Have a color scavenger hunt around your house. Pick a color, such as red, and search every room in your house for red items. In the kitchen, you might find apples or red peppers. In the bathroom, perhaps you have a red toothbrush. In the living room, there may be red flowers in a painting or photograph. Reward your child with stickers or other incentives if he finds a red item in each room. Play versions of this game in the car to pass the time, or to keep him out of trouble at the grocery store. Another idea is to cut out large and small circles of different-colored construction paper. Have your little one place the small circles on the correct large circle until all are matched.
Make letter bingo cards for your child. Put colored circles at the top instead of the word "Bingo." Instead of numbers in the columns, put letters she knows. Call out a color and a letter, and have her circle the letter in the correct column. When she gets five in a row, reward her with a sticker or small prize. Another idea is to place two alphabet magnetic letters in a bag. Show your child a flash card of a letter, and ask her to pull it out of the bag. When she can easily distinguish between the two letters in the bag, add a third letter. Continue adding letters as she becomes more familiar with the alphabet.
Cut out several shapes of construction paper. Help your child make familiar items using the shapes. For example, use a large rectangle and place three small circles underneath it to form a train car. Add a small, vertical rectangle on the top corner, and the train car is now a steam engine. A triangle on top of a square makes a house. Layer a rectangle and some squares on top of the house to make windows and a door. Use photos from magazines for inspiration on different items to build with shapes. Also, try a memory game. Draw shapes on the front of index cards, making sure you have two of each shape. Lay them face down on the floor, and help your little kid flip them over to find matching pairs. Start with no more than five shapes, then add more complicated shapes as your child learns them.
Sing number-related nursery rhymes with your child, such as Three Blind Mice, Five Little Monkeys or One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. Write numbers on index cards, and lay them face up on the floor. Every time you sing a number, have your child point to the correct card. Another idea is to draw several ladybugs, each with a different number of spots. Have your child count the spots. When he gets one correct, he can color the bug and the spots.