12 Fun Activities for 4-Year-Olds That Hold Their Attention

The best activities for 4-year-olds in our house are the ones I can start in under a minute and stretch for half an hour. At 4, my kids want a real challenge, a job to do, or a mess to make. They don’t want another toy pushed in front of them.

I keep a short list of go-to ideas that cover indoor days, backyard afternoons, and the meltdown stretch before dinner. Here are the 12 that work, plus where the Weekend app on your smart TV fits in.

12 activities for 4-year-olds: TL;DR

1. CoComelon: Sing & Play with JJ on Weekend
2. Karaoke on Weekend
3. Backyard or park scavenger hunt
4. Kitchen sous-chef
5. Cardboard box build
6. Sensory bin
7. Nature collage
8. Dress-up and pretend play
9. Process art and painting
10. Dance party and freeze
11. Kitchen science: sink or float
12. Indoor camping and story time

1. CoComelon: Sing & Play with JJ on Weekend

For a rainy afternoon when I want music and movement together, I open CoComelon: Sing & Play with JJ on the Weekend Games app. It runs on Fire TV, LG, and Samsung smart TVs. I scan the QR code on screen to set my phone up as the microphone, so my son can easily sing and call out answers.

Mini-games we absolutely love:

• Wheels on the Bus, where the bus stops at 5 locations (neighborhood, park, beach, campsite, home) and he sings the cue at each one to spin the wheels, open the doors, wipe the rain, or blink the lights.
• BINGO, where he follows Bingo the dog past horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens, clapping in place of a letter each time a new animal shows up.
• Peek-a-Boo, where he calls "Peekaboo!" into his phone to find Mommy, Daddy, and JJ hiding around the scene, over a 5- to 7-minute round of progressively trickier hiding spots.
• Baa Baa Black Sheep, where he names each color as the sheep hides blue near the blueberry bushes, pink near the raspberry bushes, and purple near the grape baskets, then collects wool in a Three Bags Full sequence.
• Tiny Clues, which is a fun shape-and-color hunt around JJ's house.

I keep sessions short and use the same colors and words in whatever we play next. This is one of our favorite educational apps because it's so easy to use.

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2. Karaoke on Weekend

My kids started asking for karaoke after they watched their older cousins sing at a birthday party. Now it's a nightly request before bath time.

Karaoke on Weekend runs on Roku, and it scores singers on lyrics and pitch accuracy as the lyrics scroll across the screen, but at 4, she doesn't care about any of that.

She cares about getting to sing along to her favorite songs. Sometimes she and her friends perform these adorable duets, and it’s become a favorite activity at home.

What works at this age:

• Nursery rhymes and songs she already knows by heart, so she can join in without reading the lyrics.
• Slower-tempo picks, and songs from movies and series she loves.
• Pairing her with an older sibling or a parent, so she's singing with someone instead of carrying a round by herself.

I stop after a couple of songs, before her attention moves on. That's enough for her to feel like she performed something.

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3. Backyard or park scavenger hunt

A scavenger hunt gets us out the door with almost no prep, which is why it's one of my favorite picks for things to do with a 4-year-old who has energy to burn. At this age, kids can follow a real list, so I make it a challenge instead of a walk.

How we play:

1. Call out 5 or 6 things to find: something red, a smooth rock, a Y-shaped stick, a feather.
2. Hand over a paper bag or bucket so collecting feels official.
3. Tie a few finds to letters and sounds, the way we do with these alphabet games.
4. Head somewhere new, a different park or block, when the backyard goes stale.

The hunt keeps my son moving and looking closely, and it works as well on a driveway as it does in a forest.

4. Kitchen sous-chef

Letting a 4-year-old actually help cook builds patience, counting, and pride, and it buys me company while I get dinner going. I give my daughter one safe, real job that she can handle by herself.

