🧸

Pre-Kindergarten Take-Home Practice

Talk, sort, count and cut — seventeen topics that need no reading at all.

Ages 3–4

What this year is really about

Pre-K is built out of talking and hands. Every academic skill later rests on vocabulary, hearing sounds, and fingers strong enough to hold a pencil.

Ten minutes is a full session at three and four, and it should feel like a game you stopped early rather than a lesson you finished. If they wander off, you got what you came for.

📚 17 topics⏱️ 10 min a day🖨️ No printing needed

🎒 All 17 take-homes 🗓️ The weekly rotation ✅ End-of-year checklist ⬇️ Download the PDF

A week that doesn't become a second school

10 minutes a day, one strand at a time. Skipping a day is fine — skipping the same strand every week is what causes gaps.

Monday
Sounds & talking
Play I-Spy with first sounds on the way home.
Tuesday
Numbers
Count something real — stairs, grapes, forks — touching each one.
Wednesday
Hands
Cut, thread, or squeeze something for five minutes.
Thursday
Noticing the world
One weather look out of the window, one sentence about it.
Friday
A story
Read a picture book and let them tell it back with the pictures.

Take it off the screen

The whole Pre-Kindergarten pack as a PDF — every topic, every check, every activity, with tick boxes and a date line so you can see what you have actually run. Free, no signup, and it works offline once it's saved.

Or just one subject

📖 Reading

Decoding, fluency, and understanding what was actually said.

4 topics this year

Hearing the first sound in a word
Rhyming
Recognising letters — starting with their own name
Listening to a story and telling it back

✏️ Writing

Getting a thought out of the head and onto the page so a stranger understands it.

2 topics this year

Holding a crayon and making marks on purpose
Cutting with scissors

🔢 Math

Number sense first, then the procedures that ride on top of it.

6 topics this year

Counting things, one touch per number
Seeing how many without counting
Sorting into groups
Making and continuing patterns
Naming and spotting shapes
More, less, bigger, smaller

🔬 Science

Noticing, predicting, testing — and being willing to be wrong out loud.

2 topics this year

The five senses and describing words
Weather and the seasons

🌍 Social Studies

Maps, communities, history, and why people who were there disagree.

1 topic this year

My family, my home, my helpers

🧭 Study & Life Skills

Attention, organisation, and the habits that decide whether the rest lands.

2 topics this year

Following a two-step instruction
Dressing, tidying, and doing it themselves

Every Pre-Kindergarten topic, and what to do about it

Run the two-minute check first. If it passes, move on — you have just saved an evening. If it doesn't, the take-home underneath it is the fix.

0 of 17 done

At this age every prompt is said out loud by you. Nothing here needs your child to read or write.

