Head outdoors and try this simple alphabet tracing activity that uses chalk and rocks. Tracing letters has never been this fun!
It is officially sidewalk chalk season here at our house. Which, if you have a hyperlexic child, then you know that's a big pretty deal. That means letters and words and numbers everywhere. And I mean everywhere!
Literally every surface in our backyard has been colored with chalk, including K's black fedora. His hat may or may not be covered with random strings of numbers. So I came up with this chalk alphabet tracing activity, hoping that hats would be spared.
Chalk & Rock Alphabet Tracing: What You'll Need
Here's what you'll need to do this tracing activity at home:
- Sidewalk chalk - To draw large letters for tracing. You could do lowercase letters or uppercase letters. Your choice.
- Small rocks and pebbles - What will be used to do the tracing and letter formation practice.
Before we did this alphabet tracing activity, we actually went on a rock hunt. I was hoping to walk to the pond near our house to collect large rocks, but the boys had other plans. Instead, we went for a walk around our crescent and collected some small rocks along the way.
When we returned home, I drew uppercase letters with the sidewalk chalk. I then showed the boys how the rocks could be used to trace the chalk letters. They were immediately interested. Of course they were...hello, hyperlexia!
Time to Work on those Letter Tracing Skills!
Now that we had all of our materials and some chalk letters draw, it was time to start tracing letters. Together, the three of us traced the letter A with rocks, carefully following the chalk lines. We tried to trace them using the correct letter formation. But if you have toddlers and preschoolers, you know that they have a tendency to do their own thing which is totally okay too.
After the letter A was completely traced with rocks, my boys moved on to tracing the letter B.
The boys worked their way through a few different letters, in a random order, before deciding it was snack time. Apparently they were too hungry to even finish the letter C...but the stomach wants what it wants. And now! So food will always trump doing yet another different alphabet tracing.
But there you have it! A quick and easy way to do some alphabet tracing practice outdoors.
Other Fun Ways to Practice Letters You'll Love
