to do 3 year old preschool at home. 

You know your child best, so if you’re certain they would not sit down to work on an activity at the kitchen table, consider other engaging ideas where they can be moving their body. 

For me, the best thing about using a curriculum that’s planned out, is that it’s one less thing on my plate. I use and absolutely love The Preschool Playbook. 

• The units are broken up into weekly themes (everything from Apples to Outer Space to Bugs to Thanksgiving)
• Each theme comes with lesson plans for the week
• The plans include activities for each day
• The activities range from learning to sensory play, crafts and simple cooking ideas (like assembling food)

I can quickly choose a theme, preview the activities for the week, and not have to waste any time searching for resources, printing things out, or putting anything together. 

The Preschool Playbook is all done for you. All you have to do is pick the time of day you want to do the activities. 

When you order the hard copy it includes 3 spiral-bound books:

• The lesson plan book: this is for you! It includes the weekly plans, supply lists and book lists
• The writing journal: this has tracing pages and fine motor activities, plus writing prompts to do together
• The template book: this includes all the templates you need for the activities (so you don’t have to draw anything out yourself)

You can also order a digital copy and print the 3 books yourself or at a printing store.

To recap:

• Preschool is not a requirement for future academic success 
• There are many ways for 3 year olds to learn and play at home
• You don’t need a curriculum to do homeschool preschool, however it can be beneficial for you as a parent 

Related: How to do Preschool at Home

How do I get started with preschool activities?

If you haven’t seen this reel I shared on Instagram, I think this is a great place to start. It’s more or less my philosophy when it comes to “getting it together.”

Often, when we’re struggling with something, we fall into the trap of thinking that *more ideas* will solve the problem.

But if you’ve ever gone down the rabbit hole of constantly looking for ideas (on IG or Pinterest) then I’m sure you’re familiar with that overwhelming feeling of *too many* ideas but no idea where to start, or how to implement them.

There’s a popular quote that goes something like: “If more ideas were needed we’d all be billionaires with six pack abs” – you get the gist 😅

Using that example, it’s not ideas that are needed – often it’s a PLAN or system that’s missing!

Is it helpful to gather a few new ideas for your 3 year old’s daily routine? Of course. That’s what led you here!

But if you don’t have a plan for how you’ll implement those ideas, then you’re right back where you started.

So if you’ve been looking to get started with 3 year old homeschool activities, today we’re not only going to talk about ideas, but also a PLAN for how to get started and implement those ideas at home. 

Read: Genius Back-to-School Organization Tips for Moms

3 Year Old Preschool Activities at Home

Let’s start with your basic daily routine and work backwards to fill in the blanks. 

If you don’t have a routine in place, this is one of our most popular posts and shares a sample 3 year old daily routine to follow. 

Here’s what I mean by start with your basic routine and then fill in the blanks:

7:00 – Wake up, breakfast, and play

8:00 – Get dressed 

12:00 – Lunch

1:00 – Nap or quiet time (how to make a 3 year old quiet time bin)

5:30 – Dinner

6:30 – Bath, PJs, brush teeth

7:00 – Bedtime stories & goodnight 

• The routine outline above shares the “non-negotiable” aspects of your preschooler’s day
• Certain things like mealtimes and sleep are a given (well sleep can be a little tricky but you know what I mean). Read: 3 Year Old Bedtime Battles & How to Stop Them
• The rest of the day is ready to be filled in with your preschool plan
• Of course you’ll need to factor in things like siblings & their schedules (if applicable), appointments, events, etc.

Sample 3 Year Old Homeschool Preschool Schedule

Following the outline above, let’s fill in the blanks with our homeschool activities! I prefer to do learning activities in the morning as I find this is when my kids are in the right mindset for it. 

As the day goes on we all have less interest in sitting at the table to do something, and after naptime I like to get the kids outside.

7:00 – Wake up, breakfast, and play

8:00 – Get dressed 

8:15-9 – Learning Activities (color sorting, letter matching, tracing, cutting, or read aloud, etc.)

10-12 – Daily Outing (playground, library, playdate, children’s museum, or errands, etc.)

12:00 – Lunch

1:00 – Nap or quiet time

3:00 – Play Outside (ride trike, scooter, play ball, playground, water play, or sensory activity, etc.)

4:30 – Downtime (TV, audio book, Tonies box, or tablet time – or do this during quiet time)

5:30 – Dinner

6:30 – Bath, PJs, brush teeth

7:00 – Bedtime stories & goodnight 

• A structured day like this can be incredibly beneficial for a child who constantly engages in power struggles, tests limits, excessively whines, or throws big tantrums.
• Having a structured daily routine does not make you a strict parent, it makes you a confident parent who knows what the day consists of and where it’s headed. 
• It leaves less opportunities for power struggles, “what should we do today”, and eliminates the need for endless searching of ideas for “how to keep a 3 year old entertained.”

Learning Activities for 3 Year Olds

First: Choose a designated place for your learning activities. This is ideally some place your preschooler has room to “work” and won’t be distracted by other things. 

Our kitchen table is the hub of our home and where most of our activities take place. If you have a toddler table or a little art table, those are also great places for your 3 year old to do their learning activities. 

Read: My Simple Homeschool Setup

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Mom-to-Mom Tip: the night before, I’ll take 5 minutes and set up the table for the next morning. Preparing in advance makes the morning run so much smoother with a toddler. On the table I set out our daily magnetic calendar, an activity from the Playbook, and a bin full of books for us to read. 

Sometimes I set this up in the form of a morning basket, and sometimes I have everything spread out on the table. 

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Let’s look at some sample learning & hands-on activities from The Preschool Playbook that you could include in your 8-9 AM time block. 

Scroll through the picture carousel below.

Now let’s look at some sample sensory activities from The Preschool Playbook that you could include in your 3-4 PM time block. 

One of my favorite things about the Preschool Playbook is that you don’t have to follow it in order. You can do the themes in any order you want.

Let’s say you start doing 3 year old preschool activities at home in September – start with the apples theme!

Consider what your toddler is interested in and go from there: dinosaurs, cooking, sports, or animals?

There are so many fun themed weekly plans to work with.

Doing preschool at home should be fun and play-based, not some rigid schedule that needs to be followed every day.

It’s okay if some days you sit and do activities together and other days you’re busy (or not) with other things.

Some days you’ll find your 3 year old is really into it and other days they may only sit for a minute.

Remember that the routine of doing preschool at home with your toddler is meant to serve you, not control you.

For the days you need the structure and the plan, it’s there. And the days you don’t, you can always come back to it when needed.

• Learn how I did the Preschool Playbook with my 4 year old (Pre-Kindergarten) in this post.
• Find all of our favorite supplies for Preschool at Home in our Amazon Storefront.

What to Read Next:

• How to Create a Toddler Daily Routine
• Make-Ahead Breakfasts for Busy School Mornings
• My Stay at Home Mom Daily Schedule
• How to Organize & Store Preschool Activity Supplies
• Spring Activities for Toddlers (Indoor & Outdoor)

Follow Marla on Instagram for more practical solutions for everyday momlife