Hopscotch- Months of the Year

hopscotch

Happy New Year or shall I say, HOPpy New Year! Today we are playing Hopscotch.

My group is always excited to turn the page of our big calendar the first of every month.  This month it was extra special because it is also a new year.

Understanding the length of time in a month or a year is an abstract concept. One of the reasons I spend a few minutes every morning with my kids marking the days on our big calendar is to help them become more familiar with the length of a day, week, month and year.

Click here for more information on my Morning Calendar Routine.

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If a learning activity involves movement then my children are eager to try it out. This DIY hopscotch game is a wonderful learning tool.

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Print the months of the year on sheets of paper and tape them to your floor in a hopscotch pattern.  This is a good indoor activity for those bad weather days.

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We tossed a bean bag onto the hopscotch board.  (Sewing your own beanbags is easy to do, follow my tutorial here.)

The child hops on each month down towards the bean bag as the rest of us sing the months of the year song. This is the tune I’ve always used.

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Once the child reaches the bean bag, they pick it up and then jump back to the beginning.  The opportunity for repetition is endless in this game and repetition is what helps the children learn the months of the year.

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To help my younger children (who don’t recognize all their letters yet) become more proficient at this game I decided to add a drawing activity.

We sat down with some crayons and talked about each month.  We drew weather symbols, activities, balloons if it was a birthday month and major holidays for each one.

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The drawing activity helped the children draw connections to their own lives and what kind of events happen for them during each month of the year.

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Our hopscotch game will stay taped to the floor for awhile to allow the children lots of opportunity to play it in their own time.  I hope your children enjoy hopping into a new year full of fun!

Jana