📖 Reading
Hearing the first sound in a word
Can do: Can tell you what sound a spoken word starts with — /m/ in milk — without seeing it written.
Why it matters
This is the single strongest predictor of how easily reading starts. Letters are useless until a child can hear that words are made of separate sounds.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
They repeat the whole word back instead of the sound, or give you the letter name ("em") rather than the sound ("mmm").
⏱️ Two-minute check
Say: "Mmmilk. What sound does milk start with?" Then try sock and ball.
Solid looks like: They make the sound — /m/, /s/, /b/ — not the letter name, and get at least two of the three.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Sound Hunt
⏱️ 5 minutesAnything in the room
1Pick one sound for the day, e.g. /s/. Say it, don't name the letter.
2Say: "I spy something that starts with sssss." Look at a sock while you say it.
3Let them find it. Celebrate loudly.
4Swap: they pick the thing, you guess. Getting it wrong on purpose is the best part.
5Stop after four or five rounds, while they still want more.
If it's too hard
Stretch the sound out and hold your object up: "Ssssssock. Sssss." Give the answer, then ask them to say the sound after you.
If it's too easy
Ask for the last sound instead of the first — "what does cat end with?" That is a five-year-old skill and a nice stretch.
Say this
"Listen to the very start of the word. Mmmmm-ilk. Can you make that sound with me?"
Reading practice
📖 Reading
Rhyming
Can do: Notices when two words end the same, and can offer a third — even a nonsense one.
Why it matters
Rhyme teaches that words come apart and go back together. Children who rhyme easily pick up word families (cat, hat, sat) with almost no effort in Kindergarten.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
They answer with a word that means something similar rather than sounds similar — "cat… dog!" — which is a meaning brain doing a sound job.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Cat, hat — do those sound the same at the end? What about cat and cup?"
Solid looks like: Yes to the first, no to the second. Producing a rhyme themselves is a bonus, not the bar.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Silly Rhyme Chain
⏱️ 5 minutesNothing
1Say a short word: cat.
2You go first with the rhyme: bat. Then it's their turn.
3Accept nonsense words with full enthusiasm — zat and vat count and are proof they hear the pattern.
4When the chain dies, start a new word. Three chains is plenty.
5Sing it if they stall. A tune carries a child past a stuck moment better than a hint.
If it's too hard
Give two rhyming words and one odd one, and let them point at the odd one. Choosing is easier than producing.
If it's too easy
Ask for a rhyme with two syllables — funny, bunny, money.
Say this
"Cat, hat, mat — they all end with the same sound. Can you make a silly one?"
Reading practice
📖 Reading
Recognising letters — starting with their own name
Can do: Spots the letters in their own name and names a handful of others by shape.
Why it matters
Their name is the first word that ever matters to a child. It is the doorway into the alphabet, and it works because they care about it.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
They can chant the alphabet song perfectly but can't pick out a single letter — the song is one long word to them, not 26 things.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Write their name big. Point at the first letter: "What's this one called?"
Solid looks like: They name the first letter of their name. Anything beyond that at this age is ahead of schedule.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Name Detective
⏱️ 5 minutesTheir name written large on paperA crayon or a highlighter
1Write their name in big letters and say each one as you write.
2Give them the crayon. "Find your special letter" — the first one.
3Go hunting: on cereal boxes, signs, doors, the TV. Circle or point at every match.
4Count the finds out loud at the end.
5Do the same letter for a whole week before adding a second.
If it's too hard
Hunt for the shape rather than the name — "find another one that looks like this" — and supply the name yourself each time.
If it's too easy
Add the letters of a sibling's or a pet's name, then ask whose letter each one is.
Say this
"That's your letter! That's the one your name starts with."
Free letter printables
📖 Reading
Listening to a story and telling it back
Can do: Can say what happened first, next and last using the pictures as a prompt.
Why it matters
Comprehension is built long before decoding. A child who can retell a story is already doing the thinking that reading will later require.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
They name things on the page ("a bear, a hat") without any sequence, or jump straight to the ending.
⏱️ Two-minute check
After a familiar book: "What happened at the beginning? What happened at the end?"
Solid looks like: Two events, in the right order. Missing the middle is completely normal at three.
10 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Tell It Back
⏱️ 10 minutesAny picture book they have heard before
1Read it as normal, no stopping.
2Close it. Ask: "Who was in it?"
3Open to the first picture. "What happened here?" Then the middle. Then the last.
4Whatever they say, say it back as a full sentence: "Yes — the bear lost his hat first."
5Let them "read" it to a toy afterwards. That is the whole point of the exercise.
If it's too hard
Do just two pictures — the first and the last — and be happy with a single word for each.
If it's too easy
Ask why: "Why was the bear cross?" Cause and effect is the next rung.
Say this
"What happened first? And then what? You're telling the story — I'm just listening."
Free bedtime stories
✏️ Writing
Holding a crayon and making marks on purpose
Can do: Grips a chunky crayon with fingers rather than a fist, and draws lines and circles they meant to draw.
Why it matters
