Hands-On Teaching Ideas

63 Outdoor Learning Activities Kids will Love

As a parent, and teacher, I try to get my children outside as much as possible. I am always looking for new outdoor learning activities. I was once told that (almost) any activity you can do inside a classroom, you can do outside.

There is a lot of truth to this and with the right materials, you can easily take learning outside. Although I used many of these activities as outdoor classroom ideas for kindergarten, children of all ages can enjoy the activities and ideas.

Whether you are an educator looking for outdoor education activities, or a parent or caregiver simply looking for outdoor activities for kids you will find lots of ideas in this collection.

I have gathered a collection of 63 outdoor learning activities. I hope they inspire you to try an activity outside!

The activities are sorted by subject area for quick reference. Some of the activities are simply ideas of how to bring learning outside. Other activities are specifically centered around nature and wilderness.

All of the activities can be done outside and involve learning! I hope you find some ideas that inspire you!

For a printable outdoor activity, a link to a printable outdoor scavenger hunt escape room is included. Simply print and play!

Outdoor Classroom Ideas by Subject

*Click the link below the picture for full activity description.*

This simple alphabet activity can be done just about anywhere, at any time. It is a great way for kids to practice letter formation and have fun in nature.

With this activity, kids will have fun recognizing their letters and then spraying the letters with water.

For children practicing sight words, have some fun finding, and splashing the sight word with a bucket of water.

outdoor learning activities shows a child dumping a bucket of water on chalk picture.

Can you find two words/pictures that rhyme? This giant memory game is sure to be a favorite with kids!

This Sight Word Scrub is a great, hands-on, way to learn and practice sight words.

outdoor learning activities shows a child rubbing chalk off brick.

This Beginning Sound, Melt and Break is perfect on a hot day!

Create a nature journal with children to record some of their outdoor experiences.

Sometimes a simple, cozy reading nook is all kids need. Bring their love of reading outside.

You only need a few simple materials, and lots of sunshine, for these kid created works of art!

outdoor learning activities shows a rainbow picture of crayon shavings.

Get kids moving with a scooter board and some chalk.

Focus outdoor learning with a collection of hands-on activities all in a printable booklet. From STEM building challenges to art projects, kids will love working their way through the booklet and activities.

outdoor learning activities shows printable pages of an outdoor booklet.

There are so many outdoor learning activities you can do with these vocabulary vases.

outdoor learning activities shows a flower on a fence.

Did you know you can make paint using natural materials? You can with this nature paint activity.

outdoor learning activities shows containers with grass, dirt, and other mashed up materials.

Kids use the nature surrounding them to create these pieces of art. A small amount of clay, paint and lots of creativity is all you need.

nature art shows a child painting on a clay piece of art.

Winter Outdoor Education

During the winter months, you can mix the snow into your outdoor education program. It is a wonderful sensory experience for kids to paint in the snow. It’s beautiful too!

Mix a bit of science and art with this exploding paint bombs activity.

How cute are these? This is a perfect outdoor education activity because kids use items they find in nature to create art.

Kids will love getting their hands messy with this outdoor sensory activity.

If your kids like drawing and creating using sidewalk chalk, they will love this liquid sidewalk chalk. It is easy to make and the color is bright and beautiful!

liquid sidewalk chalk shows liquid white chalk being stirred green.

Kids love collecting rocks. Put those rocks to good use with this nature art outdoor learning activity. It mixes a bit of art and math into an activity you can use over and over again.

nature art shows two children putting colored stones onto a hundreds graph.

Keep creating and drawing outside with this homemade sidewalk chalk activity. Our favourite was the rainbow block of chalk!

sidewalk chalk shows colorful bricks of sidewalk chalk.

STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Challenges

This is one of my all time favorite outdoor education activities. With only a few materials children are challenged to build a tent or structure. It is hours of fun!

Teach kids about gravity in a fun, outdoor activity as they watch their superheroes fly!

Add some extra learning during a hike. Learn about compasses and direction.

This activity incorporates a bit of science and math into a human body activity that kids will love.

This solar oven would be great when camping at home! The activity includes lots of science and fun.

outdoor learning activities shows a diy solar oven.

Outdoor Learning Activities

Create something for a marble to roll down into a bowl. Kids get their hands on the materials and solve the challenge.

Kids create their own javelin and use it for a STEM activity! A easy way to get kids outside learning and moving.

More STEM and Hands-On

If your kids are interested in birds and their nests, this inquiry project is a perfect hands-on outdoor learning activity.

Kids love playing with ice especially if there are tiny treasures inside to dig out. Perfect for fall!

Kids create their own balloon rocket with this science experiment.

Outdoor learning activities do not have to require lots of preparation. Sometimes, just giving children materials and watching what they create results in amazing learning.

What if you simply gave children a collection of fabrics?

Outdoor learning is not limited to the warm months. Kids love being outside in all weather. This building activity can be done year round.

Teach kids about friction!

outdoor learning activities shows a ramp testing bricks with different fabrics on them.

Create balloon rockets, then test and race them outside.

Small world play is a favorite with young children. This frog habitat is a great way for kids to learn about frogs.

Outdoor Learning Activities – Science

Can you do anything to make ice melt faster? Watching ice melt has never been this exciting!

Trap, inspect and learn about bugs right in your own backyard!

What lives in dirt? Kids discover all of the living things in the dirt.

Kids learn about photosynthesis in a way they can understand and see!

Kids explore their senses as they work through an outdoor scavenger hunt.

A simple sound hunt activity encourages kids to become aware of their surroundings.

Outdoor Learning Activity Printable

Help kids recognize various leaves and try out some fun experiments.

With this activity kids record what they find and explore with their senses.

Learn how to identify various clouds with this activity.

How many nests can you find? Mix math with science with this nature hunt.

Go rock pooling with children with this outdoor learning activity kids will love.

