There is something lovely about learning your alphabet and letters outside in nature.
If you’re a parent or educator and want to spend more time outside, along with providing your children with tactile, hands-on activities that genuinely make learning fun, then you’ll want to save this list of outdoor literacy ideas.
Believe it or not, you can learn the alphabet, writing, phonological awareness, and more in the great outdoors.
Here are some simple ideas to get you started.
Outdoor Literacy Ideas for Kids
Alphabet hunt
You can either look for the actual letter made by nature, for example, you should be able to find the letter Y and L by looking for sticks. Or, you can Search your school ground or local area for things that begin with each letter of the alphabet. A-ant, B -bark, C – crazy teacher, and so on.
We found all the letters of the alphabet. Inspire your children to do the same here.
Sight word hide and seek
Write sight words or vocabulary words on individual cards. Now, hide them throughout the yard or playground. Your kids will love to seek them out. Have someone call out a word and then try to find the hidden word.
Spelling Rocks
Children can both make and then use letter rocks to create words and to practice using the letters they have learned to spell words too.
Act out a story
I think going on a bear hunt is the best book to enjoy together outside. The repetition is the perfect combination of literacy and acting the movements out. Children might like to create their own version of going on a bear hunt too? Perhaps they’re hunting for something entirely different!
Read books outside
This seems obvious but we often forget that we have the option of taking books outside. Either they can read a book outside by themselves or find a shady spot and read a nature book together. I’ve compiled a huge list of nature books for kids right here for you. How many do you have?
Paint words with water
Let’s make spelling or learning sight words fun! Gather a bucket with water and a paintbrush for each child and head outside. Children can “paint” words on the cement outside your home or classroom, or if your building is made from brick, this works well too. If it’s really warm outside, your words will disappear like magic.
Create nature cards for someone special
Get your children to decorate a card for someone special. Use nature to decorate the cards and then get them to write a special note to their mum, dad, or a good friend.
Writing words with sticks
Kids love writing their name in the dirt, however, if you’re not comfortable stirring up more dust around your home or school, then how about collecting sticks and then using them to spell out their own name on the grass instead?
I hope you enjoyed all these outdoor literacy ideas. There really are so many opportunities to take literacy out in nature.
Leave a Reply