Most of us know how glitter works: draw with glue, sprinkle with glitter, repeat. However, there are not a whole lot of families I know who have extra glitter stashed away...OR who are willing to dive into the endless mess that glitter can make. Luckily, all of us have access to some DIRT, which for our purposes in this activity, will work just as well!
To enjoy this activity with your children, all you need is paper or cardboard, glue, and dirt. I recommend keeping the entire activity outdoors.
Start by writing or asking your child to write each word or letter in glue. Squeezing a bottle and moving steadily can prove to be a challenge for some children, so be sure to stay within their comfort zone. My children and I traded off writing one word or letter at a time. The 5 year old wrote whole words. The 4 year old worked on the letters in his name. The 11 year old worked on a card for a neighbor friend.
After you've written in glue, let your child grab some dirt and sprinkle it all over the paper, just like glitter! Dump the contents of your paper back into your bucket or flower bed, and voila! You have dirt writing!
Make sure you let your writing have plenty of time to dry. You may need to weigh it down with some stones to keep it from blowing away or folding. Once the glue dries, you will have a cool, tactile tracer for each word or letter your child is practicing. If you use cardboard pieces instead of paper, you can even use these as outside play letters in a sandbox or sensory bin!
This is a great activity for all ages- easy, skill-building, tactile, fun, and cheap!
A video can be found here, on the On Hand Family Fun Facebook Page.
I hope you enjoy getting outside and digging in the dirt with your kids!
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