Outdoor Alphabet Fun

Children love being outside, hunting for treasure, and meeting challenges, so why not combine all three for a fun afternoon of finding things that begin with letters from the alphabet?

Grade: Preschool and Kindergarten

Target Learning Skills:

Letter Recognition
Phonological Awareness

Common Core Standard:

FS.K.1d Recognize and name all upper-and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
FS.K.3f Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.

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Children love being outside, hunting for treasure, and meeting challenges, so why not combine all three for a fun afternoon of finding things that begin with letters from the alphabet? The focus of the activity can be on one letter, a handful of letters, or all twenty-six, depending on the ages of the children and their familiarity with the ABCs. Children may have trouble finding items that begin with more difficult letters such as “x” and “q,” but this can lead to natural opportunities for discussing letters that begin many words and those that do not (“‘x’ is a letter that comes more often at the end of words, like ‘box,’ instead of at the beginning”). Another option is to stage the outdoor environment with particular items beginning with each letter prior to the activity beginning.

Children can identify items that begin with each target letter and group them together, or they can line them up on a sidewalk or a porch in alphabetical order (this works with smaller objects that can be easily moved by children). Children can label the items with cards marked with individual letters. The Walking the Alphabet printables from the KidsSoup.com library, which have the individual letters marked on footprints, are a fun choice. (See below the free printables!)

In addition to labeling items outside that begin with the letters of the alphabet, children can use the Walking the Alphabet footprint cards for all sorts of other kinds of outdoor alphabet fun. They can follow or construct paths that lead to exciting things to see (i.e., a tree with a bird’s nest, a chrysalis, a heart-shaped leaf, an ant hill) or to hidden things to play with (a ball, a flying disc, binoculars, a bug viewer). The paths can spell names, particular words, or show the letters in alphabetical order.

A second letter hunt option is for children to take a set of letter cards, such as those from the Walking the Alphabet printables, and label items that begin with each letter as they walk around (this works better for larger objects that cannot be moved).

The footprints letters can also be mixed-up and laid out on a flat surface where children can jump from letter to letter, saying the name of each letter as they land or the sound it makes. Or they can sing the alphabet song as they jump from letter to letter in alphabetical order. The possibilities are endless. Please feel free to share any related ideas you may have in the comment section. The more the merrier!

FREE KidsSoup Walking the Alphabet Printables: