My kids and I love to run. Earlier this year I shared about our Family Jogging Club and how we use it to keep our kids having fun while they are moving. We also love to create movement games.
Last week I created an alphabet and making words jogging game that my kids had a great time playing.
This activity only required comfy shoes, foam alphabet letters, and a large space to run around.
(Side note: My kids love Crocs and so do I because they can put them on by themselves. Do you have another favorite shoes that are easy for kids to put on and easy to run in? Add them in the comments please)
To play the game the first thing the kids had to do was scatter foam alphabet letters all around our cul-de-sac on the pavement.
Next the kids found a spot on our "starting line" on the sidewalk and then raced around the cul-de-sac to pick up five or six of their favorite letters.
Once the kids collected their favorite letters, they raced over to a spot by our driveway to talk about the letters they found. Then they tried to make some words with their alphabet letters. They wasted no time finding some goofy words to spell (piw = poo? so they were laughing for awhile about that one).
While my five-year-old spelled his name and made several words he'd learned at kindergarten (sight words, word family words, etc), my almost three-year-old talked with me about each letter she found and what words started with that letter and places she'd seen the letters before.
After we spelled a few words, we ran the letters back to their spots on the pavement, then we ran around and grabbed new letters. Once we had new letters we ran back and tried to spell different words. The longer we played, the smarter my son got at making sure to select a few vowels and consonants instead of just selecting consonants.
My three-year-old and I also went on a name jog and jogged around trying to find the letters in her name that we spread all over the cul-de-sac.
While we played, I jogged and pushed the baby in our jogging stroller... so I got a workout too!
We played again and again until we were all sufficiently worn out and then we ran around and picked up all of the alphabet letters.
Our Alphabet Jogging Game is part of the Move and Learn Series that I am joining along with Hands On: As We Grow, The Pleasantest Thing, and Coffee Cups and Crayons.
Our alphabet jogging game is just a fun way to play with and explore alphabet letters while getting your whole body involved!
Make sure to check out this week’s other Move and Learn activities below and then join the four of us next week for even more move and learn ideas!
- Star Wars Word Run from The Pleasantest Thing
- Search and Match Shape Outlines from Hands On: As We Grow
- Alphabet Letter Charades from Coffee Cups and Crayons
You can also check out our Move and Learn Pinterest Board for more inspiration!
Alphabet jogging game is an innovative outdoor game with full of energy and interest to play. I really love your ideas.
LOVE it!!! We are totally playing this when it finally stops raining! My 3 and 5 year olds will love it. 🙂
Such fun! I think that this would work in a small group of kindergartners, too!
This makes me wish my own little girls were small again. Boo hoo! Well, I'll have grandkids someday, right?
Heidi Butkus
heidisongs.com
What a great way to get moving and work with letters!
What a great idea! This would be a great activity for when my little guy needs to blow off some steam!
oh my goodness your kids are getting so big Kristina! I love this one! REALLY getting them moving 🙂