Gross Motor Play

Backyard Color Match Game for Toddlers

August 17, 2018 By Trisha

Looking for a fun toddler activity to get them moving and learning?

Head to the backyard for an active color match game for toddlers. It’s a great way to learn colors while practicing gross motor skills.

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Backyard Color Match Game for Toddlers

This toddler game is all about running around and having fun, so you’ll need quite a bit of space. We played the game in our backyard. It will also work inside as long as you have enough room to move around safely.

Supplies Needed

Colored place markers (one for each color you want to practice). We used large balls, buckets, and a cone.

Objects/toys of different colors. Make sure the color of these objects match the place markers. We had 2 of each color (one for each child). We used small balls, toy ducks, cups, etc.

How to this color matching game for toddlers

Spread the colored place markers (balls, buckets, cones, etc) around your playing area. The farther they are away from each other, the more running your kids will do.

Start by practicing the names of the colors.

Call out a color and have your child run to it.

Can you find the orange cone?

If more than one child is playing be sure to talk to them about how to touch the place markers. (My toddler wanted to pick everything up.)

Say: “Run to the green bucket and touch it with your hand.”

Once you have named all of the colors, it’s time to introduce the color matching.

Ask your child to choose a small toy. Then, ask him its color. “What color is the duck?”

Have your child take the toy to the matching colored place marker. “Can you take the yellow duck to the yellow ball?”

Get your little ones moving with this fun Backyard Color Match Movement Game for Toddlers. They'll run, have fun, and learn a lot!

Continue matching the small objects to the place markers.

Be sure to say the colors each time.

Backyard Match Game for Toddlers #2

Ready to mix it up a little? Our second game practices colors and following directions. Once you’ve finished the color match game, try this one. Leave all of the toys matched up.

The goal of game 2 is to move the toys around.

Call out a color and a toy. Then name a colored place marker. “Can you place the green frog on the pink bucket?”

The game practices colors and following directions.

You can also use it to practice positional words like on, in, next to, etc. “Can you place the blue duck next to the orange cone?” “Put the pink ball inside the green bucket.”

My recommended toddler activity resource

t’s so beneficial to have fun activities to do with your toddler. My friend Jamie from Hands On As We Grow has got a great free 7-Day Toddler Activity Challenge. You’ll have fun and make memories with these age-appropriate and simple activities. They’re the best! You can follow this link to sign up for the FREE 7-Day Toddler Challenge.

Join our community for fun family activities

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Outdoor ABC Game on the Driveway

July 2, 2018 By Terri Thompson

With a preschooler, sometimes you just need to get them moving.

So, I decided to sneak a little learning in with our moving and created a simple outdoor abc game.

This Driveway ABC Game is easy. It’s fun. And, it’s a great way to review the alphabet.

Supplies Needed:

Sidewalk chalk

Large dice (can be played with small dice if that’s all you have)

Large stretch of concrete. You can use a driveway or a sidewalk.

Set-up and play your outdoor ABC game

I drew a long, winding path on our driveway and divided it up into sections.

I then wrote one letter in each section.

When it was time to play, my preschooler threw our giant die and moved that many spaces.

When she stopped, she had to say each letter she stepped on out loud.

The concept was easy and she had a blast. We played it again and again. Not only was she reviewing her letter, but she was running all over the place chasing the die.

When I drew our game, I wrote the letters in alphabetical order ending at “k”. I didn’t make a very long game board. Feel free to mix up the letters and add additional letters if you want to make a more challenging game.

Other variations of this outdoor alphabet game:

Use lower case letters instead of upper case

Use the letters in your child’s name for an easy name recognition game

Write the entire alphabet or only the ones that are challenging to your child

Use sight words instead of letters for kids who are already alphabet experts

Grab your sidewalk chalk, go outside, and have some fun learning your ABCs with this fun outdoor alphabet game you can play on your driveway.

Our outdoor abc game got rained away after only playing it once, but I know we’ll do this again. After all, it’s so much fun to learn while playing a gross motor game!

My recommended alphabet resources

It’s so much fun to learn your ABC’s with a game. If you don’t want to head outside, here are some fun game you might want to try.

Do you want to do more activities with your kids?

Outdoor Shape Activities for Kids

June 2, 2018 By Terri Thompson

Whenever the weather is nice, it’s always so much fun to take your learning outside.

You can play, explore, and learn all at the same time.

These fun outdoor shape activities for kids are great ways to play and learn with your toddlers and preschoolers.

Your ides will be having so much fun, they won’t even realize how much they are learning.

Toddlers and preschoolers will love learning outside with these simple and fun Outdoor Shape Activities for Kids. Learning can be so much fun!

Get moving, explore nature, and get creative with all of these fun ideas.

They’re perfect for anytime of the year and a great excuse to get outside and learn with play.

Fun Outdoor Shape Activities

Learn shapes with a fun sidewalk game when you play our version of Shape Hopscotch.

Find your way through our Driveway Shape Maze and learn all about shapes as you go.

Grab a camera and hunt for shapes when you go on our fun Outdoor Shape Hunt.

Get your wiggles out by Running Circles and other shapes with our fun driveway game.

Explore big shapes by measuring, walking, and creating them with your body with this geometry game from Simple Play Ideas.

