Today, I’m happy to participate in the 100 Days of Play Blog Hope hosted by Sun Scholars and Life at the Zoo. Each day, a different blogger is sharing one easy play idea to help you connect with your kids.
Here is an activity that we are doing as part of our Alphabet Summer Fun. Now that the weather is beautiful, it’s a perfect time to take a listening walk.
Listening Walk Directions
1. Read the story, The Listening Walk by Paul Showers (optional).
2. Take a quiet walk through your neighborhood. Listen to all the sounds you hear. Super young kids can tell you what they hear. Little ones can draw pictures of what they hear in a journal and older kids can make a list. Who heard the most sounds?
3. Once at home, you can turn your list into a picture book (optional).
Variation: Take a walk in a quieter or nosier location. Compare your lists.
Listening walks are great at developing sound discrimination which is important for language and reading development.
I hope you can add this one simple activity to your summer fun with kids. Not only will you be enjoying each other’s company outdoors, but you will also be building literacy skills! And, if you are looking for more outdoor literacy ideas, you will want to check out my post on Outdoor Literacy.
Happy playing and thanks for reading! Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS Feed . You can also like us on Facebook or follow us on Pinterest.
100 Days of Play Blog Hop
Sharing simple ideas on how to connect with your children through
play!
New ideas shared each day from 4/1 – 7/20.
spread the word!
Dee says
I love this!! We go “exploring” often, but I will definitely incorporate “listening” walks! – Dee @ From Wine to Whine
Jen says
We love going on listening walks. It is so important to be quiet sometimes and simply listen to nature. Thanks for linking to the Outdoor Play Party.
Rachel says
What a fun idea for getting outside and playing in a new way with your kids. I love how it encourages them to recognize things that are always there, but perhaps always missed! Thanks for sharing a great way to play in our 100 Days of Play Blog Hop! Happy to have you joining the fun! Your post has been linked and shared!
Coombemill says
So much to be learned on a listening walk
Sam @ Thrive 360 Living says
Love this activity. We actually did it earlier this week. Once a week we go on a breakfast walk (we take our waffles with us) and this week we were all about listening to all of the sounds that surrounded us. We’ll have to check out that book.
JodieRodriguez says
I love the waffle idea Sam!