“When the child pronounces the sounds of the consonants he experiences an obvious pleasure. This series of sounds so varied and so well known, which come to life in the presence of an enigmatic symbol like a letter of the alphabet, are a novelty for him. There is a mystery about it that arouses in him an intense interest.” ~ Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child
Outdoor play time is an important part of each day. April in the South Carolina lowcountry typically means we can spend more of our day outside playing and learning. Lucky for us, there is no better classroom for children than what nature has to offer!
Playground Learning and Fun
There are several playgrounds nestled in natural settings within walking distance of our home. Each offers something unique, e.g., a train structure, spring riders, butterfly gardens, soccer nets, etc. Others offer climbing and exploring structures for kids of all ages. With so many choices, there’s always an opportunity for playground learning and fun.
Offering the Child a Choice
After hearing their playground options, the “Frog Playground” was requested by one young friend because of its frog spring-base riders. After a quick glance, he ran straight to the wooden play structure. Running ahead, he looked back and asked me to follow him to the slide, climbing rope, and tire swing. As I played along with him, I realized there was an opportunity to add a language twist to our fun.
Hide and Find Game
Before our playground adventure, we played “Hide and Find” at home with our alphabet playing cards. To play, we “hide” them all around the room—and in very obvious places. 😉 Next, we “find” the cards and return them to a floor mat. We then check to make sure every card is paired. Finally, we identify the letter name and sound on each card.
Following the same pattern, we played with our ‘Go-together’ cards. Once finished, we continued with the fifty states puzzle pieces in our USA puzzle map. Clearly in a heightened sensitive period for both language and movement, I knew I could interest him in a game that involved letter sounds in the great outdoors!
Letter Learning Outside
I began by saying “I spy with my little eye something that begins with s … “, while making an exaggerated hissing sound*… He looked around and wasn’t quite sure where I was going with this game. Next I made the sound, ’S, s, s… slide!!” He then smiled and repeated “Slide!!” I continued with “I spy … a ‘f, f, fuh…Frog!!” and so on until we had named everything within our view.
When it was time to leave, he began to say “I spy with my little eye…” We continued ‘spying’ all the way home. In between each object and letter, he would shout “Let’s do it again!!”. And that’s exactly what we did … all the way “huh, h, h, home”.
*Always introduce each beginning letter’s phonetic sound, not its name.