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ABC Learning with Sidewalk Chalk

A fun activity that will help your child learn, too!

By Jen Schorr August 14, 2013


My son, Blake, has become infatuated with letters. He loves pointing out letters on street signs, in the newspaper, on his toys - really anywhere he sees them. He also loves being outside (what kid doesn't!) And with the nice weather we've been having, I wanted to do something with him outside that would encourage his love of both the outdoors and letter recognition. So, I came up with a very simple activity that he had so much fun playing.

To create this game, all you need is some sidewalk chalk and a driveway or sidewalk. Begin by writing all the letters of the alphabet randomly on the driveway. Make them pretty big so your child can see them from a distance away. I wrote mine in different colors, but you can use just one color, if you'd like.

There are several different things we did with these letters:

  • Ask your child to start at A and sing the alphabet, finding each letter along the way.
  • See if your child can find each letter of his/her name.
  • Play a game (this was my son's favorite). Ask your child to do different things while finding a certain letter. For example:
    • Run to the letter R.
    • Sit on the letter Q.
    • Find the letter D and bark like a dog.
    • Walk slowly to the letter M.
    • Jump on the letter U.
    • Skip in a circle around the letter L.


Those are just a few ideas, but it gets your child moving and learning at the same time! When Blake and I played it, he did not want to go inside. He was having too much fun. Another great thing about this activity is that it is free! For older kids, you could have them run around to the letters from their list of spelling words. I did notice that after a little while, my son had already begun to memorize where the letters were on the driveway, but that's another great feature of this activity - once it rains, you can recreate it all over again with the letters in different spots!

Have fun!