Pre-K Learning Games

Free learning games for children around age 3, built for the attention span that comes with it. Each one runs in the browser, needs no account, and works on a tablet with fingers rather than a mouse.

At this age a game that takes ninety seconds and can be replayed immediately beats a game that takes ten minutes. All five are built that way.

Counting Games for 3-Year-Olds

Counting at three years old is not really about numbers yet. It’s about one-to-one correspondence, the understanding that each object gets exactly one number word and the last word you say is how many there are. Plenty of children can recite “one two three four five” long before that clicks.

• Count up to 3 – The smallest possible counting range, which is the right place to start. Three objects can be recognized at a glance without counting, so this game builds the link between the quantity and the number word.
• Count up to 5 – The next step once counting to three is reliable. Five is also the number of fingers on a hand, which gives children something to check against.

Vocabulary Games for Preschoolers

• Fingers of the Hand – Learn the names of the five fingers. It doubles as counting practice, since the hand is the first number line most children own.
• Family Vocabulary – Listen to a word, click the matching picture. Audio-led, so children who aren’t reading yet can play alone.
• Human Body Parts – Name the parts of the body. Useful for vocabulary and for the science words that come back in later grades.

What Your Child Practices Here

Counting and one-to-one correspondence up to five. Everyday vocabulary for the body, the hand, and the family. Listening comprehension, since three of the games read the word aloud. Mouse and touch control, which is a real skill at this age and not a trivial one.

We don’t have letters and sounds, colors and shapes, or matching games yet. Those are Pre-K topics and we’d rather tell you than let you go looking.

Playing With a 3-Year-Old

Sit with them for the first few rounds. Say the number or the word out loud before they click. Children this age learn the pattern from hearing an adult do it, not from reading instructions.

Short and often beats long and occasional. Five minutes a day for a week does more than half an hour on Saturday.

When these get easy, move on to Kindergarten games for 5-year-olds.