34 free guides
Preschool activities for 3, 4, and 5 year olds
Preschoolers are old enough to follow a real rule and young enough to think your floor is lava. These activities meet them right in the middle — enough structure to feel like a game, enough freedom to spiral into the day's biggest event.
Or scroll down for free activity guides ↓
The Floor Tape Road Network: A City in Your Living Room
Transform your living room into a sprawling metropolis with just a roll of blue painter’s tape. Infinite, customizable, and low-mess car play.
Read guide →
The Laundry Hamper Sled: Physics on Carpet
No snow? No problem. Turn a plastic laundry basket into an indoor sled, a physics classroom, and a sibling teamwork challenge — all on your living room carpet.
Read guide →
Identify the Smell: A Sensory Game for Brave Dads
Turn your spice rack into a sensory lab. This blindfold smell-guessing game builds neural pathways, vocabulary, and memory — and it's genuinely hilarious for both of you.
Read guide →
Indoor Camping: How to Roast S'mores in the Microwave
A guide to hosting the ultimate living room campout, complete with the essential culinary skill: the microwave s'mores recipe.
Read guide →
Ninja Warrior Training Course using Furniture
Transform your living room into a Ninja Warrior course. Four modular obstacles using your sofa, chairs, and pillows that tire them out and build real strength and coordination.
Read guide →
Paper Airplane Engineering: Which Design Flies Furthest?
Turn a simple paper craft into a STEM lesson on aerodynamics. Test, measure, and iterate with different designs.
Read guide →
Sorting the Tool Box: Montessori for Dads
Turn a messy junk drawer or a toolbox into a goldmine of cognitive sorting games and bonding moments.
Read guide →
Why 'Stop Hitting Yourself' Is Not a Valid Game (and What Is)
Learn why forcing your kid to hit themselves isn't a game and discover 3 healthy roughhousing alternatives that build connection.
Read guide →
Target Practice: Improving Hand-Eye Coordination with Socks
Use the humble sock to build elite hand-eye coordination with these safe, indoor throwing games.
Read guide →
Balloon Tennis and Other Fly Swatter Sports
Turn a 5-cent balloon and a fly swatter into high-energy indoor sports. Safe, cheap, and toddler-approved.
Read guide →
Post-It Note Hide and Seek: The Game That Lasts an Hour
Turn a single pad of sticky notes into an hour of quiet (or chaotic) entertainment. From toddlers to big kids, here's how to play.
Read guide →
The 'What’s In The Box?' Mystery Game for Sensory Skills
A sophisticated lesson in tactile sensory play, logical deduction, and vocabulary expansion disguised as a hilarious game show challenge.
Read guide →
Sock War: The Ultimate Safe Indoor Combat Game
The weather is terrible. The kids are vibrating with pent-up energy. You need a high-impact sport with zero-impact consequences. It is time for a Sock War.
Read guide →
Dad’s Guide to the Grocery Store: Turning Errands into Adventures
For many fathers, the weekly food run is a dreaded necessity. Here is your battle plan for engaging kids in errands and actually enjoying the trip.
Read guide →
Airplane Mode: Activities for Long Flights (No Wifi Needed)
Flying is the ultimate test of resourcefulness. Here is your guide to screen-free travel ideas and quiet airplane games that will save your sanity when the screens go dark.
Read guide →
5 Games to Play While Waiting for Food at a Restaurant
Now begins the most dangerous phase of dining out with children: The Wait. Here are 5 waiting games for kids using only what’s in front of you.
Read guide →
Fort of the Week: User Submissions & Blueprints
We know that dad built forts are superior to anything you can buy in a store. Here are three inspiring dad projects complete with blueprints.
Read guide →
The Dad Joke Defense: Using Humor to Diffuse Tantrums
Master the art of diffused tantrums with the ultimate dad weapon: Comedy. Learn how absurdity and humor can reset a toddler's brain.
Read guide →
Diaper Box Bowling and Other Recycling Bin Games
Turn your weekly waste into a carnival of upcycled toddler activities with these instant, low-prep recycling bin games.
Read guide →
How to Build a Batcave Under the Dining Table
Transform your dining table into Gotham City’s most secure secret hideout. A 10-minute DIY guide for dads.
Read guide →
Shadow Puppets & Flashlights: Bedtime Adventure Mode
Turn a stressful evening routine into a magical, calming night activity using just a flashlight. Learn how to use light and shadow play to get them wound down for sleep.
Read guide →
Spatial Awareness: Why Stacking Cans is Better Than an iPad
Discover why a simple pantry raid rivals the most expensive tablet for your child's brain development. A deep dive into spatial awareness and motor skills.
Read guide →
The 5-Minute Bond: Connecting Before Your Morning Commute
Emotionally available fatherhood isn't measured in hours clocked; it's measured in intentional moments. Here are five practical 5-minute dad bonding ideas.
Read guide →
Backyard Olympics: How to Tire Them Out Before Bed
A curated collection of energy burning activities for kids designed with one singular goal: tiring toddler activities before bed.
Read guide →
Painter's Tape: The $5 Tool That Saves Rainy Days
A rainy day hack that costs $5. Use painter's tape to build laser mazes, road networks, spider webs, and balance beams — no glitter, no cleanup, just instant fun.
Read guide →
Roughhousing 101: How Wrestling Helps Emotional Regulation
That impulse to toss them onto the couch (gently) isn’t just fun; it’s essential brain development. Welcome to the dad roughhousing science.
Read guide →
The Ultimate Guide to Sofa Cushion Obstacle Courses
Strip the sofa and build a full obstacle course: wobbly bridges, crawl tunnels, a cushion mountain, and a couch slide. Your living room becomes a toddler gym in 5 minutes.
Read guide →
Surviving the Witching Hour: 5 PM to 7 PM Survival Guide
Surviving the witching hour isn’t about thriving; it’s about making it to bedtime with everyone’s dignity intact. Here is your operational handbook.
Read guide →
10 Epic Games You Can Play With Just a Laundry Basket
Look around the room. You’re tired. It’s raining. The toys that cost you $50 are gathering dust in the corner. You need a laundry basket.
Read guide →
Cardboard Box Physics: 5 Ways to Teach Science With Trash
That pile of Amazon boxes by the door isn't recycling waiting to happen; it’s a zero cost STEM activity lab waiting to be deployed.
Read guide →
The Floor is Lava: Advanced Edition (and Why It Builds Agility)
For decades, this has been the gold standard of classic childhood games. Here are 4 advanced course ideas (and the science behind why it is good for them).
Read guide →
Horizontal Parenting: 5 Games You Can Play While Lying on the Floor
The spirit is willing, but the lower back is weak. Here are 5 games to play while lying down that turn your exhaustion into an interactive event.
Read guide →
The Structural Engineering of Pillow Forts: A Dad’s Guide
If you are tired of sagging roofs and mid-play collapses, welcome to the ultimate guide on how to build a pillow fort that actually stays up.
Read guide →
Kitchen Table Science: Low Mess, Medium Engagement
4 simple kitchen chemistry and physics projects designed for maximum 'wow factor' with minimum cleanup.
Read guide →Skip the scroll
Get a custom activity built from your room.
FunDad scans what you've got and generates a preschool activities activity in seconds. Your first one every day is free.
1 free activity per day · iOS only