I thought I’d share a few ideas for keeping a 3- to 4-year-old entertained at home. As any of you with little ones know, it can be quite a challenge to find activities that hold their attention for long. Every child is different, with their own interests and natural inclinations—whether it’s art, music, sports, or something else. While occasional screen time is fine, I try to avoid letting my daughter spend her waking hours staring at screens (which are pretty much everywhere these days).
Here are a few activities that have been successful with my now 4-year-old:
1. Odd One Out
This is a great game for building both memory and reasoning skills. There are multiple cards with different themes, and your child has to figure out which item doesn’t belong. Since my daughter is bilingual, we practice identifying the odd item and naming it in both English and Hebrew. I bought our game at the local dollar store, but you can find similar ones in toy stores or download free printable versions online.
2. Memory Game
We have a similar game where you can swap out the cards so each session has a new theme. It’s excellent for concentration and vocabulary development. Again, we name the items in both English and Hebrew. See an example here.
3. Building Shapes with Straws and Pipe Cleaners
My daughter loves this DIY game. We use large straws and connect them using pipe cleaners to create classic shapes or long tracks. It’s also a fun way to practice shape and color names in both languages.
4. Decorating Butter Cookies
This one’s always a hit—though admittedly not the healthiest! We decorate plain butter cookies with edible colors, sprinkles, and glitter. I recently learned two fun facts:
- You can buy edible shimmer dust and glitter, which adds a fun and colorful touch. Available in baking stores or online—for example here and here.
- You can also buy pre-mixed sprinkle blends in various colors and shapes.
With all the decorating and baking, this activity can easily keep little hands busy for over an hour.
Bonus tip: I often ask ChatGPT for recipe recommendations with prompts like:
“Show me a popular and highly rated butter cookie recipe suitable for baking with children. Adapt it for 20 cookies and ensure the dough is freezer-friendly.” This also works for other recipes you may need, for example children’s birthday cakes –“show me a chocolate birthday cake recipe for children, highly rated, good for applying an edible icing sheet on top? please adjust for 2 pans sized 21*32 cm”. When I used this prompt it directed me to the “Little Sweet Baker” blog at https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/chocolate-cake-easy-sheet/ and adapted it to the size I requested.
5. Giant Coloring Pages
We love large-format coloring sheets. I tape them to the floor and give my daughter double-tipped markers (with both thick and thin ends). She’ll often spend close to an hour coloring.
6. Crayola Color Wonder Pens or Melissa & Doug Water Wow!
These are mess-free and great for travel or quiet time at home. I like how the Crayola Color pads include characters from TV shows and movies, and how the water pen sheets are reusable.
I’ve got to admit my daughter never really liked the Crayola Color Wonder stamps—they’re not very clear on paper and can be hard to apply evenly.
7. Slime, Playdough & Kinetic Sand
Not my favorite, honestly—especially slime. We’ve had a slime incident on our sofa that still hasn’t come out. But my daughter loves mixing colors and adding beads or glitter to it.
Pro tip: Keep slime activities away from carpets or valuable furniture!
Playdough and kinetic sand are easier to clean but can still be a bit messy.
8. Indoor Obstacle Course
Using cushions, stools, and fleece blankets, we build fun indoor courses. The cheap fleece blankets (under $10 each) make great “paths” or “bridges.” My daughter loves making long, winding trails and often gets friends involved too. Just be sure to supervise so no one slips or gets too adventurous.
9. Blanket Fort / Kid’s Cave
Another variation on the obstacle course—use chairs and sheets to create a cozy hideout. I always make sure there’s a large opening so I can see inside and ensure proper airflow. My daughter enjoys playing quietly inside or inviting stuffed animals in.
10. Magnetic Puzzles
I love these, especially for travel. They’re compact, easy to assemble, and often come in themed sets with varying difficulty levels. We’ve had ours for nearly a year, and they’re still a favorite!
Do you have additional ideas you’d like to share? let me know!