Outdoor Spelling and Phonics Activities

AimWith plenty of fresh air and space for moving around, the outdoors is a great place for children to practice phonics and spelling skills. Sticks, fingers and other objects can be used to write on soft surfaces such as sand, snow and mud, so writing into a surface! There is also the fun of deciding what object to use as your writing tool.

Phonics:Running Readers (Warm up activity, revising and reviewing)

You will need: Large A4 phoneme / word cards, laminated with a string.

Hang the phonemes around the outside area. “Who can be the first person to run to the phoneme / word………” . The children race to the relevant phoneme / word.

Continue until children are secure with the phoneme / words.

Variation: On reaching the phoneme card, children call out a word which starts with that phoneme.

Phoneme HopscotchYou will need: chalk a hopscotch grid onto the playground, fill the squares with phonemes.

Encourage the children to say the phonemes as they land on them.

Can they think of a word that includes that phoneme? Give the children chalks so that they can try making

their own grids.

Page 1

Parachute PhonicsYou will need: Parachute; children need to wear phoneme or spelling word eg printed on a sticker to wear; (or large A4 letter / word cards, laminated with a string ‘hoop’ added for the children to wear as necklaces around their necks; or tabards with waterproof slots to slip letter or word cards inside).

You need two lots of each sound, or word.

Make sure the children check they know what is written on their sticker to start with.

The children hold on to the parachute and shake gently. Say a word / phoneme worn by some of the children. All of the children lift the parachute above their heads. The children wearing the stated phoneme / word run underneath the

parachute and swap places. Play continues and can be extended by increasing the number of

phonemes / words swapping at the same time.

You can still play this game without a parachute - just run and swap across the circle instead.

Phoneme Treasure HuntsYou will need: A clipboard for each child with some initial phonemes on.

Children find objects in the outdoor area that begin with that phoneme. Remember to check there are some first (or contrive some objects)!

Variations: Print and laminate pictures for the children to find in the outdoor area. Ask the children to write the words when they find the picture.

Hide laminated cards with phonemes around the outdoor area and ask children to find the sounds to make a word.

Page 2

Circle of SoundYou will need: Children need to wear phoneme or spelling word eg printed on a sticker to wear; (or large A4 letter / word cards, laminated with a string ‘hoop’ added for the children to wear as necklaces around their necks; or tabards with waterproof slots to slip letter or word cards inside).

Several children need to be wearing the same phonemes / word vests. Shout out a letter, word or sound and those children wearing a card

featuring the letter, word or sound have to run all the way around the outside of the circle. The first back to their place wins!

Variations: Incorporate the bean bags for throwing and catching sounds to each

other. Throw a beanbag to a child and ask them to shout out the sound written on it to start their friends running!

Phonics SticksYou will need: sticks.

Using sticks for those children who find letter formation tricky, can be a way of removing the handwriting pressure.

You could use sound buttons with recorded sounds and ask the children to create the matching grapheme with sticks. Or use the sticks to spell out entire words!

Phonics Websites: http://learninglady.co.uk/taking-phonics-outside http://learninglady.co.uk/more-fun-phonics-outdoors https://www.consortiumeducation.com/classroom-ideas/5-ideas-for-

outdoor-phonics This activity develops letter recognition and fine motor skills by as

children complete task cards by making letters of the alphabet out of natural materials.https://www.educateoutside.com/resource/letter-art

Outdoor Phonics. Over 25 ideas to teach phonics in active way by Sue Dixon founder of The Thinking Child.https://creativestarlearning.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Outdoor-phonics-master.pdf

Page 3

Spellings:Spelling Relay A activity that’s good for improving working memory.

You will need: Flashcards with spelling words, clipboard, paper and pencil.

Children need to be in teams of 4-6. One member of each team runs to the teacher and has

15 secs to read the spelling card. They then run back to their team and write the word down (hopefully spelt correctly!).

