Toss out those boring worksheets. Research shows that creativity in learning produces positive critical outcomes for students. I’ve gathered ten simple and creative learning activities from around the internet to ignite your child’s love of learning. 

1. Does your child love sensory activities? This pom pom ice cream sensory bag from Happy Tot Shelf is a great 2 in 1 activity that will ensure your little one is having fun while learning. You can set up this activity easily with a gallon Ziploc bag, a bottle of hair gel, pom poms of different colors, painters tape, and this ice cream cone printable. A simple switch of activity cards turns this from a counting activity to a color matching activity, so you’ll get lots of hours of use from this sensory bag. As a bonus, you can make this travel-friendly by taping it to a piece of cardboard!
2. Have you ever thought to paint with foam blocks? Me either! That’s why I love the creativity of this activity. There are so many fun ideas included in this post by Taming Little Monsters, including painting cars, boats, and flowers all with foam block shapes! You’ll just need foam blocks of different shapes, paint, and large white paper. So simple and fun. 
3. Sorting coins with letter sounds is another creative activity by Buggy and Buddy. Teach your preschooler to identify quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies as well as reinforcing the sounds of Q, D, N, and P. Young children love sorting activities, so this is a brilliant way to sneak learning into the fun! Simply draw the letters onto blank paper and supply coins. It’s so easy yet so creative.
4. Building Lego landmarks looks like a lot of fun for your little Lego lover. In this post from Homegrown Learners, the author shares how she used landmark flashcards from Target, but if you don’t have those, you can easily pull up landmark photos on your phone or tablet or print them out. 
5. Help your preschooler learn moon phases with this Oreo cookie activity from Science Bob. You only need Oreos and this printable. Science is delicious!
6. There are countless learning activities possible with pool noodles, but I love this alphabet tower idea. You could also do uppercase and lowercase matching, counting, or spelling! Do create the alphabet tower, cut a pool noodle into 26 slices and draw one letter of the alphabet on each slice. Then have your child stack them in alphabetical order and see how high it can go!
7. Introduce your child to the planets of our solar system with this hands-on  foam craft activity from Stir the Wonder. You’ll just need craft foam, scissors, paint, and a hot glue gun to make the planets. After you’ve made the planets, your child can stick them to a window just using water, which is super fun. 
8. Practice sight words by writing in colored sand, flour, or shaving cream to add in a sensory experience. Create letters out of modeling clay. Use chalk for a different tactile experience. There are lots of ideas for creatively teaching sight words in this post by Blue Mango.
9. Teach your preschooler the value of numbers with this math activity by Busy Toddler. Simply draw a grid on a large sheet of paper and number 1 through 12. Provide buttons, stickers, or whatever your child can use to count. Ask her to place the correct number of buttons in each square. This is a very simple but engaging activity for little ones.
10. Learning to read is made fun with this “find the missing letter” activity seen at Toddler at Play. You’ll need cardstock cut into 2 x 4 inch strips and magnet or wooden letters. Think of several 3-letter words your preschooler is familiar with and fill in two of those letters on the cardstock strip. Using the wooden letters, have your child complete the words. 

Rebecca Eanes is the bestselling author of multiple books including Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide, The Positive Parenting Workbook, and The Gift of a Happy Mother. She is the grateful mom of two boys.