And here's one more outside literacy activity I've been meaning to post:
I was inspired by this post from Wise Craft, and also this one and this one from Activity Mom. My kids are rock-obsessed in the first place, which made this activity an instant hit.
So far, my boys have used the rocks to just make any words they could. (The 6 year old helped the 4 year old quite a bit with this.) Then they started to build words off of other words, Scrabble style. Then we tried to build as many words as we could in 2 minutes. The 4 year old loves lining them up in alphabetical order as fast as he can.
Pretty simple! I'm planning to leave them in our rock pile outside to use all summer. I think these would lend themselves to lots of other alphabet games. What do you think?
9 comments:
What a fun way to practice spelling words! Kids get tired of writing them 3 times each over and over!
Also, Larger Rocks stamped with DAD would make a nice gift for Dad for the garden.
Jen
Creative and Curious Kids!
Jen, Those are both great ideas! You're right, practicing spelling words with these would be fun, and a good way to make it a more kinesthetic activity!
Great minds think alike! Around the same time, I posted along similar lines on my blog. http://creativestarlearning.blogspot.com/2010/06/stones-part-1.html
Interestingly in the outdoor schools in Sweden, children begin to learn their phonics through making the letters and sounds outside first. The final stage is indoors and handwriting but only after making a letter with sticks or stones or flowers, then drawing it in sand, mud, etc. Next it's an art activity. Then it's the handwriting.
Thanks for sharing
Juliet
Thanks for sharing your awesome post, Juliet! We’re looking forward to trying some of your other rock ideas soon. The storytelling idea looks like so much fun!
I love that approach to handwriting instruction! -Begin with lots of multisensory activities well before putting pencil to paper. Thanks for visiting!
We will definitely try this out this summer. Thanks for the inspiration.
Just love this idea! Can't believe I didn't leave a comment back when I first saw it and saved the link. I'm going to share this idea with a link to your blog on 6-15-11. I'm also using your picture if that is ok. Haven't finished my set yet. =)
Just saw the link to this at ABC and 123. This is perfect timing because our letter of the week is R. And my girls love rocks. Cool idea.
Love this -- I will totally be giving this a try!
Do you try to keep track of them somehow (like keeping them in a container of some sort?) or do you just assume they will scatter and have to be renewed every once in awhile?
Thanks!
Hi Kristin, I’m so glad you like the idea! We keep ours in a separate container. (I have them in a little empty garden pot.) I do find them mixed in with our other rocks occasionally. Also, it’s probably not wise to leave them out all winter in the rain. I did! They have faded a lot, even though I used permanent ink. I hope you guys have fun with them! Thanks!
Also, thank you everyone else for your nice comments! I thought I replied to them the other day, but I see now that my comments didn't show up--sorry! I'd love to hear how it goes with your kiddos!
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