10 Teachable Moments on a Walk Around the Block with Your Kids

Learning Benefits: Imagination, Listening and Speaking, Counting, Observation

1. How many steps? Have your child count steps as they walk and record the number in a small notebook. You can compare the difference in totals when they walk, skip, or run.
2. Make a graph. Supply a pad and pen and have child tick off the different kinds of buildings they see. Count up the apartment buildings, houses , schools, libraries, shops, etc. Have them express the information with a bar graph, a pie chart, and a list.
3. See, feel, hear, taste, touch. Encourage them to tap into their five senses, one at a time. They can start by closing their eyes and concentrating just on sounds. Have them describe or write down what their experiences .
4. Map it out. Have them take notes on the location of homes, businesses, schools, or parks in your neighborhood. At home later, they can use graph paper, construction paper, or clay to create a neighborhood map.
5. Try the genre game. It's all about setting: as you stroll, challenge your child to take what they see and come up with the first line of a story based on different genres, such as mystery, sci-fi, or journalism.
6. Report the local news. Making a neighborhood newspaper is a project that can be as big or small as your child imagines it. On your walks, have them collect photos, news stories, and interviews with friendly shop owners, firefighters, or neighbors.
7. Play a game. "I spy with my little eye something that is red." Is it a flower, a car, or a stop sign? Playing this popular sleuthing game boosts deductive reasoning and observation skills.
8. Make time for inquiry. A leisurely stroll is the perfect context for open-ended questions. Open the gates of conversation by asking something like, "What do you think that bird is saying?" or "What do you think a space alien would notice about our block?"
9. Build a story. Collaborate by trading words back and forth until a simple story takes shape. Start things off with a word like "once" and see how far your word-by-word story can stretch.
10. Have a walking spelling bee. See a squirrel? Ask your child to spell the word. Mix up long words and short: curb, street, lamppost, truck, store, mailbox, and flowerpot. You can trade off who finds the word and who spells — hearing the letters can be as helpful as having to think of them himself.