This is a demo store. No orders will be fulfilled.

Family & Friends Sale! Save 25% with code: SAVE25 + Free Shipping Orders $65+
Spark More Play™ with FREE Playfoam® Activities
Free Shipping on Orders of $79+
Close Nav
Toggle Nav
Menu
Account
My Cart

Wake Up and Play

Good morning, parents, teachers, and play-enthusiasts! We’re big fans of using play to learn and spend time together, which makes it the perfect morning activity. To help kids start their days in the right mindset, confidence, and mood, we put together some of our favorite ways to wake up and play. From silly shenanigans to screen-free fun, keep your mornings playful!

Wake Up with Something Silly

Laughter can boost the immune system, energize the body, alleviate stress and depression, and even provide pain relief? Send them off to the office, home office, school, or makeshift classroom with a belly laugh—and all the benefits that come with it—using some of these great ideas from the experts in play at EI:

Document

1. Tell A Joke

Who doesn’t love a good joke? Jokes are a quick and easy way to get your family giggling in the morning and are also a great way to build vocabulary and reinforce linguistic sequence. Kids can laugh and learn with our grade-level-specific printable reading and vocabulary activities here. Also, find tons of kid-friendly jokes here.

2. Pull A Prank

Help your kids learn to laugh at themselves with one of the kid-friendly pranks from our April Fool’s Day blog—or gather everyone together to play a trick on your partner. Laughing together doesn’t just feel good—it also helps tighten your family bond.

Wake Up with All Day Play

Spending time with your kids strengthens your family bond, encourages positive behavior, builds communication skills, boosts self-esteem, and so much more. Check out our recommendations for games, activities, and songs that spark more togetherness! 

I Spy with My Little Eye

Snuggle up and see what you can see—together! Spy things that are big, small, short, tall, square, circular, soft, hard, objects that are certain colors, things with wheels or paws…you get the idea! This is a great way to build your little one’s vocabulary and introduce early math skills like shape and size.

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game!

Spin the day away with everyone’s favorite preschool game! Celebrating its 10th anniversary as one of Amazon’s best-selling preschool games, The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game! helps kids master colors while building fine motor and pre-handwriting skills.

Bean Bag Toss

Stand close together and see how many times you and your kid can toss and catch a bean bag or balled up sock. Make it more of a challenge by taking a step backwards every so often, taking turns tossing your bean bags into a laundry basket or mixing bowl, or by balancing a bean bag on your heads while you play. It’s fun AND builds gross motor skills!

Teacup Pile-Up

Relay race to teatime! Flip over an order card and build your teacup tower, relay race style, one teacup or saucer at a time. Whoever matches their card and rings the teapot bell first, wins! Practice key skills like matching, sequencing, fine motor skills, balance, coordination, and more with Teacup Pile-Up.

Sensory Bins

Preschool teachers use these bins to build their students’ brains, including developing nerve connections, building language skills, enhancing fine and gross motor skills, and encouraging problem-solving. Start by filling a large bin with Playfoam Pluffle, the mesmerizing, mixable, feel-good fluffy stuff that never dries out. Then, add a variety of objects for you and your little one to find, feel, describe, sort, match, and more.

Color

Who doesn’t love to color? Grab some printer paper and a new box of crayons and let your inner artists loose or print some of our free, downloadable coloring pages featuring your kiddo’s favorite EI characters. The trick here is that you need to color, too. Talk about the colors you’re using, give your creation a name, and make up a backstory—where does this creature live? What does it eat? What does it do all day?

Learn

Learning is more fun together! Our free, downloadable preschool packet includes colorful and engaging early literacy, math, and art activities perfect for sneaking some learning into your together time.

Sing Songs

Some of our favorites are: I’m a Little Teapot, 5 Little Monkeys, and Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You’re Happy and You Know It.

Wake Up with Screen-Free Fun

You know that too much time on screens can slow language development, stifle creative thinking, interfere with social skills, and contribute to eye strain and headaches—not the best way to start your preschooler’s day! Luckily, the Play Experts at EI are here with easy screen-free ideas for starting your kiddo’s day slowly, calmly, and sanely. Try one of the games or activities we’ve already mentioned or check out one of these:

1. Snuggle Up

Your little one may not be ready to spring right out of bed, so take a few minutes to cuddle with your kiddo before you start your day. Snuggling is sweet and physical touch also provides a sense of calm and relaxation, improves muscle tone and circulation, lowers stress, and provides pain relief for everyone involved!