Where do all the animals go in winter? This fun outdoor scavenger hunt leads kids to find animals in their “natural” habitat.

Show kids how sunscreen protects their skin from the sun with this experiment.

Find and spray number activity!

Outdoor Learning Activities Math

outdoor learning activities shows a child looking up at a tall tree.

Make a regular hike or walk through the forest even more engaging with a free printable scavenger hunt . There is lots of math mixed in as children are challenged to find twigs the length of their hand and stones smaller than their fingernail. The sheet is printable, and free!

A number scavenger hunt will get kids excited about numbers as they hunt to find the numbers in order.

This Outdoor Number Order Sort is a great, hands-on way to increase number recognition.

Test kids memory skills with this memory match game using various materials found in nature.

Get kids moving with this simple outdoor learning activity that incorporates a bit of math and physical education.

Keep kids moving with these field day activities to do outside.

Match and represent numbers using rocks in this hands-on outdoor learning activity.

Challenge children to search for all of the beautiful patterns in nature.

Being able to sort by seeing the differences in objects is an essential skill. Try out this outdoor education sorting activity.

Outdoor Learning Activities Sensory

If you are planning a camping trip, this printable escape room is a perfect activity to take with you. Simply print and play and to add to the excitement of the trip. Simply print ahead of time, and use materials you (likely) already have with you.

camping trip booklet.

This is one of my favorite outdoor education activities! Let kids get a bit muddy as they “bake” with this sensory activity.

If you are looking for an active game, this is a great way to get kids moving outdoors.

Kids explore their senses with their feet with this bare foot sensory activity.

5 days filled with outdoor learning activities, such as “Campfire Day”.

Leaf Weaving works on fine motor skills for little hands.

Kids love playing with cookies cutters and play dough, but used outside with snow creates a whole new sensory activity.

winter outdoor activity shows a tray of snow and cookie cutters leaving marks.

Instead of throwing out paper, recycle and create this seed bomb.

Outdoor Learning Activities – Social Studies/History

Children learning about World War 1 will be engaged with this outdoor learning activity for WWI.

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outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

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Outdoor scavenger hunt escape room.

Escape rooms are very popular right now! Take the fun of an escape room outside to your own backyard with this printable backyard escape room. No special materials needed, simply print, set up in minutes and play!

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Earth Day Printable Flip Book

Celebrate the earth with a collection of Earth themed activities. Ideal for classroom use or homeschool. Click image for more information.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Outdoor Learning Choice Board

Looking for a printable collection of outdoor learning activities that you can do at outside at home or school? Download the free choice board from Hands-On Teaching Ideas. Once you subscribe, and confirm, you will gain access to the Free Resource Library and be able to download lots of free resources.

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outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

More Kids Activities and Hands-On Teaching Ideas

Looking for more hands-on teaching ideas? Below are a collection of favorite and most popular activities, including science experiments, escape room puzzles and STEM challenges.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

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Outdoor Learning Activity Ideas for Upper Elementary Classrooms

11 Outdoor Learning Activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Students

Outdoor Learning Activity Ideas for Upper Elementary Classrooms

A change of scenery - especially when it involves learning outside - is a great way to reengage your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students.

Below, find 11 different example activities for taking your classroom outdoors!  All of the activities are educational - you will find ideas for taking ELA lessons, math lessons, and science lessons outside.

I sometimes recommend a resource that can be found on Amazon.  These links are affiliate links - should you choose to buy, I might get a small compensation at no cost to you.

Outdoor ELA Activity Ideas

 1. vocabulary review with chalk,  2. let nature inspire student writing.

Give each student a writing journal, go outside, and have them write!  You could let students free write or give them nature specific writing prompts:

  • Tell a story from an ant's point of view
  • Describe something you see outside using all 5 of your senses
  • Describe the weather
  • Write similes about a tree, the sun, an insect, etc.

Being outdoors can also inspire poetry writing!  Have your students write a haiku about their experience outside.  You can use this No Prep Haiku Packet to help.  It teaches students about haiku, provides plenty of examples, and has templates to scaffold their own writing.

 3. Go On A Parts of Speech Scavenger Hunt

Have students head outside with a clipboard, a sheet of paper, and something to write with.  Take a walk through the neighborhood together, or let students simply explore the playground.

As they explore, have students list nouns that they see, and then list adjectives that describe those nouns.  Then, have them list verbs inspired by what they see, and adverbs that could describe those verbs.

If your students have not yet been introduced to parts of speech or need a review, this mostly no prep Parts of Speech Resource might help.

 4. Read Outside

Never underestimate the power of a change of scenery!  Have students do their independent reading outside - or let them relax and enjoy a good read aloud.

These teacher recommended chapter books are a great read aloud option, or choose one of these books about showing kindness and empathy. 

 5. Go on an ABC word hunt

Monitoring Comprehension Practice for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

This is one of my favorite ways to practice comprehension! Students read passages with intentional mistakes that do not make sense based on the context of the passage. Students must read carefully to find the mistakes.

It's fun, engaging, and best of all - no prep! Check out this Monitoring Comprehension Resource here. 

Outdoor Math Activity Ideas for Upper Elementary

 6. measurement activities.

There are endless outdoor measurement opportunities.  You could:

  • Find the perimeter and area of different objects like garden beds, blacktop courts, fenced in areas, etc.  ( measuring tape might work better than a ruler)
  • Measure the length and height of different objects in the playground
  • Use chalk to draw lines of a certain length
  • Measure the length of your shadows
  • Find the circumference of different trees

 7. Equations With Nature

 8. math hopscotch.

Teacher Amanda Anderson has her students create multiple hopscotch courts with different numbers.  Each court focuses on a different math skill, like:

  • even/odd numbers
  • finding products, sums, or differences

Students spend a little time at each hopscotch court to review a variety of math skills!

