Who doesn’t love getting a letter? To preschoolers the mail ranks up there with other anticipated special deliveries like their Easter Baskets and Christmas stockings. Perhaps the one thing more exciting than receiving mail, would be getting to be the all-powerful letter carrier! Here’s an activity that lets your children in on the fun of delivering the mail, while also reinforcing the basic math skills of numeral recognition and counting.
Create letters by writing the number name in the address spot. Place the same number of 1 cent stamps in the stamp corner. For the group I was working with, I did numbers 1-10, but you could adjust that to meet the needs of your group. Next, create houses or mailboxes by writing the numerals corresponding to your letters. These can be simple pieces of paper as I show here, or you could make actual house or mailbox drawings. (I wrote mine on colored paper, and we began by putting the numbered papers in order, and then pointed out the abc pattern created by the colors.) Put these numbered papers in your pocket chart or in the center of your circle of children. Place all of your letters in a bag like a mail carrier. Have each child take a turn being the letter carrier (add to the effect by giving them a postal hat to wear during that turn). Each child will reach into the bag to select a letter and then place it in the appropriate spot by matching the number of stamps on the letter to the numeral written on the house/mailbox. After the children have experienced this activity, you might consider putting it in your dramatic play area along with your post office theme!
When you think of graphing, you probably think back to stale worksheets in your third grade class, or to more complicated parabolas in high school calculus. Graphing starts out as a very simple concept, one that can and should be explored with preschool children, particularly the four year-olds. One of my favorite ways to do that is with a Post-it graph. 
If you’re looking for a quick, inexpensive, no-sew way to create capes for your super-preschooler, look no further! No super powers are required here, just fabric, self-adhesive Velcro tabs, and scissors!
(The size is by no means exact. This is the size that has worked for my 2-5 year olds, but feel free to adjust!)
It seems too simple for many adults to consider, but from a child’s point of view, painting with water is a fascinating activity! Paint cups filled only with water and a brush transfer disappearing patterns on chalkboards or sidewalks. The consistency of the medium causes any excesses to find their own course of least resistance, giving every masterpiece an abstract flair, while also giving the artist a front row seat to the evolving shape created. Combine the water painting with chalk for a unique 
Here’s a simple game that children love to play! With a group of children in a large area, have one child stand, at least 10-20 feet back, facing the other children as they stand against a wall, fence, or other object that can serve as the “safe zone”. The children standing against the wall chant, “Dinosaur, dinosaur, what time is it?” The “dinosaur” replies with any “o’clock” time. The time serves as the number of steps forward the children take. So, if the “dinosaur” says, “5 o’clock”, the children take 5 steps forward. The children continue in this pattern until the “dinosaur” says, “Lunchtime!” At that point, the children run back to the safe zone with the “dinosaur” chasing after them. If the “dinosaur” touches one of the children, that child becomes the next “dinosaur”. (Reinforce to the children, that they only need to touch the child they catch, not push or tackle.)
