My children really enjoyed learning to spell their names with this hopscotch activity. It is an honor to be sharing this with you as part of the Active Learning : Brain Building Through Movement series organized by The Inspired Treehouse. Their blog is a go-to resource for active learning activities. A group of kids activities bloggers are participating in this series by sharing a learning activity that uses gross motor movement to teach an academic skill.

Play is important for children-it is a way they can safely explore complex topics. We can meet children in their need for play with the basic building blocks of learning. This entire series is a great way to do just that. The activity that I am sharing with you was enjoyed by my older two children (7 and 4), uses the structure of hopscotch and includes working on spelling skills.

My children are exposed to learning how to spell their names from birth-no kidding! I shared with you previously the personalized song I use to teach my children to spell their names. That song is a great add-on to this hopscotch spelling activity. Let’s get to the activity!First, we drew a square on the ground.

Then, I marked off about every foot or so (using my foot as a guide).

I extended those marks top to bottom to start drawing in my grid.

Then I repeated the marking and drawing lines in the opposite direction until the grid was complete.

You can see with the arrows where I wrote each letter in order so my son was going to have to jump in different directions. You certainly can write one name in a straight line depending on the skill level and age of the child or children you have.After, I wrote in the names of our other children trying to use the letters already in the grid as a guide. You may have to extend your grid to fit in all the names you want to include.

It was time to play!

My oldest started, so he chose to find the first letter of his name and jumped to spell it.

My preschooler was challenged a bit more by this activity, and she jumped to spell all the names as well with a little guidance. Provide help as your child needs it. Pointing out where to jump next can be helpful. After a few times, your child may be able to try it without your help.

Since they are so young, we also “jumped” them around on individual letters naming them. This hopscotch name spelling game is a great letter identification activity too!

After writing this to share with you, I found a fun activity that is similar called “I Can Spell My Name” Hopscotch Game using the more traditional hopscotch game for spelling each name individually. That would be a great way to adapt this game for younger preschoolers because they only have to focus on one name.

I will be sharing the whole Active Learning series with you on Facebook and Twitter. You can view each post as it is published over at The Inspired Treehouse too. (One of my favorite blogs!)

If you need to play indoors today, here is a way to play hopscotch inside.

What active learning games has your child been playing lately?

I would love to try your ideas with my kids. Share your ideas in the comments below.

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