Who doesn’t love stickers? Sticker books for kids make for great gift ideas because they are super-fun, colorful, and engaging. With so many colors, textures and creative options, it’s easy to understand why toddlers—and kids of all ages—are so stuck on them.
Educational Sticker Activities That Will Keep Your Preschooler Engaged
In addition to being a ton of fun, stickers offer a wealth of benefits that ensure preschoolers are learning as much as they are playing. Sticker activities are a fantastic way to give little ones a screen-free sensory experience that keeps than engaged and entertained without any mess. Plus, they help build key developmental skills, such as number, letter and color identification.
Here’s a fun fact: Reusable stickers have shown up on airplane trips: They stick to the windows, the upright trays, the seats—stickers and sticker books are a perfect travel toy!
Placing stickers on different surfaces allows preschoolers to hone their pincer grasp and strengthen their hand and finger muscles, developing bilateral hand coordination and body awareness in the process. If you’re looking for creative inspiration, here are some tried and true sticker activities for preschoolers that will keep kids entertained for hours.
Puffy Sticker Play Set: Mermaid
Ages: 4+
Why it’s great: Imagine a glittery mermaid grotto—then bring it to life with this enchanting sticker set! A double-sided, glossy background board offers lots of space to layer and arrange the 65 reusable puffy stickers: A seashell closet has room for 10 glittering outfits; a trio of dress-up mermaids is ready for a makeover in the pretty purple dressing room; and a panoramic sandy seafloor sets the stage for unlimited undersea fun. When playtime is over, simply fold up the sturdy background board store it all away--then just grab the diecut handle and take this fantastical sticker set to go.
Sweet detail: The 65 stickers are easy to place, layer, and rearrange, so the storytelling possibilities are endless. And the gorgeous dress-up stickers mix, match, and layer in any combination, and fit all five of the dress-up mermaids.
Skills: Fine motor skills, imagination play, creative expression, problem-solving, narrative development, communications skills, hand-eye coordination
Countless Ways to Play: FASHION SHOW & TELL: Have your mermaid-loving kid put on an undersea “fashion show”—have your kiddos introduce the “models” and explain what they’re wearing like a real runway show!
Storytelling with Stickers
Combining stickers with storytelling is a win-win that every child will enjoy. Invite your preschooler to create scenes straight out of their imaginations using reusable puffy stickers or cling-style stickers that are easy to pull and stick. Reusable sticker pads are the perfect way to let children explore different narrative directions in the moment because they won’t get discouraged if they “mess up.” If they change their minds or want to switch gears, they can easily swap out their stickers as they think of new storylines.
Reusable Sticker Pad - Habitats
Ages: 3+
Why it’s great: Visit a farm, a prehistoric landscape, a desert oasis, a jungle, or the deep blue sea, all in this interactive sticker book! The glossy, full-color backgrounds are ready to be filled with more than 150 stickers: Stick a dinosaur by the prehistoric pond and a shark in the ocean—or mix them up and make silly scenes!
Sweet detail: The easy-to-peel vinyl stickers can be lifted off and repositioned again and again, so kids can follow their imaginations fearlessly.
Skills: Fine motor skills, imagination play, creative expression, problem-solving, narrative development, communications skills, hand-eye coordination
Countless Ways to Play: WHERE’S WALRUS?—Mix up the reusable animal stickers on each scene, and have your little zoologist figure out which ones belong—and which ones don’t!
Creating stories with stickers can be a great solo activity that helps children learn to be more independent or it can serve as a fun group activity for making memories together. In addition to getting kids’ creative juices flowing, it also strengthens their fine motor skills, narrative thinking, communication skills and creative expression. Plus, there are loads of themes to choose from. Create an oceanic wonderland with Under the Sea, set up different city scenes with My Town or explore exciting new worlds with an Adventure pack. For easy, on-the-go sticker play, try these Dinosaur, Safari, Dress Up and Pet Place pads.
