My Must-Have Supply List for Preschool at Home

Get my ultimate supply list for preschool at home. My top supplies I’ve used for years plus sample activities and how to store everything!

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It’s true that you don’t need a lot of things for your child to do learning activities at home.

You might be wondering “what supplies do preschoolers need?” and you might be surprised to know that you probably already have several things you can utilize to your advantage such as:

• Blocks or other building toys
• Magnetic tiles
• Crayons, colored pencils & paint
• Scissors, glue & construction paper
• Playdough or other sensory materials

Basic is best and I’ll show you some of these everyday preschool supplies in action throughout this post. 

You can also find most of the basics at Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby or Michael’s!

supplies featured above linked on Amazon

What materials are needed for homeschool preschool?

If you want to add more enrichment activities to your homeschool preschool curriculum, I’ll share with you some of my go-to manipulatives that will help with learning skills such as counting, colors, shapes, and early literacy. 

Some of my favorite materials for activities are:

• Counting bears
• ABC wooden blocks
• Geometric shapes
• Dry erase sleeves
• Daily calendar
• Sensory play table

supplies pictured above: pom poms, dot label stickers, watercolor paint, plastic animal figures, construction paper, and scissors

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 preschool at home. 

• It is really less about the “school” part and more about learning through hands-on play. 
• 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. 

1. The units are broken up into weekly themes (everything from Apples to Outer Space to Bugs to Thanksgiving
2. Each theme comes with lesson plans for the week
3. The plans include activities for each day
4. The activities range from learning to sensory play, crafts and simple cooking ideas (like assembling food)
5. 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. 

Your digital PDF download includes 3 PDFs:

• 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)

Best Early Reading Program

While most kids will learn to read in Kindergarten or 1st grade, there are many developmentally appropriate play-based activities you can do at home to help foster early literacy skills. 

Lovevery makes a “Reading Skills Play Kit” that is absolutely worth it (not sponsored).

For your 4 year old, it feels like playing games, but on your end, you know they’re learning the foundations of reading. 

You can see what comes in the reading kit below (they offer it on Amazon now!)

Best Supplies for Preschool at Home

A homeschool preschool supply list that’s perfect for 3 year olds and 4 year olds (Pre-K)! I’ve linked everything on Amazon for convenience, however, you can also find many of the basics at stores like Dollar Tree, Michael’s, Walmart, and Hobby Lobby.

The homeschool supplies list shared below is perfect for using in conjunction with The Preschool Playbook, another curriculum or just on their own for learning and playing at home. 

Books

Daily read-alouds are so important for young kids! I also love to include books in morning baskets for my preschooler to flip through and “read” the pictures. 

• Include age-appropriate books (board books for toddlers, picture books for preschoolers, or beginning chapter books for older kids). 
• Try to include a variety of books such as lift-the-flap, touch-and-feel, social stories (like Lovevery books), and books with favorite characters (like Pete the Cat or Sesame Street!)
• If you are doing a themed unit study such as Farm, Outer Space, or Shapes, browse your bookshelf (or place holds at your local library) and grab a few books for your theme week!
• If you are homeschooling, a morning read aloud is a great way to kick off a learning session, especially by reading any themed books to go along with your weekly unit.

Browse our favorite books for preschoolers in my Amazon Shop. 

Learning Supplies

You’d be surprised how many opportunities there are for learning with supplies like pom poms, colored masking tape and dot stickers.

From teaching 1:1 correspondence, color matching & sorting, to fine motor skills, the possibilities are truly endless.

My go-to learning activity supplies:

• Dot stickers (label stickers)
• Do-a-dot markers
• Counting bears
• Dry erase sleeves (great for protecting printables or making playdough mats)
• ABC letters
• Pom poms
• Colored tape
• Animal stamps
• Construction paper & crayons
• Plastic scissors 

I’ve linked all of these learning supplies for you, here: Homeschool Preschool Activity Supplies (the table and tray insert are linked there as well)

Hands-On Activity Supplies

These are especially great if your toddler likes to tinker and build (these “supplies” are likely toys you already have).

Some of my favorite hands-on supplies come from the Lovevery play kits, but I know their subscription is pricey! You can often find Lovevery items in Facebook resale groups, if this is something you’re interested in! 

supplies featured above: counting bears, mini dry erase markers, reusable activity book, abc letters, plastic animal figures, construction paper, scissors, sensory play table

Top activity supplies for hands-on play:

• Puzzles (regular puzzles and stacking block/shape puzzles)
• Play-dough
• Kinetic sand 
• Uncooked beans and rice (for sensory bins)
• Plastic scissors (for cutting activities)
• Tongs
• Sensory play table

I’ve saved all of these sensory supplies to this list. 

supplies featured above: sensory play table, clean pouch caps, scoops & measuring cups, dry erase pocket sleeve, translucent abc letters

Coloring

Arts and crafts is a big part of learning at home. 

Fine motor skills such as holding a crayon, using a glue stick, and cutting with scissors are so important for preschool-aged children. 

Our favorite coloring supplies:

• Crayons and/or Markers and favorite coloring book
• Crayola Color Wonder
• Dry erase board and markers
• Dry erase activity book 
• Highlighter trace activity 

While it’s not an essential “supply” for preschool at home, if you don’t have a Tonies box (pictured on right), I highly recommend it! My kids love to listen to the stories and songs while they “work”!

We also love the dry erase reusable activity books from my friend Melissa at Oh Hey, Let’s Play! 

• She makes seasonal activity books (like Spring or Winter), and everyday learning activity books with Letters, Numbers/Shapes, etc. 
• The books are all dry erase and reusable, so they last! 
• I love adding these to a morning basket or using them in conjunction with our Preschool Playbook theme for the week. 

supplies featured above: sensory play table, oh hey let’s play activity books, mini dry erase markers, books, counting bears

To Recap:

• Find a preschool curriculum that you like!
• Gather basic supplies such as: crayons, construction paper, plastic scissors, daily calendar, blocks, and play dough
• Invest in manipulatives for teaching early literacy and counting skills, such as: counting bears, geometric shapes, ABC blocks, magnetic tiles, and ABC letters. 
• Organize all of your supplies so that they are easily accessible and easy to clean up (everything has a bin or a drawer). 

What to Read Next:

• Easy Daily Routine for a 2 Year Old
• How to Make a Toddler Morning Basket 
• Themed Morning Baskets for Preschoolers
• 3 Year Old Preschool Activities at Home
• Homeschool Routine for a 4 Year Old (Pre-K at Home)
• How to Organize & Store Preschool Activity Supplies

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