Independent Play Ideas for Kids {Printable!}

This fun printable of independent play ideas unlocks so many possibilities for you, mama. If the kids are engaged in any individual play, mom can get some work done, mom can go to bathroom alone, mom can make a fun surprise, the list goes on and on..

As a pre-k and kindergarten teacher, I tried to impress upon my students the importance of being able to play alone. Not only is it good for the imagination, but there isn’t always a friend around to play with!

Encouraging Independent Play as Fun

Ironically, that concept seemed easy to express to my students even though they were in a classroom full of other students. When teaching this to my own son, nothing seemed to work! My son is 5 and is really just now embracing the idea of alone play.

Then one day, I had an idea that was a game changer for us… I let him know I was making a printable for him to look at when he needed ideas for alone play.

He was THRILLED!! I should have known… I love spreadsheets and lists, why wouldn’t he?!

The colors and pictures definitely make it fun to look at it. The pictures serve to make this an accessible tool for pre-readers too! Whether or not your child can read, the pictures above the words provide simple ways for them to identify which idea they want to try next!

So, I whipped up this fun printable sheet of individual play ideas and placed it on the wall in his room. That way he can look at it for ideas whenever he needs to play alone!

He LOVES it!

Individual play is no longer a time for “I’m bored,” or “I don’t know what to do.” Now he runs to the list to pick his next activity with glee!

Setting it Up

Grab the free printable sheet below, print it out, and then hang it some where your child will see it often.

You can laminate the sheet first to help it withstand constant touching, but you can also just print a new sheet every once in a while if it gets dirty.

We pinned ours to the wall inside our study, which is a pass-through room from the living room to our son’s bedroom, so he sees the sheet a lot!

Even when he’s not being asked to play alone, the sheet with catch his eye and he will run off to play something on his own!

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Independent Play Ideas for Kids {Printable!}