Dot Sticker Matching Games
Dots are a sticker staple because they are simple, affordable and offer a world of possibilities when it comes to keeping your preschooler interested and engaged. With a fast and easy setup and endless options, dot sticker games are the perfect go-to when you’re in need of fast and fun solution. Just keep sheets of colored dot stickers on hand and you’ll always have something for your child to do when they say they’re bored.
To help your preschooler learn letters and words, try dot sticker writing. First, write a word—like a name or a favorite animal—in big letters across a piece of paper. Next, take a sheet of dot stickers and label them, so different dots are marked with each letter. Once that’s done, have your child place the correctly labeled dot sticker on the corresponding letter. It’s a simple matching game, but it’s educational and preschoolers have a blast figuring out which dots go where and sticking the individual ones to the paper.
You can also use dot stickers to play number caterpillars. You’ll need to draw or print out a picture of a caterpillar that has a head and body made of individual circles. Label each circle with a number and go in numerical order from the head to the end of the body or vice-versa. Then, label dot stickers with the same numbers and invite your child to line them up with the correlating numbers on the caterpillar. This allows them to practice sorting and identifying while learning directionality. This exercise works just as well with letters and colors, too!
Dot writing and number caterpillars are two of our favorite sticker activities for preschoolers, but there are countless other options for exploring and learning. You can draw a curved line on a piece of paper and have your child decorate it with rainbow dot stickers to create a string of holiday lights. Or divide a piece of paper into different columns and designate each one with a specific color, so your child can fill them up with the dot stickers that match. The possibilities are truly endless.
Sticker Activity Books
For an easy solution that does the heavy lifting for you, it’s impossible to go wrong with sticker activity books. They’re specifically designed for preschoolers and are chock-full of activities that help your little one practice counting, telling time and learning the alphabet.
Take this PAW Patrol Restickable Puffy Stickers - Big Truck Pups sticker book. Restickable Puffy Stickers let kids create PAW Patrol™ adventures again and again! Kids can place and layer the Big Truck Pups puffy stickers onto the glossy fold-out scenes. It's easy to lift, switch, and rearrange it all to depict whatever pup-filled tale a child can imagine! The built-in sticker collection—34 reusable puffy stickers in all—offers lots of opportunities for kids to express their creativity while improving fine motor and communication skills. The spiral-bound format is great for travel, too.
And with so many different themes, you’ll have no problem finding a book that keeps your preschooler enthralled while equipping them with new knowledge. Teach them about different professions, animals and so much more. Your kids will revel in the look and feel of hundreds of different puffy stickers, and because they’re reusable, the only limit to the creative play is the scope of their imaginations.
Sticker Activity Pads
Sticker pads are another surefire way to keep your little ones amused. Seek & Find pads merge three things kids love – stickers, coloring and looking for hidden objects – into one incredible activity. Your child can use crayons, colored pencils or markers to fill in pages and pages of detailed scenes, and each pad also comes with a trove of stickers to match with various objects hidden throughout. This Around Town Seek & Find sticker pad has 14 pages and over 400 stickers to hold your child’s attention.
Sticker pads can also prevent your kids from getting bored and grumpy when you’re traveling or eating out—no screen required. This Make-a-Meal sticker pad comes with over 225 food and beverage stickers and 15 realistically sized place settings, so your child can have fun and keep their brain occupied while they learn about food groups and fill the pages with stickers to construct their perfect meal. You can even turn it into a game of make-believe and have them “serve” you their final creation.
For kids, stickers truly make everything better. That’s why sticker activities are such a fantastic tool for helping preschoolers build important developmental skills while teaching them about the world around them. And whether you’re looking for a quiet solo activity for your child or you need to keep a group of kids entertained, there’s no shortage of ways to have fun when stickers are involved.
Looking for more great content about our toys? Check out these blog posts:
Babies and Play: What Every Parent Needs to Know
STEAM Toys: Learning Through Play
Our Favorite Play Food Toys for Kids
3 Ways Play Can Help You Raise a Problem-Solver
The 6 Best Stuffed Animals for Kids
