With the development of science and technology, more and more materials are coming out, at the same time,the demand for materials is increasing. Rare earth luminescent nanomaterials are different from conventional ones. They have the advantages of good physical and chemical stability, high temperature resistance, narrow luminescence band and high color purity which makes they show good prospect of applications in so many fields, such as light emitting devices, imaging and medicine and have become one of the hot spots. In this paper, the preparation and application of rare earth luminescent nanomaterials are reviewed, and the problems that need to be solved and the development prospects are discussed.