Preschool Workbooks Your Littles Will Actually Be Excited About
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Preschool workbooks are a good first step in introducing homework to your little kids so they can start dreading it at an early age. We kid, we kid! The best preschool workbooks are full of fun, hands-on, educational activities that can be used for developmentally appropriate learning. Plus, a whole lot of coloring.
Nadine Levitt, preschool education expert and author of “My Mama Says Inside Me Lives A Village” tells Scary Mommy that “preschool workbooks are a great way to introduce preschoolers to fundamental educational concepts that they will learn more of once they go to school. They can also offer fun activities that families can do together, or something kids can do on their own as parents are working on other things (like dinner!)”
If you have elementary school-aged kids or older, you know that getting them to sit down with a workbook or homework can feel like pulling teeth. Preschoolers, on the other hand, are generally excited about learning, because everything is new. Using a pencil, coloring, and following directions — they’re all brand new, fun concepts. Preschool workbooks can introduce shapes, letters, numbers, counting, and phonics, and they can even help kids work on their motor skills, Levitt says.
Of course, not all preschoolers are interested in tackling workbook pages, so even if your 3, 4, or 5-year-old would rather be playing or, let’s be real, watching TV or asking for 6 million snacks, it doesn’t hurt to bring out the workbook pages every now and then to gauge their interest.
Whether you want to give your kids a head start on kindergarten or you plan to permanently homeschool, we rounded up some really excellent preschool workbooks for kids ages 2 to 5, as well as PreK workbooks that both you and your kids will love.
The Best Preschool Workbooks For Your Kids
A Really Big Preschool Workbook
Jam-packed with exercises that make learning fun, this workbook won’t even feel educational — at least, not to your child. All 300 pages of this workbook set your child up for success in school by teaching colors, shapes, the alphabet, phonics, numbers, early math, and more.
Recommended Ages: 3 - 5
The Best Workbooks For Tracing
Patterns, Tracing, Oh My!
This workbook is all about helping preschoolers develop pencil control and practice their motor skills. By following arrows and tracing dotted lines, kids work on early writing skills and recognizing patterns. If you practice the alphabet and numbers a lot with your child, this workbook is a great way to mix things up.
Recommended Ages: 3 - 5
All About Letter Tracing
Tracing is an effective way to help kids learn to write. This workbook features over 100 pages of letter and number tracing. Easy guidelines and directional arrows help your toddler figure out the right direction to trace, but since arrows might be a new concept, your child might need your guidance at first.
Recommended Ages: 2 - 4
The Best Themed Workbooks
Planes, Trains, and Alphabet-mobiles
A great way to engage your kids in a workbook is to find one that incorporates things they are interested in. If your child is vehicle-obsessed, they’ll love this workbook that uses trucks, excavators, airplanes, cars, trains, boats, and more to help get them excited about letters, numbers, colors, and shapes.
Recommended Ages: 3 - 5
The Best Preschool Workbook That Requires Scissors
Time to Cut and Paste
This workbook offers scissor practice in a safe and fun way (you know, as opposed to the cutting-their-own-hair type of scissor practice). Inside these 30 activity pages (and two sticker pages!) are cutting, matching, and sticking activities that introduce and reinforce cutting and gluing skills. Kids will also learn important basics such as story order, counting, and beginning sounds.
Recommended Ages: 3 - 5
The Best Workbooks From Companies You Love
Four Workbooks Are Better Than One
Start your little one’s workbook library off right with this 4-pack from Highlights. Workbook themes include Colors, Shapes, and Patterns; Tracing and Pen Control; Numbers; and Letters. If your child loses focus or interest in one book, you can pull out another to switch things up and keep their attention. Side note: Highlights is just as fun and educational as you probably remember from your own childhood.
Recommended Ages: 3 - 5
PreK Prep
You can’t go wrong with Scholastic content. This jumbo Pre-K workbook has 240 pages of age-appropriate exercises for your preschooler. It also features 24 pages of stickers and a completion certificate. The activities encourage practice in tracing, the alphabet, letter sounds, rhymes, handwriting, counting, sorting, mazes, and science.
Recommended Ages: 3 - 5
Workbooks With Puzzles And Games
Puzzles, Art Projects, and Counting
This fun workbook offers 70 pages of picture puzzles, art projects, and counting games. There are over 80 stickers for your child to practice peeling off and placing on the pages (and all over your face, probably), as well as a wipe-clean activity board. The engaging activities will help kids develop fine motor coordination skills, problem-solving skills, and social skills.
Recommended Ages: 2 - 4
Workbooks That’ll Help Your Kids Refine Their Skills
Handwriting Practice
Whether your child knows how to write some or all of the letters and numbers or is just beginning to learn, this practice workbook is a fantastic guide. Over 150 pages will teach kids to write sight words, gain practice in writing the alphabet and numbers, write simple sentences, and more. They’ll even learn how to write their names. The workbook is designed to help your kids gain confidence in their writing skills and boost writing legibility.
Recommended Ages: 3 - 5
Math Is Where It’s At
This adorable workbook teaches the basics of math to toddlers. Featuring unicorns, dinosaurs, mermaids, and other fun characters, the workbook will give your kids a head start on pre-K prep. They’ll trace numbers, learn basic number recognition, count animals, and solve their first math problems.
Recommended Ages: 2 - 4