 9. Math Races

Get a set of cones and write numbers on them.  The numbers you will write will depend on what skill you want to practice - see the ideas below for reference.

Spread the cones out around the blacktop or playground, and then split your classroom into small groups.  Have groups work together to grab as many numbers of a certain type as you can.  The team with the most correct cones wins!

You could have students grab cones that:

  • are greater than or less than a certain number
  • add up to a certain number (let them use multiple addends!)
  • are factors of a certain number
  • are multiples of a certain number
  • are even/odd
  • are prime numbers
  • put numbers together to form large numbers
  • make a pattern

The possibilities with this are endless as well!  If you want, you could set this up more like a relay race.

 10. Go on a Geometry Scavenger Hunt

Take 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students outside and assign them the task of finding:

  • different 2d or 3d shapes
  • objects with certain angles (obtuse, acute, right angles)
  • parallel and intersecting lines
  • objects with lines of symmetry
  • patterns in nature

No Prep Black History Month Biographies Activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

Outdoor Science Ideas

11. trout in the classroom.

A teacher that wished to remain anonymous shared this amazing national program with me.  Trout in the Classroom has all sorts of resources, free lesson plans, and more to help your students connect more with nature while learning.

Below, see some students enjoying a Trout in the Classroom lesson and exploring insects.  Watch more about the program here.

students examining insects using Trout in the Classroom- an outdoor learning idea for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade

12. Camouflage Caterpillars

13. compost with your students.

Teacher Annemarie Holmyard composts with her students and shared this idea with me.  

Students can read articles explaining what composting is, weigh food waste and graph results, journal about the process, learn the benefits of recycling food waste, and more.  This lesson plan that includes a reading passage might help you with the process.

14. Build a Nest

15. grow plants, 16. playground physics, never stress over sub plans again.

Image

Make copies, find a fiction book, and you'll be ready for any emergency that comes your way!

Play of the Wild

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. -Oscar Wilde

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Ideas to Teach Literacy Outdoors – Reading & Writing

literacy outdoors.  Children reading outside.  OUtdoor story time.

Activities to Teach Literacy Outdoors – Teaching Reading and Writing Outside

There has been lots of research to show the benefits of learning outside, so these are some of my favourite ideas for taking literacy lessons outdoors. There are many different ways to take learning outside of the classroom, from forest schools, gardening, school trips and more. They each offer various benefits and learning opportunities for children.

Research continues to provide evidence that learning outside the classroom offers many lifelong benefits to children. A review of the evidence demonstrates that learning outside the classroom enhances critical thinking skills, reinforces academic learning and aids long-term memory (Dillon et al. 2003, Ernst & Monroe 2007; Fabian, H. 2005). It also benefits children’s social skills and behaviours, mental health, self-esteem and improves levels of physical activity and health (Taylor & Kuo, 2006; Bagot, 2007; Malone, 2006; Hoffman et al. 2007; Mygind, 2007).

The following are some ways to take literacy outside the classroom.  I have found these are great for engaging children and making literacy more interesting for everyone.

Outdoor Reading or Story Time 

Having children read outside or taking story time outside is an easy way to begin. If taking your class outdoors seems daunting, this is an easy way to try it out. You may want to read some stories outside, especially ones with content with a link to the outdoors, such as an informational book, or stories that relate to the environment in which you are reading (e.g. garden, playground, forest, etc.).

reading a book outside.

Outdoor Phonics Games

It can be enjoyable to take phonics lessons outside as a way to get children active. Phonics outside can be especially helpful for younger children, or for those who particularly enjoy physical activity. These are some simple games that you can play outdoors with children to help them practice and reinforce classroom learning.

outdoor phonics games. Tricky words outdoors.

  • Letter Sound Run – First, write out letters around the playground which might include diagraphs or trigraphs. Then call out letter sounds and have children run around to find them. Similarly, children can also run and find tricky words (words that can’t be sounded out and they need to learn by sight).
  • Initial Sound Object Hunt – Children can go on a hunt outside to find objects that start with a specified initial sound. Older children might go on a short/long vowel (e.g. trigraphs, diagraphs), hunt, seeking items that have different vowels somewhere in the word.
  • Spelling Rocks – Children can use letter rocks or logs to create words, and to practice using the letters they have learned to spell words.
  • Writing Large Words – Children can write large words with chalk on the pavement using the trigraph(s) or digraph(s) they are learning or practising.

practicing writing outside.  Taking literacy lessons outdoors.

Outdoor Handwriting Practice

Handwriting practice can be a fun literacy activity to take outdoors. Handwriting can be done in different ways depending on children’s ages and abilities.

  • Copying Letters on the Pavement – Children can write over letters or words on the pavement. If the words are already written out in chalk, children can write over them with chalk, or paint over them with water.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

  • Freehand Practice on the Pavement – Children can practise writing letters or words freehand, either using big chalk or painting with water or chalk paint.
  • Upright Writing – It can also be great for children’s physical development to practice largescale upright writing. This activity can be done with paint on a large wall or easel, or with window pens or foam paint on a large window.

Pre-writing Activities for Preschoolers & Kindergarten & toddlers. Pre writing activity for toddlers. upright mark making.

Outdoor Story or Poetry Inspiration

For older children, using the outdoors can be an inspiration for poetry or story writing. To get started, teachers can help children come up with a list of words to describe what they see, hear, smell, taste or feel. They can then put it together and come up with a class poem. Alternatively, children can come up with their own poems using the word bank they have created.

Similarly, children can use a garden, forest or other outdoor areas as the setting for their story. They might even create animal characters based on animals that they see.  Older children can write several drafts and develop a final product over a week.

Outdoor Story Map

Story maps are an excellent way to help children get ready to write a story. They involve drawing out pictures (like a comic strip) to help them sequence their story from the beginning to the middle and then the end. This type of literacy activity can be taken outdoors, as well. 

