We were all out working in the backyard this weekend – moving dirt, digging out lawn, pulling weeds, and discovering lots of minibeasts in the process…and it got me thinking about the literacy learning potential of spending time outdoors….
Listening & Speaking
- Listen to the sounds that you can hear outdoors – tree leaves rustling in the wind, a dog barking, a plane overhead, water running, a car driving by, etc.
- Lie back on the grass and look at the clouds. Describe what you can see, what the clouds look like to you.
- Go on a bug hunt to see what minibeasts you can find around your backyard. Today we found worms, crickets, grasshoppers, butterflies, slaters (roly polies) and a ladybird. There was lots of observation and talking around our finds – questioning, naming and describing.
- Observe and discuss the seasonal changes that you can see around your yard.
- Involve your toddler or preschooler in gardening and chores around the backyard and talk to him or her about what your are doing and why it is important, this is a great way to introduce lots of new vocabulary.
Reading & Writing
- Hand over the camera and let your child take photographs of their backyard discoveries. Compile the photos into a book of their own. With pre-writers, you scribe the text (like I have demonstrated in this post) whilst bigger kids can write their own observations.
- Measure and record the growth of the vegetables in your vegie garden. For younger children use non-standard measurement units like, “Let’s count how many hand spans long the pumpkin vine is.” For school aged children, using a tape measure reinforces their learning about measurement and number.
- Make a field journal.
- Start a bird book.
- Children learning to read might like a game of hide and seek word fun!
- Recycle some of your well loved picture books for outdoor use.
- Add a chalkboard to your backyard.
- Enjoy a treasure hunt with a picture map or written clues.
Taking it outdoors definitely adds an element of fun to literacy learning!
What is Childhood 101′s Literacy Spot? It is a weekly reminder of the importance of young children learning playfully as each week I share one idea for playing around with literacy, taken from my many years working as an early childhood teacher. Visit the previous Literacy Spot posts for more fun ideas for playing with literacy.
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
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