I Spy gets students to work on their visual skills and practice active listening. Start the game by saying "I Spy..." and giving a descriptive adjective, such as "something blue and square". Students must then find all the square, blue objects in the room and guess which one it is. Give students the chance to be the "spier" as well. Encourage them to come up with good descriptive adjectives for the object they're "spying".
Matching objects and finding patterns is an important developmental skill for pre-kindergartners. Have students practice object classification by providing them with a collection of toys and having them put the toys into groups, such as color, size, shape and pattern. For more advanced students, give them a series of similar toys, such as all stuffed animals, and have them organize the toys by more specific characteristics, such as number of legs or color pattern.
This is a fun game similar to "Group It" that gets students practicing their organizational skills and pattern recognition. Give students a collection of toys and have them line them up in a specific order, such as from smallest to largest or darkest to lightest. When students have made a successful line, bring in a new toy and say "We missed one! Where does this toy go in the line?" Students will have to figure out how to incorporate new information into a preexisting pattern.
Simon Says is a classic children's game that helps pre-kindergartners practice active listening and following directions in a sequence. Have one person be "Simon" (the teacher may want to start as "Simon") and say "Simon says" then give a direction, such as "stand on one leg". All the students must follow Simon's direction, but only if it is prefaced by "Simon says". Students will have to listen carefully in order to stay in the game.