Create shapes with rocks with this fun idea from Mrs. Plemons’ Kindergarten. (You’ll find several other cool rock ideas in this post too!)

Play in bubbles with this bubbly water shape sorting game from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Find and erase shapes with water with this fun activity from Hands On As We Grow.

Build shapes with acorns with this simple idea from Creative Little Explorers.

Use nature treasures to create shapes with this fun activity from NurtureStore.

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to do all of these outdoor shape activities! Which ones do you think you’re going to try with your kids?

You may also enjoy one of these other fun outdoor activities:

10 Fun Walk Ideas for Families

Driveway ABC Game

Silly Races

You can find all of our toddler activities at this link.

My recommended shape resources

It’s so much fun to learn shapes through play. You can play these fun outside games or try one of these great shape toys for toddlers. Here are a few more playful ways to learn shapes:

Do more fun activities with your kids

Go Outside: Shape Hopscotch

September 11, 2017 By Terri Thompson

Shape hopscotch, a fun outdoor shape game, is not a new idea to us, nor is it new to this blog. (I shared it here in the very first months of this blog.)

But, I wanted to share it again for a few reasons.

First, it’s fun and we play it often.

Second, it’s easy to do and it’s a great way to get outside.

And third, both toddlers and preschoolers will love learning their shapes with a simple game of hopscotch.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Get moving and learning with this fun outdoor shape activity, Shape Hopscotch. It's easy to set and so much for for preschoolers and toddlers.

Set up is easy.

Grab a few fun colors of sidewalk chalk and a bare spot of cement.

Draw several shapes in a line; the same as you would do for a regular hopscotch game.

I used simple shapes as a review for my 3-year old, but you could make things even harder by using octagons, polygons, and any number of shapes

Find a couple of rocks, grab the kids, and start playing.

How to Play Shape Hopscotch

For our version, the girls took turns throwing their rock. They had to hop to the shape closest to their rock.

They practiced jumping on one foot and they also had to name each shape as they landed in it.

For these two, the hopping on one foot was a much bigger challenge than naming the shape.

You can mix this game up as much as you want.

If you’re playing with toddlers, just have them jump (or run) to each shape and then name the shapes as they stand in them.

Or, call out a shape and have your kids run to that shape.

Practice your gross motor skills by hopping, standing on one foot, skipping, etc.The possibilities are endless.

The best part is that it gets you outside and gets your kids moving!

Have you ever played shape hopscotch?

Originally published April 3, 2013. Updated September 11, 2017.

Find more shape activities here:

Get Crafty: Shape Collages

Shape Hunt

Driveway Shape Maze

Outdoor Shape Activities for Kids

10 Shape Activities for Toddlers at Hands On As We Grow

12 Shapes Themed Sensory Bins for Preschoolers at Fun With Mama

Outdoor Shape Activity: Driveway Shape Maze

May 3, 2017 By Terri Thompson

We recently started reviewing shapes with my youngest (age 3).

One thing I love about learning shapes is that there are so many fun ways to teach them… endless ways to learn about them!

So, while the weather was nice, it was time for an outdoor shape activity. This Driveway Shape Maze is perfect for kids who like to move and learn outside.

Move and learn at the same time with the fun outdoor shape activity, a driveway shape maze. It's fun for both preschoolers and toddlers.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Grab some sidewalk chalk and set up your shape maze

This outdoor shape activity takes a little effort to set up, but you’ll be able to play with it for days (at least until it rains). Grab your sidewalk chalk and let’s get going.

One beautiful morning, I ran outside, grabbed the sidewalk chalk, and started drawing shapes. I filled in a substantial section of our driveway.

We have been working on one shape at a time and the current focus is squares.

So, I made sure to include more squares than any other shape. You can focus on any shape or draw a variety of all the shapes.

It’s time to play!

When the girls came outside, I explained the game to them.

They each stood in a square on the first row, then they had to get to the other side, stepping only in squares.

Ready, set, go!

Both girls had a lot of fun with this game.

Even my oldest (age 5), who knows her shapes really well, loved the physical aspect of the game.

She soon challenged herself with all the shapes and also tried to see if she could jump over shapes and make giant steps.

Extend the fun of this outdoor shape activity with a few variations:

*Go through the maze many times choosing a different shape each time. First step on squares, next step on triangles, and then step on circles.

*Instead of just walking a maze, challenge your child to jump on all of the squares or all of the circles.

*Adapt this for older kids, by adding more challenging shapes like octagons and hexagons or 3-D shapes like cones or cubes. You could also make a maze identifying the different types of triangles, like equilateral triangles and right triangles.

It’s easy to add a little physical movement to learning. You can play the same game using numbers or even the letters of your child’s name. Have fun learning!

Make it a Family Adventure

Cost: Free (Under $5.00 if you don’t already have sidewalk chalk)
Planning Time: 5-10 minutes to draw the maze on the driveway
Ages: 2-5
Time Needed: At least 15 minutes to play.
Notes: This is a great project for some spur-of-the-moment fun. And, if you don’t want to draw the whole maze yourself, enlist the family and get out there together!

Find more shape activities here:

Get Crafty: Shape Collages

Shape Hunt

Sewing Circles: Simple Shapes to Sew

Outdoor Shape Activities for Kids

10 Shape Activities for Toddlers at Hands On As We Grow

Gross Motor Play

Backyard Color Match Game for Toddlers