Letter formation in Kindergarten fails when the hand is not ready. Strength and control come first; letters are just controlled marks with names.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Whole-fist grip, marks made from the shoulder rather than the fingers, or the crayon abandoned after ten seconds because their hand aches.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Draw a big circle and a straight line. "Can you make one like mine?"
Solid looks like: A closed-ish circle and a roughly straight line, with the crayon held in fingers.
10 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Big Arm Drawing
⏱️ 10 minutesChunky crayons or chalkBig paper, a pavement, or a steamy window
1Go big and vertical first — tape paper to a wall or use the fridge. Vertical builds the shoulder and wrist.
2Draw shapes in the air together: circles, up-down lines, a rainbow arc.
3Now the same shapes on paper, huge. Don't correct the shape.
4Break the crayon in half. A short crayon physically cannot be fist-gripped — it fixes the grip without a single instruction.
5Finish with something squeezy: play dough, a sponge in the bath, tongs picking up cereal.
If it's too hard
Trace with a finger in a tray of flour or shaving foam. No grip needed, all the movement.
If it's too easy
Draw a face: circle, two dots, a line. First drawing-with-intent is a huge milestone.
Say this
"Use your pinchy fingers, like a crab claw. Big arm, big circle!"
Writing practice
✏️ Writing
Cutting with scissors
Can do: Opens and closes safety scissors with one hand and snips across a strip of paper.
Why it matters
Cutting builds the exact hand muscles that hold a pencil, and it teaches two hands to do different jobs at once — the same skill as steadying a page while writing.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Two hands on the scissors, the paper crumpling instead of cutting, or the elbow flapping out sideways.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Hand them safety scissors and a stiff strip of paper. "Can you snip it?"
Solid looks like: One or two real snips, thumb up, elbow tucked in.
10 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Snip Soup
⏱️ 10 minutesSafety scissorsJunk mail or card stripsA bowl
1Cut strips of stiff paper about two fingers wide. Thin paper folds, card cuts.
2Say "thumbs up" and check their thumb points at the ceiling. This one cue fixes most problems.
3You hold the strip, they snip. Snips fall in the bowl — that's the soup.
4Once snipping is easy, draw a thick line and let them cut along it.
5Glue the bits onto paper. Cut, then stick — the sticking is what makes them want to cut again.
If it's too hard
You hold and steady the paper, and they only open and close. Loop scissors help a lot if regular ones defeat them.
If it's too easy
Cut along a curved line, then around a simple shape.
Say this
"Thumbs up to the sky. Open… close. You're doing it!"
Writing practice
🔢 Math
Counting things, one touch per number
Can do: Touches each object exactly once while saying one number, and knows the last number said is the answer.
Why it matters
Rote counting to twenty is a song. This is the skill underneath it — that numbers are attached to things — and everything in maths sits on it.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
The words run ahead of the finger, objects get counted twice, or they recount from one when you ask "so how many?"
⏱️ Two-minute check
Line up five spoons. "Count them." Then: "So how many are there?"
Solid looks like: Five touches, five words, and "five" when asked the total without starting again.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Count the Real Thing
⏱️ 5 minutesAnything countable: grapes, stairs, socks
1Choose something real and useful — the forks for dinner, the stairs to bed.
2Move each object as it's counted: push it, drop it in a cup, take a step. Moving prevents double-counting far better than pointing.
3Ask the total: "So how many altogether?"
4If they recount, say the total for them: "Five. The last number tells us how many."
5Stay under six for a fortnight before pushing to ten.
If it's too hard
Count three things, and count with them in one voice while guiding their hand.
If it's too easy
Give them a number and let them fetch that many: "Bring me four spoons." Making a set is harder than counting one.
Say this
"One touch, one number. The last number is how many we have."
Early number games
🔢 Math
Seeing how many without counting
Can do: Says "three" at a glance for up to three or four objects, no counting required.
Why it matters
This is the beginning of number sense. Children who can see quantities go on to add by knowing rather than by recounting on their fingers.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Every single quantity, even two, gets counted from one.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Drop three coins on the table, cover them after one second. "How many?"
Solid looks like: "Three" without counting. Two is a good start at three years old.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Peek and Say
⏱️ 5 minutesCoins, buttons or dried pastaA cup or your hand as a cover
1Put two objects down. Cover, uncover for one second, cover again.
2"How many did you see?" Then uncover and count together to check.
3Work up: two, three, then four. Stop at four.
4Change the arrangement — a line, a triangle, a clump. Same number, different shape is the real lesson.
5Let them be the one who hides and asks. They love the power.
If it's too hard
Leave them uncovered and just ask fast. Speed matters more than hiding.
If it's too easy
Use dice or domino patterns, which is exactly the arrangement they will meet in board games and in school.
Say this
"Quick eyes! Don't count — just tell me what you saw."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Sorting into groups
Can do: Puts objects into groups by one rule — colour, size, or type — and can say what the rule was.
Why it matters