When they have written the word the next team member goes up and collects the next word and continue until all the words have been written down.

Give points for spelling the words correctly and bonuses for coming first, second, third etc in the relay.

What strategies did the children use to help remember the words? (eg shapes of words, smaller words inside longer words, splitting the word up into syllables etc).

Different teams can work on different sets of words, allowing for differentiation.

Spelling RulesYou will need: Signs with spelling rules on; whiteboards and pens or clipboard, paper and pencil.

Around the grounds arrange signs with the focussed spelling rules on. For example, adding the suffix "-ing" to the verb:

when a verb ends in "e", drop the "e" and add "-ing". when a one-syllable verb ends in vowel + consonant, double the

final consonant and add "-ing". When a verb ends in vowel + consonant with stress on the final

syllable, double the consonant and add "-ing". Do not double the consonant of words with more than one syllable

if the stress is not on the final syllable. Call out a root word (eg hit, remember, take, begin). Children write the word on paper / whiteboard and then run to stand near

the spelling rule that they have applied. You can then do ‘1,2,3 show me’ for children to show their whiteboards,

to see the results and address misconceptions.

Variations: Use for rules for adding other suffixes, plurals, etc.

Page 4

Spelling HopscotchYou will need: Draw a hopscotch board on the playground; list of spelling words.

Give each person a word to spell as they jump through the boxes.

If they spell the word incorrectly, they must repeat that word on their next turn.

The first person to get through the entire board wins.

Spelling TossYou will need: a ball or beanbag, spelling words.

Players stand in a circle. Call out a word, and throw the ball to a child, who tries to spell the word.

If the word isn’t spelt correctly, the pupil tosses the ball to another person who will try to spell it.

If it is spelt correctly, the player tosses the ball to another player and the teacher gives them a new word to spell.

Spelling Tennis Take it in turns with a partner to say the letters to spell a given word.

Spelling Sticks Similar activity to the phonics spelling sticks. Find natural objects that are letter shaped. Bring back to the group. What letters have we found? Can you spell a word using the letters? Can

you create letters and/or key spelling words out of sticks? Can you make a complete alphabet?

Page 5

Spelling Anagram Races (1)

You will need: alphabet letters / tiles.

Put children into teams of 3, 4 or 5 – this number depends on whether you want to focus on 3, 4, or 5 letter words.

In their teams children stand at one end of the outdoor space. At the other end, facing each team is a pile of alphabet tiles for them to

use. (One pile of mixed letters per team) Shout out a number – 3, 4 or 5. The teams have to run to their pile of letter tiles and make a 3, 4, or 5

letter word using the tiles. They then mix up the letters and leave it on the ground – to make an anagram.

On the teacher’s signal, each team swaps with another team. They have to unscramble the word they find as quickly as they can.

When they have finished they sit down. The first team to successfully unscramble their word wins a point. You can chose whether you deduct points for mis-spellings!

Adapted from Sue Dixon, The Thinking Child Consultancy.

Spelling Anagram Races (2)

You will need: alphabet letters / tiles; flashcards of the words you are focussing on.

Put the children into teams of 4 In their teams children stand at one end of the outdoor space. At the other end, facing each team is a pile of alphabet tiles for them to

use. (One pile of mixed letters per team) The team run to their letter pile and select the letters to make the word

on the spelling flashcard they have been given. They then mix up the letters and leave it on the ground – to make an anagram.

On the teacher’s signal, each team swaps with another team. They have to unscramble the word they find as quickly as they can.

When they have finished they sit down. The first team to successfully unscramble their word wins a point. You can chose whether you deduct points for mis-spellings!

Page 6

Websites Over 100 ideas for Outdoor Literacy for KS1 and KS2 by Sue Dixon

founder of The Thinking Child. Spelling activities included alongside different activities at word, sentence and text level.https://creativestarlearning.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Outdoor_Literacy_Pack_LowRes.pdf

Page 7