Children can draw 3-6 boxes on the pavement with sidewalk chalk. Then they can draw different pictures depicting the main events of the story. It can also be nice to add in natural objects onto the images to enhance their story maps. They can then practise retelling their story using their story maps to help them remember the order and the details of each part.

literacy outdoors. Outside story map to help children recount and then re-write the story.

Above is a child’s story map of Jack and the Beanstalk. Children can also use natural objects to represent different objects from the story (e.g. feather for the goose that lays the golden egg, leaves for the beanstalk, beans, etc.).

Nature Walk or Field Trip and Recount

It can be an easy and lovely field trip to take children on a quick walk in a park or natural environment around the school.  Have the children look for natural objects that they can collect and observe closely.  As part of this activity, they might make a journey stick or journey bracelet to help them recall the different things they saw or did on their walk. This can serve as an excellent prompt for writing. When the children return from their walk, have them describe the experience including the different plants, animals, etc. that they encountered. Similarly, if children go on a field trip somewhere else, they can also write about their trip (recount), including what they saw, did and learnt.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Class Book on the Local Area

One of my favourite ways to take literacy outside in Key Stage 1 (years 1-2), is to make a class book based on lots of little trips around the local area.  I’ve taken my class to places such as the local church or synagogue, train station, post office, market, library, fire station, park or pond, theatre, or high street. You can take your class to a new place every week or two over a month or two. This is a wonderful way for children to learn about the different features of the local community, what goes on in each place, and what people do for work.  

After each trip, children can write an informational piece about the place they visited. These writings can then be compiled into a class book. Finally, the lovely book can be placed in the book corner and the children can enjoy reading it for the rest of the school year!

class book. Ideas to take literacy lessons outside.

Linking Writing to Gardening and Outdoor Projects

Setting up an outdoor project such as a school garden can be a fantastic prompt for writing. Children might journal about things such as, what they’ve done in the garden, how to label plants, and how to plant seeds or seedling, or look after different plants. They could also record data about plants that they are growing and use it as inspiration for scenes for story writing. Younger children are often interested in drawing interesting plants and animals that they discover. They may also label their pictures, write sentences or even create stories based on what they see and find.

Ideas to take Literacy Outdoors – Teaching Reading and Writing Outside

I hope that you find some of these ideas for taking literacy outdoors helpful. Teaching reading and writing outside has many benefits to children and can also make teaching more enjoyable.

If you would like some other ideas for taking your class outside, you may want to see some of my other posts such as  Outdoor Maths Activities KS2 ,  Outdoor Maths Activities KS1  or   Active Maths Ideas .  

Bagot, K, Kuo, F.E, and Allen, F. (2007). ‘School playgrounds: nature and attention’, in Asia Pacific EcoHealth Conference. Deakin University.

Dillon, J, Rickinson, M, Sanders, D, Teamey, K, and Benefield, P. (2003). Improving the Understanding of Food, Farming and Land Management Amongst School-Age Children: A Literature Review. National Foundation for Educational Research, King’s College, Department for Education and Skills, The Countryside Agency.

Ernst, J, and Monroe, M. (2006). ‘The effects of environment-based education on students: critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking.” Environmental Education Research, 12, 429 – 443.

Fabian, H. (2005). Outdoor learning environments: Easing the transition from the foundation stage to key stage one, Education 33(2), 3-13.

Hoffman, A., Knight, L. and Wallach, J. (2007).  Gardening Activities, Education, and Self-Esteem: Learning Outside the Classroom.  Urban Education, 42 (5), 403-411.

Malone, K (2006). Building a Child Friendly Community: Children’s Research Workshops, Pilot Study Report 2006, City of Bendigo, Child and Youth Interdisciplinary Research Centre, University of Wollongong.

Mygind, E. (2007) A comparison between children’s physical activity levels at school and learning in an outdoor environment, Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 7:2, 161-176.

Taylor, A, and Kuo, F.E. (2006). ‘Is Contact with nature important for healthy child development’, in Spencer, C and Blades, M. (Eds) Children and Their Environments: Learning, Using and Designing Spaces. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Childhood101

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10 Outdoor Literacy Activities

There’s no reason to limit literacy learning to indoor spaces. In fact, there are lots of ways to encourage a love of reading and writing whilst spending time outside and today I am sharing ten outdoor literacy activities that I’ve enjoyed with my own two sons – one of whom is 8 (and an avid reader) and the other who is 5 (and not quite a full-fledged reader yet).

10 Outdoor Literacy Activities

1. Read outside Grab a few books and head outside. Bring along a blanket to sit on, find a tree to lean up against, or cuddle up in an outdoor fort. Read together or allow your child time to read alone– whichever feels appropriate.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

2. Play with alphabet rocks Create a set of alphabet rocks by painting letters onto smooth pebbles with acrylic paint pens. Choose a variety of colors or make a set of capital letters in one color and lowercase letters in another. Be sure to try a variety of outdoor reading activities with your alphabet rocks, including those from our list of 9 Alphabet Games to Play with Alphabet Stones that suit your child’s literacy learning stage.

Alphabet stones: outdoor literacy activity idea

3. Make story stones More drawing on rocks – this time using pictures instead of letters. Create nature-themed images such as birds, animals, flowers, trees, landscape elements, insects and the elements. Then take turns telling stories using the stones as prompts.

4. Create your own Nature ABC Book Go on a nature hunt with your little one – around your neighborhood, backyard, park, garden, local zoo or aquarium. Look for something to represent each letter of the alphabet and take a picture of that item. Print out the photos and place them in a dedicated scrapbook or album to form your very own ABC book. Add letters, words and other facts as desired.

Outdoor literacy activities

5. Use nature for letter and word making Kids learning to identify the letters of the alphabet, their name or sight words will have fun shaping letters or words using items found in nature such as small pebbles, sticks or flower petals.

