What You Need

An empty tissue box, preferably a square one

Wrapping paper or colored construction paper

scissors

glue

Various craft supplies to decorate

What To Do

Cover the empty tissue box with wrapping paper or colored construction paper. Use a variety of craft supplies such as, buttons, markers, glitter, foam shapes, and feathers to decorate. This can be done by the preschool teacher or if desired, you can allow the preschoolers to help decorate the feel box.

When the feel box has been decorated, allow it to dry completely before using.

How To Play

When the feel box has completely dried, place a small object inside without showing it to the preschoolers first. Have each preschooler take turns reaching their hand inside the feel box and trying to guess what it is. Tell the preschoolers to turn the object around in their hand, feel how heavy it is, and feel the surface to see what kind of texture it has. Ask the preschoolers not to guess until everyone has had a chance to feel the object in the feel box.

This activity can be a wonderful addition to circle time routines. Include objects in the feel box that are related to the weekly theme.

Letter and Number Recognition

To help encourage letter and number recognition among preschoolers, include small cardboard cutouts of a letter of the alphabet or a number. Preschoolers may have a hard time guessing what the letter or number is at first but the activity will help them to experience their letters and numbers in a different way and really think about the way a character is shaped.

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Sleep is educational. Memory consolidation — the process of moving learning from short-term to long-term memory — happens during sleep. Well-rested children learn more effectively.

• Choose toys that grow with the child: open-ended materials (blocks, clay, art supplies) remain valuable for years; single-use toys with one correct answer produce brief engagement.

• Children's questions are assessment data. The questions a child asks reveal their current conceptual level and what they're ready to learn next.

• Avoid academic pressure before age 5. Preschool children's brains are not developmentally ready for formal academic instruction, and premature pressure backfires.

Frequently Asked Questions

What learning differences might first become apparent in the preschool years?

The preschool years are when speech and language delays, developmental delays, autism spectrum characteristics, sensory processing differences, and early signs of ADHD typically become apparent. Early identification and early intervention are the most powerful factors in outcomes for children with learning differences — the preschool brain's plasticity makes early intervention far more effective than the same intervention at age 8. If you have concerns about your child's development, discuss them with your pediatrician rather than waiting to see if the child grows out of it.

What is the most important educational skill to develop before kindergarten?

Executive function — the cluster of skills that includes working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control — is the strongest predictor of kindergarten and long-term academic success. Executive function is built through play (especially complex pretend play), physical activity, music, and responsive adult interaction. It cannot be taught through drills or worksheets. A child with strong executive function can learn academic content readily when developmentally ready; a child with weak executive function struggles regardless of academic knowledge.

Related reading: See also our alphabet activities and our read-aloud guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 👂 Listening & Attention — Activities that require children to listen carefully and follow directions build the voluntary auditory attention that classroom learning, reading comprehension, and conversation all require.
• 💬 Vocabulary Expansion — Every new concept, activity, and domain-specific term a child encounters expands their vocabulary — and children's vocabulary at kindergarten entry is the single strongest predictor of reading comprehension at age 10.
• 🎯 Self-Directed Learning — Learning that begins with the child's own question or interest produces the deepest understanding — and children who experience self-directed learning develop the intrinsic motivation that sustains learning throughout life.
• 🌐 World Knowledge — Background knowledge about the world dramatically accelerates reading comprehension — children who know more understand more of what they read — making every content-area learning experience a literacy investment.

Preschoolers love to experience their world through touch. Using a feel box can help preschoolers to practice identifying objects only using one of their five senses. This fun preschool guessing game is a wonderful addition to a circle time routine or it can be used as a calming activity for active preschoolers.

Questions to Ask Your Child

Use these open-ended prompts to extend the learning during or after the activity:

• "What was the most interesting thing you learned today?"
• "Can you explain this to a stuffed animal as if they've never heard of it?"
• "What part do you want to practice more?"
• "How is this connected to something you already know?"
• "What would you want to learn more about?"
• "If you were the teacher, what would you tell the class about this?"

There are no right or wrong answers to any of these questions. The goal is to keep the conversation going, model curious thinking, and give your child practice putting their experience into words.