This week was a crazy, busy, hectic, fun, exciting, and learning centered one. Instead of just having the two babes this week we were lucky enough to have two more little ones join us. They are 5 going on 6 and I have known, and cared for them their whole lives. Kindergarten is fast approaching for them, so I took this week as an opportunity to get them back into the mindset of playing hard but also learning and practicing. We played math games, read lots of books, made our own books, built “robots” from loose parts, painted, and my absolute favorite of the week: simultaneously explored nature and literacy. I LOVED this activity because it gave it them time and space to explore nature, while drawing a correlation between natural objects and letter sounds. It really is a very simple activity, but it is filled with opportunity.
{This activity is VERY adaptable to younger & older children. It was even great for the babies because they both love being outside & roaming around in the grass}
First, I explained to them that we would be going on a nature hike and that they would be gathering items in nature. I told them that they would then come back and sort through their objects and lay them on a large sheet of paper with the alphabet written on it. They would then sort the items by the first letter of the word. As an extension I later had them choose a few of the objects and write out the word phonetically.
Next, I asked them to help me get ready for the activity by choosing the materials we would need to be successful in our endeavor. The gathered baskets for carrying the objects, scissors for cutting, kraft paper for writing the alphabet, and rocks with letters on them (which I had previously made for another activity). They were more creative then I would have been because I would have just written the alphabet on the paper. Instead they choose the rocks and laid them out on the paper. This is why I always like to have them plan with me. It becomes THEIR activity, instead of being wholly mine. They are more interested & get to exercise their creativity.
Then, we left on our nature hunt…
They gathered the items that they wanted to use. The items included flowers, grass, weeds, sticks, apples, leaves, petals and more.
Once they were satisfied with the materials that they had chosen we walked back to the house and they laid out their materials on the sheet of paper with the alphabet. We completed the above mentioned extension later in the day.
I hope you find this a useful activity for you & your little ones!
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