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Preschool is just around the corner! These last few weeks of summer are a great time to help prepare your little one for the exciting world of preschool. From numbers, to spelling, to anxiety about separation, our list of toys and books cover it all.
Help your little ones get ready for this exciting new phase with these educational toys for preschoolers.
Wooden toolbox building set
This 43-piece wooden toolbox building set will keep little hands and brains busy. As they build and play, they will also be developing their hand-eye coordination, creativity, logical thinking and problem solving.
Battat Education tracing light box
If your kids like to build with blocks, color, trace or play in a sensory bin, the Battat Education tracing light box is sure to delight! With different levels of brightness and a variety of colors to choose, this light box takes playing to a whole new level. Kids will learn basic geometric concepts and improve their fine motor skills while engaging with this awesome toy.
Buckling, snapping, lacing and zipping
Buckling, snapping, lacing and zipping — get the kids preschool-ready with this basic skills learning board by Melissa & Doug. The wooden puzzle lets kids practice a morning routine by getting Mr. Bear all buttoned up and dressed, section by section.
Spelling and numbers
This game lets kids practice their spelling and math at the same time. There are two modes (easy and hard) to allow kids to find that “just right” challenge. Beginning spellers can keep the word and math equation on the card exposed and work on matching what they see (pictured above). For more of a challenge, flip the built-in cover so all that you can see are the images.
Monkey math game
This educational math toy by CoolToys teaches the basics of counting along with beginning math skills. The game comes with color-coded cards that present kids with three levels of math challenges. Plus, there are lots of cute little monkeys to make learning math skills truly enjoyable.
Preparing for change
Getting ready for preschool isn’t all about letters and numbers. For many kids it’s the first time they have been away from their parents for an extended period of time.
Going to a new school, with new teachers and kids can be a lot for a child to handle. To help them prepare for their big first day, read this sweet story of little Llama who misses his mama when he starts school. This book can be a great conversation starter with your own little llama about their feelings, positive or negative, about starting preschool.
Alpha pops
Learning Resources has a great selection of educational toys to get preschoolers ready for class, such as these alphabet popsicles. Each popsicle duo pairs a capital and lowercase letter with a connector for easy word-building exercises.
All about me family counters
This set of 72 All About Me Family Counters by Learning Resources is great for imaginative play, since the different shapes and colors help kids to build self-awareness by identifying different members of the family. Over at 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 blog, momma Carisa uses them in her homeschool classroom to reinforce early math skills such as patterning and counting.
Alphabet snake
With this alphabet snake wooden puzzle, you really couldn’t ask for more — alphabet puzzle pieces, bright colors and a cool smiling snake? Preschool prep perfection.
Super Sorting Pie
Your child will learn about numbers and patterns, and develop fine motor skills with this cute and educational Super Sorting Pie game from Learning Resources. It comes with jumbo tweezers, sorting cards, plastic pie crust and plastic fruits in a rainbow of colors.
Tot-sized instruments
This set of tot-sized instruments is perfect for your kid’s first band and includes a xylophone, tambourine, finger cymbals, bell shakers and more. Music is great for kids and boosts creativity as well as helping them develop motor skills and cognitive learning.
DIY control panel for kids
Round up all those doodads from the junk drawer to create a fun control panel for the kiddos like this one by Abernathy Crafts. Anything that can make a knob, switch or button will do (take caution for potentially sharp or rusty things). Let the kids decide what each object’s purpose is. On/off, up/down, louder/softer — imagination required!
Rainbow stacker
These simple rainbow nesting blocks introduce many different concepts and ideas such as symmetry, colorwork and creative play. This bright one from Coogam features seven rainbow pieces for tons of stacking, balancing and building fun.
“Augie to Zebra” alphabet book
No more “A is for Apple” nonsense. With the “Augie to Zebra: An Alphabet Book,” each letter of the alphabet gets its own alliterative sentence of a name, an activity and an animal. What a great writing activity for kids to mirror as well!
More preschool fun:
Editor’s note: This article was originally published a few years ago, and updated most recently in August 2024 by ParentMap’s associate editor, Kari Hanson. New toys were added and all entries were checked. This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase products through links on our site, ParentMap may earn an affiliate commission.