Sorting is classification, and classification is what makes categories, graphs, and later scientific thinking possible. It is also how a child first explains their own reasoning.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Groups drift halfway through — starts by colour, ends by size — or they can sort but can't say why.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Tip out mixed socks or blocks. "Put the ones that go together into piles."
Solid looks like: Two or more consistent piles, and some answer to "why do these go together?"
10 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Laundry Sort
⏱️ 10 minutesClean laundry, cutlery, or a bag of blocks
1Sort real laundry: socks here, shirts there. Real jobs beat toys at this age.
2Ask what the rule is when they finish: "How did you decide?"
3Now re-sort the same pile by a different rule — colour instead of type. Same objects, new rule.
4Put one thing in the wrong pile on purpose. Let them catch you.
5Finish with cutlery going back in the drawer. That is sorting, and it's useful.
If it's too hard
Start with two very different things — spoons and socks — and only two piles.
If it's too easy
Sort by two rules at once: big red ones here, small red ones there.
Say this
"Why do those two go together? Tell me your rule."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Making and continuing patterns
Can do: Continues a red-blue-red-blue pattern and can say what comes next.
Why it matters
Patterns are the first algebra. Predicting what comes next from a rule is the same mental move as extending a sequence or spotting a times-table pattern later.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
They make a lovely arrangement with no repeating unit, or they continue for two items and then drift.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Lay out spoon, fork, spoon, fork. "What comes next?"
Solid looks like: Spoon — and ideally they carry on for two or three more.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Pattern Trains
⏱️ 5 minutesTwo kinds of small objects: pasta and buttons, blocks of two colours
1Build an AB pattern out loud: "Red, blue, red, blue…"
2Stop mid-pattern and wait. Silence does more work than a question here.
3Say the pattern in a rhythm — clap, stamp, clap, stamp. Bodies learn patterns faster than eyes.
4Let them build one and you continue it. Get it wrong sometimes.
5Try patterns with sounds and movements too, not just objects.
If it's too hard
Keep it to two objects and lay out three full repeats before asking.
If it's too easy
Move to ABC (red, blue, yellow) or AAB (clap, clap, stamp).
Say this
"Red, blue, red, blue… what has to come next? Say the pattern out loud with me."
Math practice
🔢 Math
Naming and spotting shapes
Can do: Names circle, square, triangle and rectangle, and finds them in real objects.
Why it matters
Shape language is geometry's vocabulary, and shape-spotting trains the visual discrimination that later separates b from d.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Only recognises a shape in its textbook orientation — a triangle standing on its point stops being a triangle.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Find me something round. Now something with three sides."
Solid looks like: Two correct finds, and the triangle still counts when you turn it upside down.
10 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Shape Safari
⏱️ 10 minutesA walk, or one room
1Pick one shape per walk. Today is circles.
2Hunt: wheels, plates, buttons, clock, drain covers.
3Trace each one in the air with a finger while naming it.
4Count the finds at the end — that folds counting in for free.
5At home, build the shape with sticks, straws, or your fingers.
If it's too hard
Match rather than name: hand them a circle and find its twin.
If it's too easy
Ask what makes it that shape — "three sides and three corners" — and turn shapes around to prove the name doesn't change.
Say this
"Three sides, three corners — that's a triangle. Even upside down, it's still a triangle."
Shape printables
🔢 Math
More, less, bigger, smaller
Can do: Compares two groups or objects and uses the right word for the difference.
Why it matters
Comparison words are how a child first talks about quantity. Without them, the greater-than symbol in Grade 1 has nothing to attach to.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
"More" means whatever they want; the bigger-looking pile wins even when it has fewer things.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Two piles: three grapes and six grapes. "Which has more?"
Solid looks like: The six. Then: "How do you know?" — any attempt to explain is a pass.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Snack Compare
⏱️ 5 minutesSnacks, blocks, or coins
1Make two obviously different piles. "Which one would you rather have? Why?"
2Line the piles up side by side, one to one. Now the extra ones are visible without counting.
3Use the words a lot: more, fewer, the same, bigger, smaller, longer.
4Make them equal together: "How do we make these fair?"
5Try a trick: spread three coins out wide next to six bunched up, and ask again.
If it's too hard
Make the difference huge — two versus ten.
If it's too easy
Use "one more" and "one less": "Give me one more than three."
Say this
"Let's line them up and see. This one has extras — so it has more."
Math practice
🔬 Science
The five senses and describing words
Can do: Names the sense they are using and offers a word for what they notice.
Why it matters
Observation is science's ground floor, and it doubles as vocabulary work — rough, sour, faint, sticky are all words a three-year-old can own.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Everything is "good" or "yucky" with no describing word behind it.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Hand them something textured. "What does it feel like? What are you using to find out?"
Solid looks like: One describing word beyond nice/yucky, and "my hands" or "touching".
10 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Mystery Bag
⏱️ 10 minutesA bag or pillowcaseFour household objects
1Hide four objects — a sponge, a spoon, a pinecone, an orange.
