Summer Sidewalk Chalk Activity to Reinforce Learning at Home
School is out and summer is here. Your kids will want to be outside soaking up the sun and fresh air. Here is an activity that you can do with your preschool-aged child to reinforce math and language arts skills outside in the sunshine. Don’t forget sunscreen and a hat!
Materials:
· Sidewalk chalk and a sidewalk or blacktop
· Stones, sticks, or any countable outside item.
Math Activities:
- Write the numbers 1-5 using sidewalk chalk on the surface of your choice. Space them fairly far apart.
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Have child trace and write the numbers around your examples using different colors of chalk.
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Make dots representing the number underneath the number you wrote (three dots for the number three).
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Ask child to get that many objects (sticks, stones, leaves, acorns, dandelions) to place under the number.
Language Arts Activities:
- Practice writing child’s name in sidewalk chalk.
- Go on a scavenger hunt for items around the yard that begin with same letter that belongs in the child’s name.
· Example: The child’s name is Trevor so you can find a Tree for T, Rock for R, Earthworm for E, Vines for V, Orange Flower for O, Rabbit for R. The child can place the item with the letter or you can draw a picture of it if that is not possible.
There are many ways to incorporate what your child is learning at school in your day-to-day life in fun activities. Make the whole world your child’s classroom and each lesson exciting.
Tips:
Before or after the activity it is a good idea to let the child explore on their own with the sidewalk chalk without much structure. This will encourage independence and creativity and will allow the child to relax and focus for the academic portion of the activity.
Click here to read Keren Perles’s article for more fun using sidewalk chalk and a whole series on outdoor fun.