Jobs to give your kids at age 4:

• Tearing lettuce, stirring batter, or mashing bananas with a fork
• Counting scoops out loud, so measuring doubles as math
• Sprinkling cheese or arranging toppings on a homemade pizza
• Pressing cookie cutters into soft dough

I’ve noticed that she eats more of what she helped make, and being the one who made it keeps her proud through the whole meal.

5. Cardboard box build

Save a big delivery box, and a 4-year-old will use their imagination for an hour. Ours become rocket ships, race cars, and castles, which is pretend play and construction in the same afternoon.

How you can set it up:

• Cut a door or a steering-wheel hole with the box on its side (the grown-up handles the blade).
• Put out crayons, stickers, and tape so kids decorate their own way.
• Add a cushion inside for a car seat or a cockpit.
• Line up a few boxes as a train when siblings join in.

Because there's no right way to build it, this one suits kids who love vehicles, dinosaurs, or anything they can climb inside.

6. Sensory bin

A sensory bin gives me calm, focused play for the price of a plastic tub. Dry rice, oats, or beans go in with cups, spoons, and a few small toys to dig for.

Keep it fresh:

• Rotate a theme, a construction site one week, an ocean scoop the next.
• Hide letters or plastic shapes to sort, which pairs neatly with these shape activities.
• Set one ground rule: rice stays in the bin, and put a sheet underneath.
• Swap in water and boats outside when the mess should stay out of the house.

This is my go-to on a long afternoon when I need 20 minutes of steady, focused play.

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7. Nature collage

On a walk, we collect leaves, petals, acorns, and twigs, then glue them onto cardboard back home. It stretches one outing into an outdoor hunt and an art project.

Make it count:

• Give each child a small bag and a "find 10 things" goal for the walk.
• Arrange finds into a face, an animal, or a repeating pattern before gluing.
• Talk through colors, textures, and where each piece came from.
• Press a few flat leaves in a book for a second project later.

My son narrates a whole story about his collage, which sneaks in new words without me needing to turn it into a lesson.

8. Dress-up and pretend play

Four is a peak age for make-believe, and pretend play is excellent for children’s development. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this kind of play because it helps kids practice language, problem-solving, and getting along with others.

Scenes we set up:

• A pretend vet clinic with stuffed-animal patients and a toy kit.
• A grocery store with empty food boxes and a shoebox register.
• Superheroes, cape made from a bath towel, on a rescue mission.
• A restaurant where my daughter takes my order and "cooks" it.

I follow her lead and stay in character, and a 10-minute scene often runs twice that long.

9. Process art and painting

My 4-year-old loves art, and it’s been so wholesome to see what they come up with. But as with most things, I care about the process, not the finished picture. I supply the materials and then take a step back. We use washable paint, a roll of paper, and an apron.

Ways to keep it fun:

• Skip brushes some days for sponges, cotton balls, or fingerprints.
• Tape a big sheet to the fence and paint outside when the weather allows.
• Offer 3 colors at a time to keep mixing exciting.
• Pin one favorite on the fridge so the effort feels seen.

The mess washes off, and my son is proud of art that looks like his, not mine.

10. Dance party and freeze

When I find that there’s too much energy in their little bodies, we play a dance game. It’s easy, fun, and a great way to manage the zoomies. I put on music, and we dance until the song stops, then everyone freezes. It burns energy and sharpens listening at the same time.

Raise the challenge:

• Call a pose to freeze in: one foot up, arms out like a tree.
• Take turns being the DJ who pauses the song.
• Add "dance like a robot" or "hop like a frog" between rounds.
• Dim the lights and hand out flashlights for a living-room disco.

On days we want rules and a scoreboard instead of a free-for-all, we switch to structured games for 4-year-olds at home.

11. Kitchen science: Sink or float

A bowl of water and a handful of household objects make a science lab my 4-year-old takes seriously. He guesses sink or float, then tests each one.

