Top 10 Interactive Games for Early Years Pupils
“The proof is in the pudding” as the old saying goes, so what better way to uncover the best interactive games for Early Years children on Busy Things than by exploring our most-played list?
In this blog, we’ll reveal the crème de la crème of activities as chosen by teachers who subscribe to Busy Things and the children in their Early Years classes. Whether you’re a new user looking for inspiration or a seasoned pro seeking fresh ideas, this selection offers a manageable taster of the most-loved games. Plus, we’ll highlight the key skills each activity helps to develop, making it easier than ever for you to choose the right activity for your particular need.
So … let’s dive in! Get ready for a fun-filled journey through engaging and educational Early Years’ activities that your fledgling pupils are sure to love.
1. Fun, two, three, four (Maths and Free Play)
The yellow monsters are having a day out at the theme park!
Aim of the game:
Fill the seats on the different rides!
Use the turn stile to let the right number of yellow monsters through to fill the empty seats, then click the pink man to let them on.
Let too many through? Touch or click a monster and it will walk away.
What will your pupils learn?
This activity is great for subitising, counting and number bonds. There’s a worksheet too to consolidate the learning offline!
2. Race and chase (Maths and Free Play)
The chicken has entered a car race!
Aim of the game:
Help the chicken win!
Short term, you can do this by using the green speed boosters to go faster and avoiding all the traps (potholes, mud slicks etc) along the way. More long term, by collecting coins and prize money to improve the car and boost chicken’s performance with spring and rockets.
What will your pupils learn?
This activity is excellent for building resilience and confidence, as well as being fantastic for developing number, spatial reasoning and positional language skills.
Do your pupils love the cars? They can make their own with our Race and chase: Custom cars printable!
3. Alphabet/Number/Name tracing (English/Maths, Computing and Free Play)
These activities turn your tablet or whiteboard into a blackboard allowing your pupils to learn and form different letters and numbers.
Aim of the game:
Trace over the guide firstly with assistance, then by following the guide independently, then by writing freehand to reproduce the target letter, number or name.
What will your pupils learn?
Children will learn how to write lower case letters, numbers and their name correctly and in the format/style you prefer (pre-cursive/cursive etc.) by working through the different levels. Great for letter/number recognition and formation, and mouse skills. The worksheets (accessible and customisable from within Alphabet tracing) are fantastic too for pencil control and fine motor skills if you choose to take the learning offline!
4. Hen hunt (Maths and Free Play)
Find the chicken hiding in the maze!
Aim of the game:
Chicken’s friend has hidden in one of the cupboards and you need to move around the maze to find him. His quacking will get louder the closer that you are!
See a monster in the maze? You’ll need to catch him first or he’ll gobble you up!
What will your pupils learn?
This activity is great for familiarising children with the computer keyboard/mouse and helping them understand how to calculate the best routes. It’s also great for putting directional language into practice.
Offline, children can practise finding their way through the mazes using the linked printable.
5. Pixel art (Art, Free Play and Brain Break)
This activity was only released in December but hasn’t been out of the top 10 since. It definitely seems to have captured the children’s imaginations. It demonstrates the endless possibilities there are with images and patterns made from geometric shapes.
Everyone loves the mosaic-style results but also the mindful and relaxing nature of the process itself!
6. Playground (Maths and Free Play)
How many different ways can you group the pink men?
Aim of the game:
Drag and drop the pink men to different apparatus in the playground. What happens when you have different numbers of pink men on the different playground rides? Which playground is your pupils’ favourite?
What will your pupils learn?
The children will learn to subitise, count to confirm the answer as well as learning the different ways to make 5. There is also a worksheet to accompany the activity to reinforce the learning offline.
7. Busy box (English, Maths or Cross-curricular and Free Play)
Quick-fire mini games to consolidate learning across the curriculum. They’re fun to play and consolidate children’s learning!
Aim of the game:
Play games that focus on literacy or numeracy skills or simply provide a mix.
