Matching is an important concept for preschoolers to master. In the early stages, children practice matching like objects or colors and later move onto matching numbers and letters. You can create your own matching games using index cards and stickers. Place one sticker on a card and a matching sticker on a separate card. Repeat with several sets of stickers to create a deck of cards. Students can lay out the deck of cards face up and locate matching stickers or place them face down and use the cards to play a memory game. As students develop better matching skills, you can create new decks of cards using letters or numbers.
With simple board games, students place a game piece on the board and move that piece along a path. This can help preschoolers to develop many important skills. While moving their piece along the path, they are practicing counting and learning one-to-one correspondence. Additionally, playing with others allows them to practice waiting for their turn and sharing a game board. To create a simple path game, use an open file folder and draw a path made of small squares. Give each student a game piece. Ask each, one at a time, to roll a numbered die or spin a numbered spinner to see how many spaces to move. Play continues with each student taking a turn. The first child to reach the end of the path wins.
Preschoolers are still developing fine motor skills, so they need many opportunities to practice using the small muscles in their hands. You can create a simple matching game using a muffin pan and small tongs. Cut different colored circles from paper or felt and place them in the bottom of each cup of the muffin pan. Provide preschoolers with a variety of colored cotton pom-poms and a pair of tongs. Ask them to use the tongs to pick up the colored pom-poms and place the pom-poms in the matching colored muffin cup. To practice counting and number recognition, you can label the muffin cups with numbers and ask students to place the corresponding number of pom-poms in each cup.
Bean bags can be a useful tool when teaching preschoolers because they allow students to practice so many different motor skills. Children can practice throwing the bean bags through a large hoop held sideways or throwing them toward a bell that will ring when hit. Both of these activities give preschoolers practice aiming for a target. Children can also learn to catch with bean bags since they are small, soft and allow for some error. Bean bags can help preschoolers practice balance. For example, you can ask students to place a bean bag on their head or shoulder and walk across the room without dropping it.