2. Read a Story

Looking at words and pictures and listening to a parent’s voice creates a naturally calming atmosphere. Plus, reading to your kid is one of the best ways to build their language skills, including learning sounds, words, and early literacy skills.

3. Take a Walk

In addition to providing exercise, taking a walk also helps kids feel calmer and happier, improves their ability to concentrate and focus, and encourages a sense of independence and freedom. Even a 10-minute trip around the block together will reap myriad benefits

4. Tackle a Chore

Chores help kids—even preschoolers—learn responsibility, build a strong work ethic, and foster respect for the work you’re doing to keep your home running smoothly. Help your child build confidence—and get a little help around the house—by trusting them with a morning chore. Let your little one choose their chore, then congratulate them each time it’s complete!

Wake Up with Backwards Day

Sticking to a consistent schedule can help children transition through their days more comfortably, but the ability to go with the flow is also an important skill to teach early on. The Play Experts at EI are sharing five fun ways to help teach flexibility by turning your family’s day upside down!

1. Movie Night in the Morning

Surprise your kids with a morning movie! This is just the kind of switch in routine that shows kids that change can be fun. Don’t have time for an entire movie? How about reading some of our favorite books here?

2. PJs All Day

While getting dressed signals the shift from downtime to work time, relaxing the rules for just one day can be a fun treat, and running errands together in your jammies is a great way to build your family’s bond.

3. Breakfast for Dinner

Who doesn’t love bacon and eggs before bed? Use this tasty time to talk through your day; chatting with your kiddos helps them learn to decipher words through context clues and demonstrates the natural flow of language.

4. Nighttime Stroll

Fresh air and exercise before bed will help your whole family sleep better and walking at night provides kids an opportunity to observe and discover nature in a completely different setting. Take a look at some walk activity suggestions here.

Schedules can keep things running smoothly but looking for opportunities to shake things up every now and then is a great way to build resilience and help your family learn to go with the flow. 

Make your mornings playful with a game and laugh or flip your whole day upside down! What’s your favorite way to wake up and play? 

Share this post
Wake Up and Play

Good morning, parents, teachers, and play-enthusiasts! We’re big fans of using play to learn and spend time together, which makes it the perfect morning activity. To help kids start their days in the right mindset, confidence, and mood, we put together some of our favorite ways to wake up and play. From silly shenanigans to screen-free fun, keep your mornings playful!

Wake Up with Something Silly

Laughter can boost the immune system, energize the body, alleviate stress and depression, and even provide pain relief? Send them off to the office, home office, school, or makeshift classroom with a belly laugh—and all the benefits that come with it—using some of these great ideas from the experts in play at EI:

Document

1. Tell A Joke

Who doesn’t love a good joke? Jokes are a quick and easy way to get your family giggling in the morning and are also a great way to build vocabulary and reinforce linguistic sequence. Kids can laugh and learn with our grade-level-specific printable reading and vocabulary activities here. Also, find tons of kid-friendly jokes here.

2. Pull A Prank

Help your kids learn to laugh at themselves with one of the kid-friendly pranks from our April Fool’s Day blog—or gather everyone together to play a trick on your partner. Laughing together doesn’t just feel good—it also helps tighten your family bond.

Wake Up with All Day Play

Spending time with your kids strengthens your family bond, encourages positive behavior, builds communication skills, boosts self-esteem, and so much more. Check out our recommendations for games, activities, and songs that spark more togetherness! 

I Spy with My Little Eye

Snuggle up and see what you can see—together! Spy things that are big, small, short, tall, square, circular, soft, hard, objects that are certain colors, things with wheels or paws…you get the idea! This is a great way to build your little one’s vocabulary and introduce early math skills like shape and size.

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game!

Spin the day away with everyone’s favorite preschool game! Celebrating its 10th anniversary as one of Amazon’s best-selling preschool games, The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game! helps kids master colors while building fine motor and pre-handwriting skills.

