Young children have an interest in learning how things work. They love to take things apart and attempt to put them back together. They like to mix things together and watch results. They notice the feel, the color and weight of objects. This is the age of exploration, and tabletop activities are ideal for capturing their imaginations.
Try setting out bowls of water and spoons and small cups. Challenge the children to spoon the water into the cups. Talk about the properties of water and other liquids. Add ice cubes or other objects to the water and observe whether or not they float.
Tabletop activities are perfect for developing fine motor skills. Being able to hold a pencil and write for several hours a day is vital as the child progresses in school. Working on fine motor skills develops those muscles.
Try cutting and gluing activities. Have children cut a shape into two or three pieces, then glue it together on a separate piece of paper. Many children enter kindergarten unable to properly hold scissors, as this task takes considerable finger strength and coordination.
Children can learn spatial relationships and basic math skills while doing tabletop activities in the classroom. Have them count objects. Take some away and have them count them again. Ask children how many there will be if you add one more.
Building blocks are excellent teaching tools. Build blocks in a pyramid shape, then ask the child to build one like it. Try it again by building blocks into a stair pattern.
Tracing letters or finding patterns are pre-reading skills for young children. Tabletop activities also demand that the child listen to and follow directions. These are important skills to nourish in a child entering grade school.
Tabletop activities allow children the space to demonstrate what they can do. Children are excited to share their results.
One cooperative game to try could be called pass the paper. Give each child a piece of paper. Have her write her name on it and turn it over. Give the children one to two minutes to start drawing something on the opposite side. When the time limit is up, they pass the paper to their left. They now have one to two minutes to draw something on the paper passed to them. Continue until the children have their original pieces of paper. Encourage them to comment on the cooperative drawings on their pieces of paper.
Working on tabletop activities is usually done in a group setting in the classroom. Children are divided into groups and circulate through work stations. This gives the children time in smaller groups while still in a classroom setting. Tabletop activities also involve one-on-one interaction with the instructor.