While literacy is often associated with indoor activities, there is truly no reason to keep the magic of reading and writing indoors. Here, we present five marvellous outdoor literacy activities to engage with your little ones. We hope you find them as delightful as we do!
Build a fairytale village
Forests, gardens, and woodlands have a special enchantment that is perfect for imaginative storytelling! Why not build your very own fairy village and let children share stories about the magical fairies who live there? You can incorporate new adjectives or keywords from your phonics sessions or simply let the storytelling flow naturally!
What you’ll need:
- D43800 - Rustic Crooked Fairy Houses
Create a reading den
Snuggling up with a book does not have to be limited to your indoor reading area. Why not create an exciting reading den outdoors? You could use our Umbu Arch to provide an excellent starting point. Just add blankets, tarps, scarves, and pillows for a cosy and fun setup!
What you’ll need:
- D49421 – Umbu Group Arch Outdoor
- D57838 – Cosy Wooden Crate Seats
Go on an alphabet hunt
Being outdoors brings a perfect opportunity to embark on an adventure to find different letters of the alphabet! Our standing wooden alphabet is a fantastic resource to kickstart this activity. If you have progressed to phase 2 of your phonics scheme, encourage children to search for sounds they have learned and combine letters to identify digraphs.
What you’ll need:
- 821081 – Standing Wooden Alphabet
Engage in outdoor role play
Role play is an integral part of early years education that can be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors. Try setting up a pretend shop to foster essential communication and language skills.
What you’ll need:
- D76061 – Takoma Open Shed/Cafe and Instructions
Make words with stepping stones
Promote physical development and activity through a hands-on word-building game! Children can jump from one stepping stone to another, constructing CVCs (consonant-vowel- consonant) and CVCCs (consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant) as they move along.
What you’ll need:
- D58948 – Alphabet Stepping Wooden Discs
Enjoyed reading this blog? We've got loads more ideas and inspiration for early years teachers in our Little Learners magazine. This article has been taken from our latest issue. Click here to check it out.
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