LKG Activities

You need

• ✓Chana dal or rajma (10–20 pieces)
• ✓A printed or hand-drawn number line 1–10 on paper
• ✓10 small cups or egg carton sections

How to do it

1. 1Lay out the number line. Point to each number and count together.
2. 2Say: 'Let us put the right number of dal in each cup.'
3. 3Start with 1: 'One dal in cup number 1.' Move to 2, 3, etc.
4. 4After filling, count back: lift each cup, count the dal, check it matches the number.
5. 5Challenge: 'Show me 7 dal on this paper.' Count out loud together.
6. 6Mix it up: take 5 dal away — 'How many do we have left?'

You need

• ✓20–30 bottle caps collected over a few weeks (or use coloured buttons)
• ✓Coloured paper strips for sorting lanes
• ✓A marker to draw simple bar graph

How to do it

1. 1Scatter the bottle caps. Ask: 'Can you find all the red ones?'
2. 2Sort into colour groups on the coloured paper strips.
3. 3Count each group. Write the number at the end of each strip.
4. 4Compare: 'Which colour has the most? Which has the fewest?'
5. 5Extension: draw a simple bar graph — draw boxes and colour them in, one per cap.
6. 6Let your child choose which colour they predict will win before sorting.

You need

• ✓Wide flat tray
• ✓Beach sand or builder's sand (or sooji/semolina)
• ✓Alphabet reference card (buy or print A–Z in large print)

How to do it

1. 1Pour sand to 1cm depth. Shake to level.
2. 2Hold the reference card next to the tray. Point to the letter A.
3. 3Draw the letter A in the sand slowly, naming the strokes: 'Slant down left, slant down right, cross in the middle.'
4. 4Erase. Let your child try. Do not worry about perfection.
5. 5Work through 3–4 letters per session — do not rush the alphabet.
6. 6Focus on letters in their name first — these are the most meaningful.

You need

• ✓A clear floor space
• ✓Alphabet reference cards (or just say the letter name)
• ✓Optional: a large mirror so your child can see their shape

How to do it

1. 1Start with letters that are simple body shapes: I (stand straight), O (make a circle with arms overhead), T (arms stretched wide), L (sit with one leg out).
2. 2Say the letter name and make the shape together.
3. 3Ask your child to mirror you, then create their own version.
4. 4Progress to combinations: A (stand with feet apart, one arm across the waist), V (arms pointing down-out), X (jumping jack position).
5. 5Play 'Freeze Letter': call a letter and both freeze in that shape.
6. 6End by making the letters of your child's name — photograph it for a keepsake poster.

You need

• ✓White paper folded in half to make a simple 4-page book
• ✓Crayons or sketch pens
• ✓A pen for the parent to write the child's dictated words

How to do it

1. 1Fold paper to make a small book with a cover and 3 inside pages.
2. 2Ask: 'Can you tell me a story? I will write it down for you.'
3. 3Write exactly what they say — do not correct grammar. Their voice matters, not perfect sentences.
4. 4Ask prompting questions: 'Then what happened? Who was in the story? How did it end?'
5. 5Let them draw pictures for each part on the pages.
6. 6Read the finished story back to them: 'You wrote a book!'

You need

• ✓Deep bowl or bucket of water
• ✓10 objects from the kitchen: a coin, a small stone, a plastic spoon, a leaf, a piece of dal, a wood chip, a metal spoon, a paper boat, a rubber band, a small bottle
• ✓Two trays labelled 'Sink' and 'Float'

How to do it

1. 1Lay out all objects. Ask: 'What do you think will happen if we put this in water?'
2. 2For each object, let your child predict first: 'Sink or float?'
3. 3Drop it in the water. Observe together.
4. 4Place the object in the matching tray.
5. 5After all objects: 'Were you right? Which ones surprised you?'
6. 6Ask: 'Why do you think the stone sinks and the leaf floats?'

You need

• ✓Large wooden beads with wide holes (or pasta — rigatoni, penne — dyed with food colour)
• ✓A shoelace or thick cord with one end taped stiff

How to do it

1. 1Lay out beads sorted by colour.
2. 2Start a pattern: red, blue, red, blue. Ask your child to continue it.
3. 3After 10 beads, say: 'What colour comes next? How do you know?'
4. 4Try a 3-colour pattern: red, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow.
5. 5Let them design their own pattern and name it.
6. 6Make a bracelet or necklace — wearing the result makes the activity meaningful.