Chalk is a fun outdoor tool, but it's not the only game in town. If you're looking for something to keep your kid busy on a warm day, and give him some writing practice in the process, look no further than that mound of dirt in your yard and the hose sitting nearby. Bring on the mud!
Mud is a cheap, tactile, and delightful way for kids to practice with all those new words they learned in kindergarten, as they get ready for first grade. With a paintbrush and a bucket of mud, your child can practice sight words, word families, or a whole slew of other concepts that might not seem that appealing in worksheet form, but are a blast to experiment with when mud's involved.
What You Need:
- A small mound of clean dirt, free of pebbles, grass, or other debris
- Paintbrush (not too wide — pick a size that your child can write with easily, perhaps 1" wide)
- Sidewalk, pavement, or other light colored outdoor surface
What You Do:
- Put the dirt in the bucket. Mix in water, a little bit at a time, until you have a thin muddy consistency-- you want painting to be smooth and easy.
- Depending on how much motivation your child needs, you can get him started by painting a few word families on the pavement, such as "at" and "ug" and challenging him to come up with as many words as he can (for example, "cat", "hat", "bat"...) or you can just hand over the bucket and paintbrush and set him loose!
- Looking for some more ideas? Ask your child to paint as many words as he can, spelling them without your help. Or paint the beginning of some sentences on the pavement and ask him to finish your sentences-- you can even do your own version of Mud Madlibs! Practice painting the names of everyone in the family, or shout out a sight word and ask him to paint it for you.
- When it's time for cleanup, hose down the area (and your child if needed!) Or just leave the mud on the pavement until the next rain.