Get Outside with these Springtime Literacy Activities!

(Photo credit by Matthew Henry from Burst)

Spring is here!  Welcome the season by getting outside with these fresh and fun literacy games and activities!  

Pre-K and K:   

• Alphabet Egg Hunt:  
• Write each letter of the alphabet on a piece of paper and put it in a plastic egg.  Hide the eggs outside. When an egg is found, name and say the sound of the letter inside.  

• Nature Walk:  
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1st and 2nd:

• Picnic lunch and story:  Grab a blanket and a book and enjoy a picnic while listening to a story.  When it’s finished, act out what happened or your favorite part.
• Go on a Treasure Hunt:  Hide a small prize outside. Write at least four directions on separate index cards that will lead them to the treasure.  For example,  1.Take 4 giant steps.  2. Turn right and run to the closest tree.  3. Find a plant with red blooms near the tree.  4. Look behind the plant. (You can make this into another activity by having the children hide a treasure and write the clues for the adult.)  
• Paint your Sight Words:  Use a bucket of water and a paintbrush to write sight words on your driveway.  

3rd and up:  

• Jump Rope Rhyming:  Practice jump roping as you make up rhymes.  Check out books like Anna Banana: 101 Jump Rope Rhymes or Miss Mary Mack and Other Children's Street Rhymes by Joanna Cole for ideas. Practice writing your own.  
• I Spy...Outside:  Go outside and spend time making observations and talking about what you see.  Then brainstorm a list of your observations. Choose an item from your list and write an “I Spy…….Outside” Poem by writing 3 clues about the object without naming it.  The last sentence will say “What am I?”

          For example:  I am gray. I have a bushy tail.  I like to eat nuts. What am I?

• Adjective Freeze Tag:  Name an object.  Play tag, but when a player gets tagged, they have to name an adjective that describes that object in order to become “unfrozen”.  You can play this game with other parts of speech and vocabulary.

So go outside and get some exercise for your body and your brain with these fun and physical springtime activities!