Try these next:

• Line up predictions first: a grape, a spoon, a cork, a crayon.
• Ask "why do you think so?" to get him explaining, not just naming.
• Mix a little baking soda and vinegar for a fizzy finish over the sink.
• Freeze small toys in ice and let him free them with warm water.

Guessing wrong is the best part, and it builds the habit of testing an idea instead of assuming.

12. Indoor camping and story time

When the day needs a slower ending before bed, we build a fort from couch cushions and blankets and camp inside with flashlights and books.

Cozy it up:

• Drape blankets over 2 chairs or the sofa for instant walls.
• Bring a flashlight each and a small stack of favorite books.
• Tell a made-up story where your child picks what happens next.
• Add stuffed-animal "campers" and pretend to roast marshmallows.

It ends the day calm instead of hyped up, and it costs nothing beyond the blankets already on the couch. If you’ve got younger kids at home, there are many activities for 3-year-olds that are fun too.

Bring more play to family time with Weekend

The most loved activities for 4-year-olds are the ones the whole family can join. The Weekend app on your smart TV adds a pile of them to keep everyone entertained. 

Open Weekend and you get one app for toddler sing-alongs, family trivia nights, and party rounds.

Here's what my household loves on the app:

• Jeopardy!, where you shout answers to real clues and rack up points like a contestant.
• Song Quiz, music trivia across decades and genres, where you hear a clip and call out the song and artist.
• Wheel of Fortune, for calling letters and solving the puzzle before the board fills in.
• Guess the Emoji, where the whole room races to decode emojis into movies and phrases and argues over the tricky ones.
• CoComelon: Sing & Play with JJ, for sing-and-move rounds with JJ that little ones join by singing along.
• Sketchy AF, a race to shout the answer before the doodle finishes drawing.
• Spot On, where you drop a pin on the globe to place cities and landmarks.
• Karaoke (on Roku), for singing your favorites and getting scored on lyrics and pitch.
• Meme Supreme, an adults-and-teens party round where players match memes to an absurd prompt, then vote anonymously on the funniest.

The Weekend app is on Roku, Fire TV, Samsung, and LG. Search for it in your TV's app store, start the 7-day free trial, and one app covers JJ sing-alongs for your 4-year-old and full-volume game nights for everyone else.

FAQs

What are the best activities for 4-year-olds?

The best activities for 4-year-olds mix movement, pretend play, and a little learning, like scavenger hunts, cardboard builds, and sensory bins. On rainy days, I open CoComelon: Sing & Play with JJ on the Weekend app (Fire TV, LG, Samsung) so my son sings and moves along with JJ and stays entertained.

What are good activities for 4-year-old boys?

Good activities for 4-year-old boys are usually high-energy or hands-on options. Think cardboard race cars, dance-and-freeze rounds, and sink-or-float experiments. Those interests aren't about gender, so the same ideas work for any 4-year-old who loves to build, move, or make a mess.

What are the best indoor activities for 4-year-olds?

The best indoor activities for 4-year-olds include sensory bins, dress-up pretend play, process art, and living-room dance parties. When the weather keeps us in, I rotate 2 or 3 of these and add a CoComelon: Sing & Play with JJ session on Weekend to keep the afternoon moving.

What are simple things to do with a 4-year-old at home?

Simple things to do with a 4-year-old at home are low-prep favorites like baking together, building a blanket fort, or finger-painting. I keep a short list ready, so I'm never inventing an activity when everyone is already restless.

Which activities work for both 3- and 4-year-olds?

Many 3- and 4-year-old activities overlap, like sensory bins, dance-and-freeze, and pretend play, with a 4-year-old handling more steps and rules. If you're planning for a younger sibling too, my activities for 3-year-olds list pairs well with this one.

How do I get the Weekend Games app on my smart TV?

To get the Weekend Games app on your smart TV, open the app store on your Roku, Fire TV, Samsung, or LG and search "Weekend Games." On my Fire TV, I tapped to install, launched it, and my son got into CoComelon: Sing & Play with JJ within a minute.