Toddler Activity: outdoor fun with Alphabet Jump

My kids love getting out and about outside, and I like it too now that the youngest isn’t crawling about in the dirt constantly. She’s up and almost running, doing whatever her sister is doing and being terribly adorable all the while.

One of the things that Abby has loved to do lately (now that we’ve moved to a new house that has a big slab of concrete) is to draw outdoors. She often asks me to draw or write things, and loves to see her own name written down. I merged this game with her new love of hopscotch, and Alphabet Jump was born!

For the basic version, you can write block letters on the ground (or even shapes or colours for the younger crowd) and call out a letter. The child then has to find the letter on the ground and jump on it. Simple as that! But I’ve also varied it somewhat as she’s grown (she’s almost three and I can barely keep up with how fast she is learning!)

Extension ideas:

1. Have the child jump on a whole word (Abby is great at recognising names, so that’s what we use).

2. Have the child jump on all the “E”s she can find, or all the “A”s. You can give hints by telling them how many there are (“jump on all three “P”s!’), or let them figure out the total number.

3. Have them make a sentence with smaller words by jumping on each word in their proper order.

4. Have them spell out a word they choose by jumping on the letters in proper order.

5. Have them jump on the word you call out, and then jump on the corresponding picture.

6. Have them jump on a letter and then name one thing that starts with that letter.

7. Test their memory by having them jump in a pattern – “Jump on the “I”, the “C” and then the “D”!”

8. Call out a word and they have to find the letter it starts with and jump on it.

9. Call out a word and have them jump on the letters that spell it out.

10. Ask them to jump on a vowel or a consonant.

Obviously you can tailor it to their skill level, but it’s a good, fun way of getting outside for some fresh air and exercise while also learning letters and language.