2They reach in without looking and describe before guessing: "It's bumpy and cold."
3Feed them the word when they're stuck: "That's rough. Say rough."
4Guess, then pull it out to check.
5Do a smell round with the fridge open, and a sound round with your eyes closed.
If it's too hard
Two objects that feel completely different — a rock and a feather.
If it's too easy
They describe an object for you to guess. Producing the description is much harder than recognising it.
Say this
"Don't tell me what it is yet — tell me what it feels like."
Science practice
🔬 Science
Weather and the seasons
Can do: Describes today's weather and picks clothing that matches it.
Why it matters
It is the first cause-and-effect chain a child can run all by themselves: cold outside, so I need a coat.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
They report yesterday's weather, or the weather they wish it was, without looking.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Look out of the window. What's the weather doing? What should we wear?"
Solid looks like: An accurate word — sunny, rainy, windy, cold — and a sensible clothing choice.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Weather Window
⏱️ 5 minutesA windowPaper and crayons if you want a chart
1Same time every day, look out and say the weather in one word.
2Draw a tiny symbol on a piece of paper stuck to the fridge — sun, cloud, raindrop.
3Let them choose one thing to wear because of it. Let a wrong choice play out if it's harmless.
4At the end of a week, count the sunny days versus the rainy days. That is a graph.
5Talk about what the trees are doing this season while you're at it.
If it's too hard
Two choices only: "Is it sunny or rainy?"
If it's too easy
Ask them to predict tomorrow, then check whether they were right.
Say this
"It's raining, so what do we need? You decide."
Science practice
🌍 Social Studies
My family, my home, my helpers
Can do: Names the people in their family, knows their own full name, and identifies helpers like a doctor or a firefighter.
Why it matters
Social studies begins with the child's own world. Knowing their full name and who their people are is also basic safety.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Only knows their first name, or can't say who helps in an emergency.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"What's your whole name? Who lives in our house? Who helps if there's a fire?"
Solid looks like: First and last name, the household members, and one community helper.
10 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
People Who Help Us
⏱️ 10 minutesPhotos on your phoneA walk if you can manage one
1Scroll family photos and name everyone, including relationships: "That's Grandma — she's my mum."
2Practise their full name as a chant or a song.
3On a walk, spot working people: post worker, bus driver, shopkeeper. Say what each one does for the neighbourhood.
4Play the helper game: "Your tooth hurts — who do we go to?"
5Draw one helper together, however scribbly.
If it's too hard
Photos only, and just names.
If it's too easy
Add your street name and town, and where a grandparent lives.
Say this
"Everybody in a neighbourhood does a job that helps everybody else. What's ours?"
Social studies practice
🧭 Study & Life Skills
Following a two-step instruction
Can do: Hears "put your shoes away and then wash your hands" and does both, in order.
Why it matters
This is working memory, and it is the exact skill a Kindergarten teacher relies on all day. It predicts classroom success more reliably than knowing letters does.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
They do the first thing and stop, or the last thing only, or need every instruction repeated one at a time.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Please get your cup and put it on the table." Say it once, then wait.
Solid looks like: Both steps, right order, one telling.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
Mission Game
⏱️ 5 minutesNothing
1"I have a mission for you. Ready?" Wait for eye contact before speaking.
2Give two steps: "Touch the door, then bring me a sock."
3No repeats. Let them work it out — the struggle is the exercise.
4Salute or high-five on completion.
5Grow to three steps only once two is easy and boring.
If it's too hard
One step, and let them repeat it back to you before they move.
If it's too easy
Three steps, or a step with a condition: "If it's raining, bring the umbrella."
Say this
"Say the mission back to me first. Now go."
Real-world challenges
🧭 Study & Life Skills
Dressing, tidying, and doing it themselves
Can do: Puts on a coat, manages shoes, and puts toys away when asked.
Why it matters
Independence is the quiet curriculum of Pre-K. A child who can manage their own coat and bag starts school with attention free for learning rather than logistics.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Arms out, waiting to be dressed; the tidy-up is done entirely by an adult while the child watches.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Coat on, please." Then stand back and time it.
Solid looks like: They attempt it and mostly get there. Backwards is a pass.
5 minutesDone this week
Do this at home
The Coat Flip
⏱️ 5 minutesTheir coatA timer if they like a race
1Lay the coat on the floor, hood at their feet, opened out.
2They stand at the hood, put both arms into the sleeves, and flip it over their head. It works every time and it feels like magic.
3Practise three times while nobody is in a hurry — never at the front door when you're late.
4Add a tidy-up song with a fixed length. The song ends, the tidying ends.
5Give one job that is genuinely theirs forever: their shoes on the rack, every time.
If it's too hard
You start the zip, they pull it up. Doing the last step of a task builds more confidence than watching the first.
If it's too easy
Add the bag, the water bottle, and a full leaving-the-house sequence they run themselves.
Say this
"I'll wait. You can do this one — I've seen you."
Real-world challenges

