Around the World Preschool Activities: 9 Hands-On Ideas

Our pretend pizza restaurant started with a toy tool bench. I turned it into a brick oven, hung up order cards, and watched the children fill orders and deliver pizzas. We brought that setup back for our Around the World theme. Here’s what else we did, from decorating macaws with feathers to putting together a mini atlas.

1. Crush Herbs With a Mortar and Pestle

Set out a mortar and pestle with small amounts of bay leaves, cumin seeds, or rock salt. Children can spoon a little into the mortar, crush it, then compare how the materials look, smell, and feel.

2. Make a Mini Sand and Rock Garden

I set out a shallow tray of sand, stones, small plants, and rakes for a tabletop activity inspired by Japanese rock gardens. Children could draw lines in the sand, stack stones, and rearrange the tray as often as they wanted.

3. Decorate a Macaw With Feathers

I made a macaw outline and slipped it into a reusable page protector. The children arranged colorful feathers on the bird. At the end, we tossed the feathers into the air and watched how slowly they floated down.

4. Count Ingredients Into Pretend Soup

Set out pom-poms, spoons, a die, and a bowl. Children roll the die, count the dots, and scoop that many ingredients into the bowl. For a simpler version, give them a number to count out.

5. Put Together a Mini Atlas of Europe

I made a small booklet with pages for foods, animals, buildings, and clothing. The children cut out the pictures, taped them onto the matching pages, and colored them. This took our group more than 30 minutes, so you can split it across two sittings or offer some pictures already cut out.

6. Explore an Amazon Rainforest Sensory Bin

I used leaves, vines, small logs, feathers, and toy tropical birds to make a sensory bin inspired by the Amazon rainforest. Leave room for children to move the birds around and decide where to put the branches and leaves.

7. Set Out a Tea Sensory Bin

I put out loose tea, tea bags, cups, teapots, and sugar cubes. The children could scoop and pour the dry materials or pretend to make a cup of tea.

8. Set Up Carnival-Inspired Dramatic Play

For a play area inspired by Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, I set out feather masks, toy parrots, and colorful dress-up materials. I played music and let the children decide how to use the space.

9. Turn a Tool Bench Into a Pizza Restaurant

I used a toy tool bench as a pretend brick oven, set out toppings, and hung up order cards. The children filled orders and delivered their pizzas. During our Around the World theme, I used the same setup as the starting point for an Italian restaurant. The Pizza Parlor Dramatic Play printables include blank order cards you can use for custom orders or counting practice.