The children earn stars for each exercise completed correctly, which contribute to the school’s overall total, helping you rank higher on the weekly leader board!
What will your pupils learn?
Games focus on skills included within the Early Years curriculum and help them consolidate their learning. It can also be useful for teaching about turn-taking and even teamwork and strategy depending on how competitive they are!
8. Street scene (Art and Free Play)
Create a picture and make it come to life. How busy and vibrant can you make it?
Aim of the game:
Drag an object from the toolbar to select it for the scene and let go to place it. Remove an object by touching it.
Once you’re happy, press the Play button to animate your scene.
What will your pupils learn?
Pupils will be able to practise their communication skills by describing their scenes, especially the use of adjective and positional language which will be used to describe the different people, and where they are in relation to each other and the scene as a whole.
9. Rollercoaster – Ordering (Maths and Free Play)
It’s the pink men’s turn to visit the theme park, and their favourite ride is the rollercoaster!
Aim of the game:
Pick the pink men in numerical order from smallest to largest and watch the pink men as they climb the stairs and glide down the rollercoaster on their tummies!
The difficulty level can be changed in the Activity settings.
What will your pupils learn?
By playing this activity, children will learn to recognise numbers, count, compare and order numbers with confidence.
10. Animal maze (Maths and Free Play)
The animals are in a maze and need to reach their prize!
Aim of the game:
Move the animals around the maze using the mouse or keyboard. Touch the oval shapes to move the animal with the mouse; use the arrow buttons if using a keyboard.
Once they’ve mastered the maze in daylight, they can choose the spotlight mode, using the activity as a memory game!
What will your pupils learn?
Children will learn how to use directional language (up, down, left, right) and work out the best route (be that the quickest way or the one involving the fewest moves). There are a series of mazes also available in pdf format, which children can populate as they wish.
Background information relating to the Top 10
Why are there so many maths activities?
You might have noticed that many of the interactive games and activities in this Top 10 are maths-based. This reflects the strong emphasis on maths and English in the Early Years curriculum. Maths activities, in particular, lend themselves beautifully to online and independent practice, making them a popular choice for Early Years practitioners and learners.
Busy Things itself, however, is totally cross-curricular and offers a fantastic range of interactive games and activities across all areas of the Early Years curriculum! Subjects like history, foreign languages and art are represented too, despite not appearing in the list. To explore some of our other wonderful interactive resources, check out our dedicated blogs on Early Years phonics, science, and music.
Why are ‘Free Play’ games and activities so prominent within the Top 10?
You’ll also notice many games and activities in the Top 10 feature the “Free Play” descriptor. This denotes that these activities are:
- ideal for children to use independently,
- are engaging enough for the children to see them as ‘fun’ not ‘learning’ and
- are rooted in the evidence-based principles of Learning Through Play.
We find many of our subscribing school include Busy Things in their continuous provision, as well as using it for teacher-led sessions, so children can access it as and when they want.
Interested to find out more?
If you’d like a closer look at what Busy Things offers for Early Years, why not try our 28-day free trial? With over 750 games and activities designed specifically for Early Years, you’re sure to find something for every teaching need!
Need guidance?
That’s not a problem at all. If you’re in need of more information to get started, just give us a call on 01332 364963 or email us at enquiries@busythings.co.uk. We’re here to help!
Want to know what other Early Years’ teachers think?
Here are just a few of the endorsements that Busy Things has been given:
I work with Foundation Stage 1 pupils and Busy Things is a fantastic resource to support our pupils’ learning. It works well alongside the EYFS curriculum, supporting children in all areas of the curriculum by learning through play.
Jeanette Hartley, Stanley Infant and Junior School
Busy Things is different to other Early Years platforms – the quality of the activities, the progression, the entertainment, the children’s engagement, the up-to-date activities, the teacher support! It engages all the children and the variety of levels make it accessible to all.
Sally-Ann Roberts, Clifford Road Primary and Nursery School