When to ask for help instead of practising harder

Home practice fixes most gaps. These are the ones where a conversation with the teacher — or an assessment — is worth more than another month of trying. Raising them early is not an overreaction; waiting a year rarely helps.

By four, still not putting three or four words together into a sentence.
Cannot follow a simple one-step instruction without it being repeated several times.
No interest at all in books, or won't sit for a two-minute picture book by four.
Doesn't respond to their own name, or seems not to hear you in a quiet room — ask for a hearing check first, before anything else.
No hand preference at all by four and a half, plus real difficulty with any pencil or scissors work.

By the end of Pre-Kindergarten

Tick these off through the year. Anything still open in the spring is exactly what the summer is for.

Counts a set of five objects with one touch per number and knows the total.
Hears the first sound in a spoken word and can offer a rhyme.
Recognises the first letter of their own name, wherever they see it.
Cuts across a strip of paper with safety scissors, thumb up.
Follows a two-step instruction on the first telling.
Sorts a mixed pile into groups and says what the rule was.
Says their full name and names the people in their family.

Want the written practice as well?

Everything on this page is free and needs nothing printed. If you also want worksheets to work through, the Pre-Kindergarten packs cover the same topics on paper.

Pre-K Activity Packs

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Kindergarten

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Frequently Asked Questions

What topics does a Pre-Kindergarten child cover?

17 across 6 strands: Reading (4), Writing (2), Math (6), Science (2), Social Studies (1), Study & Life Skills (2). Every topic on this page names the skill, why it matters, what struggling with it looks like, a two-minute check, and one activity you can run at home tonight.

How much home practice does a Pre-Kindergarten child actually need?

About 10 minutes a day at ages 3–4 — and it works better split into two short goes than done as one long session. Ten minutes is a full session at three and four, and it should feel like a game you stopped early rather than a lesson you finished. If they wander off, you got what you came for.

How do I know which Pre-Kindergarten topic to work on?

Run the two-minute check on each topic rather than guessing. It tells you what a solid answer looks like, so you can tell in a couple of minutes whether a topic needs work or is already done. Start with whichever check fails, not with the first topic on the page.

Can I download or print the Pre-Kindergarten take-homes?

Yes — there is a free PDF on this page. Download the full Pre-Kindergarten pack (all 17 topics with their checks, activities and tick boxes), the one-page two-minute check sheet, or a single subject on its own. No signup, and the activities themselves still only need things a normal home already has.

When should I be worried rather than just practising?

There is a "when to ask for help" section on this page listing the specific signs that mean a conversation with the teacher is worth more than more home practice. Those are the ones to act on early — waiting a year rarely helps.

Pre-Kindergarten Take-Home Practice

🗓️ A week that doesn't become a second school

Take it off the screen

Every Pre-Kindergarten topic, and what to do about it

Hearing the first sound in a word

Sound Hunt

Rhyming

Silly Rhyme Chain

Recognising letters — starting with their own name

Name Detective

Listening to a story and telling it back

Tell It Back

Holding a crayon and making marks on purpose

Big Arm Drawing

Cutting with scissors

Snip Soup

Counting things, one touch per number

Count the Real Thing

Seeing how many without counting

Peek and Say

Sorting into groups

Laundry Sort

Making and continuing patterns

Pattern Trains

Naming and spotting shapes

Shape Safari

More, less, bigger, smaller

Snack Compare

The five senses and describing words

Mystery Bag

Weather and the seasons

Weather Window

My family, my home, my helpers

People Who Help Us

Following a two-step instruction

Mission Game

Dressing, tidying, and doing it themselves

The Coat Flip

🚩 When to ask for help instead of practising harder

✅ By the end of Pre-Kindergarten

Want the written practice as well?

Frequently Asked Questions

What topics does a Pre-Kindergarten child cover?

How much home practice does a Pre-Kindergarten child actually need?

How do I know which Pre-Kindergarten topic to work on?

Can I download or print the Pre-Kindergarten take-homes?

When should I be worried rather than just practising?

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A week that doesn't become a second school

When to ask for help instead of practising harder

By the end of Pre-Kindergarten