This is such an easy activity and one that you will return to over and over again! Get your kids outside with this fun alphabet activity that you can try in the garden or just place the alphabet stones around the yard! Kids will love searching for them and get super excited when they see the chalk letters magically disappear with the help of the watering can.
This is one of those activities that you can 100% tailor to meet the needs and the interests of the children you are working with. If you have multiple children at home, you could have one child searching for alphabet letters and the other searching for sight words. If your children need help with math skills, you could write numbers or draw dots on the stones for counting. This is a naturally differentiated activity that helps children learn in a fun and active way.
Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..
Supplies:
- Stones
- Chalk
- Watering Can
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RELATED: Check out 10+ Simple and Beautiful Stone Activities for Kids
Here’s How I Made the Boards:
Step 1:
This is basically the only step! Just write letters on stones with chalk and hide them in your garden! Remember you can do this exact same activity with numbers, words, shapes, or anything else you are currently working on.
A few of the stones that I wrote on were larger stones and already set in the garden. Once I hid the rest of the smaller stones, we were ready for the alphabet letter scavenger hunt! I tried to have a nice mix of easy to find stones and a few that were a bit more tricky to find.
My four year old was completely sold when he found out there was a watering can involved. He loves watering plants in our yard, so this was pretty exciting for him!
This activity is also great for gross motor skills. As you can see in the photo below, he is working on balance, coordination, physical strength and so much more!
Leo loved searching for the letters and would shout out the letter names as he found them. I challenged him on a few and asked if he knew the letters sounds.
I plan on trying this with my older son next with sight words he’s been working on. This is so much better than a boring worksheet!
When he finished the activity, he grabbed the chalk and wrote some letters on a few rocks because he wanted to keep going! This one kept him busy for long time, was inexpensive, and got him outdoors! We’ll definitely revisit this activity a few more times this summer:)
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I hope you give this simple nature activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.
∼Tara
Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:
Four Ways to Use Stones in the Classroom
Dandelion Rock Family