Bean Bag Toss

Stand close together and see how many times you and your kid can toss and catch a bean bag or balled up sock. Make it more of a challenge by taking a step backwards every so often, taking turns tossing your bean bags into a laundry basket or mixing bowl, or by balancing a bean bag on your heads while you play. It’s fun AND builds gross motor skills!

Teacup Pile-Up

Relay race to teatime! Flip over an order card and build your teacup tower, relay race style, one teacup or saucer at a time. Whoever matches their card and rings the teapot bell first, wins! Practice key skills like matching, sequencing, fine motor skills, balance, coordination, and more with Teacup Pile-Up.

Sensory Bins

Preschool teachers use these bins to build their students’ brains, including developing nerve connections, building language skills, enhancing fine and gross motor skills, and encouraging problem-solving. Start by filling a large bin with Playfoam Pluffle, the mesmerizing, mixable, feel-good fluffy stuff that never dries out. Then, add a variety of objects for you and your little one to find, feel, describe, sort, match, and more.

Color

Who doesn’t love to color? Grab some printer paper and a new box of crayons and let your inner artists loose or print some of our free, downloadable coloring pages featuring your kiddo’s favorite EI characters. The trick here is that you need to color, too. Talk about the colors you’re using, give your creation a name, and make up a backstory—where does this creature live? What does it eat? What does it do all day?

Learn

Learning is more fun together! Our free, downloadable preschool packet includes colorful and engaging early literacy, math, and art activities perfect for sneaking some learning into your together time.

Sing Songs

Some of our favorites are: I’m a Little Teapot, 5 Little Monkeys, and Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You’re Happy and You Know It.

Wake Up with Screen-Free Fun

You know that too much time on screens can slow language development, stifle creative thinking, interfere with social skills, and contribute to eye strain and headaches—not the best way to start your preschooler’s day! Luckily, the Play Experts at EI are here with easy screen-free ideas for starting your kiddo’s day slowly, calmly, and sanely. Try one of the games or activities we’ve already mentioned or check out one of these:

1. Snuggle Up

Your little one may not be ready to spring right out of bed, so take a few minutes to cuddle with your kiddo before you start your day. Snuggling is sweet and physical touch also provides a sense of calm and relaxation, improves muscle tone and circulation, lowers stress, and provides pain relief for everyone involved!

2. Read a Story

Looking at words and pictures and listening to a parent’s voice creates a naturally calming atmosphere. Plus, reading to your kid is one of the best ways to build their language skills, including learning sounds, words, and early literacy skills.

3. Take a Walk

In addition to providing exercise, taking a walk also helps kids feel calmer and happier, improves their ability to concentrate and focus, and encourages a sense of independence and freedom. Even a 10-minute trip around the block together will reap myriad benefits

4. Tackle a Chore

Chores help kids—even preschoolers—learn responsibility, build a strong work ethic, and foster respect for the work you’re doing to keep your home running smoothly. Help your child build confidence—and get a little help around the house—by trusting them with a morning chore. Let your little one choose their chore, then congratulate them each time it’s complete!

Wake Up with Backwards Day

Sticking to a consistent schedule can help children transition through their days more comfortably, but the ability to go with the flow is also an important skill to teach early on. The Play Experts at EI are sharing five fun ways to help teach flexibility by turning your family’s day upside down!

1. Movie Night in the Morning

Surprise your kids with a morning movie! This is just the kind of switch in routine that shows kids that change can be fun. Don’t have time for an entire movie? How about reading some of our favorite books here?

2. PJs All Day

While getting dressed signals the shift from downtime to work time, relaxing the rules for just one day can be a fun treat, and running errands together in your jammies is a great way to build your family’s bond.

3. Breakfast for Dinner

Who doesn’t love bacon and eggs before bed? Use this tasty time to talk through your day; chatting with your kiddos helps them learn to decipher words through context clues and demonstrates the natural flow of language.

4. Nighttime Stroll

Fresh air and exercise before bed will help your whole family sleep better and walking at night provides kids an opportunity to observe and discover nature in a completely different setting. Take a look at some walk activity suggestions here.

Schedules can keep things running smoothly but looking for opportunities to shake things up every now and then is a great way to build resilience and help your family learn to go with the flow. 

Make your mornings playful with a game and laugh or flip your whole day upside down! What’s your favorite way to wake up and play? 

 READ MORE