Outdoor writing activities for kids

6. Go on an outdoor scavenger hunt

Use our free Alphabet Scavenger Hunt Printable and head outdoors on a nature based alphabet hunt. Or try our Five Senses Outdoor Scavenger Hunt with younger children.

7. Keep a nature journal While a traditional nature journal usually focuses on discoveries and sketches, ours include any kind of writing the kids want to include about their outdoor adventures.

For example, this summer I encouraged my sons to keep a summer adventure journal. The 5 year old wrote one sentence and a picture with each entry. (He told me what he wanted to write and I spelled it out for him; he wrote all his own letters). The 8 year old sketched too but also wrote at least a paragraph about each entry.

8. Discover field guides My 5 year old is a self-proclaimed animal rescuer and as such is now consumed with learning about all things animal. In addition to traditional children’s books about animals we’re also reading field guides. Check out our collection of the best field guides for kids – which also includes suggestions for using nature guides to make reading fun.

Field guides for outdoor literacy

9. Make your own backyard field guide Once young children are familiar with field guide basics, try making your own. Children can practice drawing, letter writing and more as they create their own backyard field guide. Keep it general or focus on your child’s specific interests, such as a bird watching guide, animal book or flower guide about your garden space or neighborhood.

Outdoor literacy lessons for kids

10. Read about nature indoors too If your child has a specific interest in the great outdoors – like my self-proclaimed animal rescuer – encourage that passion by reading about it whenever you normally read together. Take advantage of your local library to vary up your titles, or stick with a few old favorites. We have a number of themed book suggestion posts for nature lovers, including;

  • 21 Inspiring Picture Book Biographies about Nature Scientists
  • 25 Fascinating Frog Books for Kids
  • 25 Ocean Books for Kids
  • 35 Earth Day Picture Books for Kids Who Want to Save the World!

For more outdoor learning ideas, check out these related posts;

20 Fun Ways to Play With Sticks

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

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September 18, 2013 at 3:06 AM

GREAT post, Debi! Love this ideas!!!

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September 18, 2013 at 3:26 AM

Thank you, Amelia! 🙂

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April 27, 2016 at 10:19 AM

I love getting outdoors with my kids. Miss 4 is really interested in the alphabet, so she’s really going love the activity to make letters with nature as well as the others. Thanks!

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

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25 Reading Activities for Summer School

  • Christopher Olson
  • June 16, 2021
  • No Comments

Are you a Summer School Teacher looking for some fun and engaging reading activities?  Then you found the right blog for you!   It doesn’t matter if you are teaching summer school, extended school year (ESY), at home with your own child, or even tutoring this summer.  There are some great activities here for everyone! 

I know when I taught ESY in the past I always was searching and thinking of outside activities.  Some were highly engaging, full of gross motor ideas and that built a lot of teamwork.  Let’s face it, most students aren’t exactly thrilled to be sitting in the classroom during a nice warm sunny summer day.  To be honest, we as teachers aren’t exactly thrilled on those days either.  So what better way than to think outside of the box and include some outdoor reading activities for everyone to enjoy!  

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

I hope that you take some ideas from this list to try this summer!  #10 is one of my favorite activities and #13 is one of my favorite Education to the Core resources!  I hope you have a wonderful summer session and more importantly a relaxing and fun-filled summer!  You deserve it! 

Reading Activity #1 ~ Kindergarten Summer Packet

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

If you haven’t already seen our Summer Packet Reviews , then here is your chance!  This comprehensive and engaging resource provides opportunities to not only practice Math and Writing but lots of Reading activities as well!

#2 ~ Library Scavenger Hunt

Do you have the opportunity to take your class on community outings this summer?  What better trip than an educational one to the library?  I am lucky enough that we can take walking trips to our community library which is just a few blocks away.  

One thing I love to do with my students is to provide a scavenger hunt for them.  When we go to the library I like to provide my students with some tasks to quietly and respectfully hunt for certain books.  

See if your students can find nonfiction/fiction books, books that correlate to a certain theme or character.  Once they do, they may find a nice quiet spot and enjoy the book. 

#3 ~ First Grade Summer Packet

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

If you are teaching some review from the 1st-grade curriculum or wanting to prepare your students for 1st grade here is a great resource for you!  Similar to our Kindergarten Summer Packet (Activity #1), our 1st-grade resource offers a review on essential ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies skills with these fun summer-themed worksheets ! 

Simply print, copy, and DONE!

#4 ~ Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk is so versatile!  It works well on those nice summer days to bring in a fun aspect with writing.  Phonics, spelling, and especially reading works well with chalk.

Provide a challenge for your students using a time limit.  See how many words students can write down using the chalk in 3 minutes.  You can pair this activity with a specific book, or also using word lists (i.e., animals in a zoo, words with the /b/ sound, or things at the beach). 

Reading Activity #5 ~ Insect Unit with Close Readings – Go On A Bug Hunt!

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Want to take your students on a nature walk and go on a bug hunt?!?  Although this may sound like heaven for some teachers… this is not the case for me!  I am all about a nature walk, however, if any student points to a bug or picks one up, I freak!

What better way to still feed into student interests with insects than an entire insect unit!? I am totally okay with bringing these bugs into the classroom!  Check out Education to the Core’s Insect Unit with Close Readings . Also, now available in Digital Form ! 

#6 ~ Nonsense Word Balloon Toss

This is such a great teamwork activity!  If you aren’t allowed to make a wet mess, feel free to substitute the water balloons with something a bit drier (like inflatable volleyballs, balloons, balls).  

Have students pair off and stand a few feet in front of each other.  The teacher calls out words both real and nonsense.  Every time the teacher says a nonsense word the student holding the water balloon tosses it to their partner.  Once the partner catches it, each person takes one step back.  The game continues tossing the water balloons back and forth and taking steps further from each other with each nonsense word.  The game concludes when only one team is left holding the water balloon. 

#7 ~ June, July, August Fluency Passages (…and a bundle too!)

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Are you looking for themed fluency passages?  This resource provides you with ten passages for each month of the year!  Take a trip to the beach, outside camping, a dive into the ocean, and more with some of our summer month passages!  

You may just look at June, July, or August, but if you are looking to extend these into your school year then our Fluency Passages Bundle is the way to go!

#8 ~ “Funnies” Collage

Start collecting and asking others to save their newspapers!  Using the comic section, allow students to cut out and save some of the cartoon strips in the newspaper. Point out text evidence of how you know a character is saying or thinking something.  Use the strips to point out concepts of print and the use of quotations, bold, speech bubbles, titles, etc.  

For an extension activity, students can create their own comics and cartoons! If you type in “ comic strips template ” into a google search the options are endless  

#9 ~ Phonics Based Fluency & Comprehension Passages

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

This phonics-based reading comprehension resource was created for kindergarten and first-grade students. The thing I love the most about this resource is how it is sectioned.  You can just pull out the topic you want to cover or review. 

Perhaps your students need some more practice with long vowels or digraphs, then just print off those!  I love the option to differentiate what each student needs practice with for this bundle!  

There are 89 passages focusing on each phonics component while focusing on reading fluency. Added bonus is that these passages include three written comprehension questions for each passage.

Reading Activity #10 ~ Water Painting

This is such a simple, yet effective activity!  All you need is a paintbrush for each student and water.  On a nice sunny day, have students “paint” on a brick or concrete surface.  When they dip the brushes into water it will show up on the brick and concrete.  Wait a few minutes and watch it disappear! 

You can have students paint sight or high-frequency words, spelling words, answer comprehension questions. The ideas are truly endless!

#11 ~ Interactive Sequencing Unit

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

An important concept in primary elementary reading is a sequence.  What happens first in a story? What happens next? Then and Last?   When students have a basic understanding of this concept it leads to better writing and problem-solving skills.  

Our Interactive Sequencing Unit offers stories with corresponding interactive sequencing pictures.

#12 ~ Fort / Tent Reading

Don’t be afraid to get a little creative this summer with some reading forts!  You can use materials like tablecloths or having students bring in a beach blanket or towel from home.  Drape them over their desks and the students just made their own little reading fort!  

I always brought in my big tent and set it up inside of my classroom.  The students thought that it was so cool to have a giant tent in the room that I included in my centers.  They would get so excited when it was their turn to go inside of the tent to read!   Another item that I absolutely love to bring into reading is flashlights.  Once the students are set in their forts and tents, grab a flashlight and allow them to read their favorite stories.

#13 ~ Practically 1st, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Comprehension Passages

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

You probably have a range of different learners sitting in front of you this summer.  This bundle provides it all for you!  

Not only are there monthly themed fluency passages, but each one comes with comprehension questions, text-dependent, and higher-level thinking.

This resource has 360 pages of passages to be used throughout the entire year!

#14 ~ Character Spray

On a paper plate, write character names from a few stories that you’ve been reading.  You can either pre-make these, or have your students make their own plates with names and illustrations.  

Take your students outside and tape the plates to the wall or clothespin them to a fence.  You can create a game by splitting your class up into teams.  Provide each team with a squirt bottle or squirter.   After you ask a question about the character or story, the first team to spray the correct plate receives a point.

Reading Activity #15 ~ Monthly Mini-Books (and a FREEBIE!)

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

This Monthly Mini Books resource has it all for ELA!  There are 5 mini books for every month of the year!  However, the fun doesn’t stop there!  ETTC also included Vocabulary cards, sight word activities AND writing prompts for each month too!  

These books are great for the whole group, small group, and/or individual practice!  Enjoy this FREEBIE with a trip to the beach! 

#16 ~ Puppets!  Why?  Because EVERYONE loves puppets!

This past school year, my students were absolutely obsessed with making puppets out of brown paper lunch bags.  With each day a group of students coming to me asking for a paper bag, my mind started wondering how to pair this strategically. 

What better way than to make puppets of characters from our stories.  I loved having discussions of character traits and allowing the creativity of my students to shine.

#17 – Reading Caterpillar

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Education to the Core offers so many fabulous FREE resources! This is one of those awesome freebies!  

Each student receives their own body part of the caterpillar.  They are free to decorate and write the title of their book and a short summary of it on their piece.  Feel free to make it a summer school challenge of how long you can create your caterpillar and how many books your students can read this summer!

#18 ~ Picnic Book Tasting

Have you ever had a book tasting before?  Sorry to say it has nothing to do with eating any books…   A typical book tasting has some type of snack or food paired with a book.  Students move around the room tasting various treats while enjoying a book at each station.  While at the station there is some type of writing a response to the book that they read there.  

We are taking this same concept, but making a picnic version of it!  Lay out various blankets and some picnic snacks on each blanket.  Have a book (or multiple copies of the same book) on each blanket for students to walk around for each station.  Don’t forget the clipboards!

#19 ~ Holidays Around the World

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Hear me out on this one… I know you are probably asking yourself “Why in the world did this dude just include a Winter Holiday resource for summer school”?  Why a Christmas In July celebration, that’s why!  

Do you celebrate or ever thought about celebrating “Christmas in July”?  Well now is your chance, and what better resource to include than a holidays around the world activity?  Grab your suitcase, passport and take a trip around the world without ever leaving your classroom!

Reading Activity #20 ~ Cloud Watching

Do you ever feel like just going outside, lying on a blanket, and watching the clouds go by?  Now is your opportunity!  Prior to heading outside, as a cross-curricular activity, talk about different types of clouds.  SciShow Kids has a great video and Cloud Memory Game .  

Once you are outside and enjoying some cloud watching, ask students what they see in the clouds.  Maybe a different animal or person.  Once they identify their clouds, have them draw and recreate what they saw.  Once their illustration is complete, have them write a few sentences about their cloud before they finish their illustrations with color and details. 

#21 ~ Reader’s Theatre

Readers Theatre is such a great activity, however, there are a few things to think about before starting.  This activity provides another outlet for students to practice and become more fluent readers.  However, not every student is comfortable with being in front of the class.  So it is very important that we don’t force them to do so if they aren’t ready. Our Reader’s Theater Scripts are a great place to start if you want to implement this in your classroom.

A great extension activity is to allow students to create their own costumes, props, and backdrops.

#22 ~ Reading Virtual Games

Okay, it goes without saying that you will probably hit some rainy days this summer.   However, the fun doesn’t need to stop because you cannot go outside.  Some of these ideas are applicable for indoor learning (such as ABCya , Room Recess, Reading Games, PBS Kids, WartGames, PrimaryGames ), but what about bringing some virtual learning to the table?  Check out these websites for some virtual games for your students to play.

#23 ~ Digital Reading Passages

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

These DIGITAL Practically 1st, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Digital Reading Comprehension Passages were created for you to use in Google Classroom.

There is 120 Digital Passages total for each grade level. Each of the 12 months includes 10 themed passages you can assign throughout the year.

Newly updated to include Google Forms for each passage.

#24 ~ Relay Story Race

Do your students like racing?  Create a relay story race!  

At one end of the field or playing area, you can have various buckets or containers labeled with plot, character, setting.  Have the teams work together to place an object in the correct container based on the question you provide.   You can add a teamwork twist to make it a little more challenging.   

Have pairs of students work together to carry a balloon or ball across the playing field using different parts of their bodies…no hands!   So they would have to place a balloon between their shoulders standing side by side.  Walking/running together without the balloon falling to place it in the correct container.

Reading Activity #25 ~ Ants: Insects FREEBIE!

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

I wanted to include this FREEBIE in this word list for a few reasons.  1) It fits in so well with a summer picnic theme. 2) It is included in Number 15 on this list. 3) It pairs so well with our Insect Unit from Number 5 on this list.  4) IT’S FREE! 

Check out this FREE mini-book and comprehension printables!

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

I hope you can take a few of these activities away from this list to try out this summer!  What are some that you are thinking of trying?  Let us know in the comments below!   Also, make sure to come back and let us know how they went this summer.  

I said this before, but it needs repeating… I hope you have a wonderful summer session and more importantly a relaxing and fun-filled summer!  You deserve it!

Written By – Christopher Olson

At  Education to the Core , we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources designed by teachers for teachers. We aspire to be the world’s leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. We improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

If you enjoyed what we have to offer at ETTC, be sure to join our  email list , so you won’t miss a beat.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Welcome! I’m Emily, Founder of Education to the Core. We are all about helping K-2 teachers by providing unlimited access to affordable printables for every subject area.   

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

take your learning outside

At Wild Learning ® , we believe that the outdoor environment is the ideal classroom for children . Our curricula, Wild Math ®  and Wild Reading ®  use nature as a tool for learning essential math and reading skills. Research has shown that learning outside can increase attention, is more engaging, and is naturally hands-on and multi-sensory.

Wild Math ®  reimagines math instruction for the natural outdoor environment. Full year curricula for grades K-5 are available. Fractions are modeled using mud pies, place value is introduced with bundles of sticks, multiplication is introduced by examining flower petals, and games replace worksheets.

wild READING

Wild Reading ®  leads children through structured explicit instruction in phonological awareness skills, phonics, high frequency words, writing, reading comprehension, language and other key reading skills. Outdoor and hands on activities such as, word squares, scavenger hunts, mammal search, sit spots, and word hopscotch make learning active, hands-on, and fun.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Build a solid foundation in numeracy skills through multisensory activities and math-inspired play.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Build fluency with addition and subtraction facts through hands-on outdoor activities and games.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Learn multi-digit addition and subtraction using place value stick bundles, number lines, and more!

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Use plants, animal life, and natural materials to learn multiplication and division facts!

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Learn to solve multi-digit multiplication and division problems using a variety of strategies and nature-based projects.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Conquer fraction and decimal operations (+ – ÷ x) and beginning algebra with mudpies, number lines, and place value sticks.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Wild Reading® Level One takes beginning readers on a story-based journey following Matilda the Mouse and her adventures to the top of a marvelous mountain. Each week, the story highlights the week’s featured letter sound and is followed by lessons and nature-inspired activities in phonological awareness skills, letter formation, word families/phonics, common “sight” words, writing activities, independent reading practice using decodable books, and other key literacy skills throughout the week. Phonics skills are taught sequentially.

Wild Reading® Level Two continues the sequential introduction of phonics patterns such as long vowels, vowel teams, and r- controlled vowels taught using multi-sensory activities that can be done indoors or out. Children begin each week reading, writing, and building words, then progress to reading and writing at the sentence level and then finally end the week by read a decodable book or nature story from the Wild Reader. Reading and writing activities are nature inspired, hands on and fun. Reading comprehension skills are a taught through reading  quality picture books aloud  to build background knowledge combined with discussion and activities.  Nature enrichment activities are suggested for each week and build background knowledge about the natural world.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

winter book club

Cozy up with good book with the winter book club bundle,  units, activities, and more for 35 favorite winter books, spring sale, save 15% on all curriculum , be ready for warm weather with activities and lessons from wild learning.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

get the book!

A new book from rachel tidd,  take your students outside to learn math, reading, and writing utilize the schoolyard, neighborhood, and farther afield as a resource for teaching and learning. , outdoor learning workshop, join me and jade from the outdoor learning store in a 4 part in depth and collaborative workshop on outdoor learning.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Preorder bonus!

Get 85 outdoor writing prompts free with your preorder of my new book , wild learning: practical ideas to bring teaching outdoors.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

it's a wild story

Hi there! We are the Tidd family, and we are passionate about outdoor learning! We love exploring the lakes and creeks in the Finger Lakes Region of NY.

Rachel Tidd is passionate about integrating the outdoors and natural materials in core academic areas such as reading and math. She is the author of the Wild Math® and Wild Reading® Curricula and the book Wild Learning: Practical Ideas for Bringing Teaching Outdoors (Jossey-Bass/Wiley 2023).                                                                        Photo by Sara Tro

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Wild Learning®  LLC | Privacy Policy | Copyright 2024 | To contact us or for permission to use images please email: [email protected] 

I acknowledge that the land where I live (Ithaca, NY), work,  and gain inspiration from exists within the unceded territory of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ (Cayuga Nation), which is part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. I acknowledge their stewardship of this place throughout the centuries and today.

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4 Ideas for Summer Reading Outdoors

Longer days and a love of reading make for a winning combination..

The Great Outdoors may be calling, but that doesn’t mean your young reader has to leave the books at home. Longer days and more free time mean your child can enjoy what they want to read, at their own pace. It’s the perfect time to read for fun and experiment with different book genres and formats, like graphic novels . The pressure’s off!

“Summer is a wonderful time for leisurely, independent reading, and for children to consolidate what they’ve learned throughout the school year and make it their own,” Karen Baicker, Executive Director of the Yale Child Study Center–Scholastic Collaborative for Child & Family Resilience and Publisher for Family and Community Engagement (FACE) at Scholastic Education Solutions, told Scholastic Parents previously.

Whether your child prefers reading by sunlight or moonlight, here are five ideas for getting those pages in, outside.

1. Move your child’s reading nook outdoors.

Create a comfy reading nook outside wherever you are, whether it’s at the park, the beach, or in your own back yard. Yoga mats add a bit of cushioning and protection if the grass is wet. Add pillows, towels, or blankets to really make it cozy. Bring out a camping tent or even a toy tent to protect everyone from the sun and make it a special reading hideout. (Here are more tips for creating the perfect summer reading environment .)

2. Have an “outdoor bag” ready for on-the-go fun.

You never know when the urge to explore will hit, so make sure you have a designated “outdoor bag” with all the essentials packed for a few hours of fresh-air fun. Load your outdoor bag with snacks, sunscreen, and sunglasses and hats, in addition to a stack of your kids’ favorite books, magazines, or graphic novels.

3. Engage in outdoor activities inspired by books. Reluctant readers may need to find the right subject to inspire them. With the goal of spending time outside, find books that highlight flowers, produce, or farming, and put into practice what your kids learn by helping them start their own garden.

Summertime brings with it plenty of bugs, so why not find a book that identifies the types of bugs around you, and how they live and survive in the environment? See how many you can find in the wild. (Here are the best summer books for striving readers .) 

4. Get the neighborhood kids in on the reading fun.

Invite the neighborhood kids to form a book club! Organize a time for your child and their friends to meet weekly or a few times a week — outside — to discuss books from a pre-selected reading list. 

Have the kids take turns reading their favorite sections, and encourage them to ask questions about what they’ve read. Discussion of books supports reading comprehension and keeps skills fresh  over the summer.

Keep your child reading over the summer with expert tips and book recommendations with our  summer reading guide . Plus, explore epic summer stories and fun-filled books  perfect for the whole season. 

Shop books for reading outdoors below! You can find all books and activities at  The Scholastic Store .

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6 Outdoor Reading Activities to Engage Young Readers

6 Outdoor Reading Activities to Engage Young Readers

Outdoor reading activities open up a range of learning opportunities, so we asked educational consultant Dani Mundy for some inspiration to help us get active while learning to read. Here are six of our favourites that will show young learners that books are so much more than just a rainy day activity…

1. A scavenger hunt

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

A scavenger hunt is a fun and energetic way to motivate children (and adults!) to get involved with book-related activities. Start by hiding items related to the book you’ve been reading around a park, green space, or garden. If it’s a rainy day, you can even have your scavenger hunt indoors! Let the children hunt for their items and challenge them to guess the story with as few items as possible. 

Bonus idea: If you don’t have items to hand, you can play the same game using pictures instead. Print out some pictures from the book, hide them, and then see if your young learner can find them all. It might help if you put them into chronological order, and play out the story from the book.

2. The stone hunt

Step 1. Go outside and see how many stones you can collect (they need to be big enough to write on).

Step 2. Once the stones have been collected, use them as a story or word board.

Step 3. Draw pictures and write words from the book on the stones.

Step 4. Use the stones to recreate the story. The stones can be put into different orders to retell the story in different ways.

Top tip! The stones can also be used to focus on key words from the book in question. It’s a fun way to recycle and review vocabulary for younger learners.

3. Building a book den

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Children love making dens and this is an ideal way to create a reading spot in a garden or other outdoor space. With a few household items, such as boxes or bedsheets, you can DIY an outdoor nook that’s perfect for storytime. Encourage your little one to use natural objects such as leaves, sticks, flowers and stones for decoration. Now gather a few of your favorite books and get reading!

(This activity can be used to accompany First Words with Peppa Pig: The Den )

4. Water bottle game

Find a small water bottle, ideally with a sports cap, and fill it up. On a space outside such as a grey patio or pavement, use the water bottle instead of a pen to draw characters from the book. The water bottle can also be used to focus on small key words from the book.

Writing can be tricky for younger learners and this is a useful way to practice motor skills in a fun and engaging manner. The water bottle idea can also be used to practice letter formation.

5. Nature object game

Ask the children to collect leaves, stones, pebbles and twigs from a garden or outdoor area. Next, ask them to try and make the name of their favourite character using the items they have collected. This is a tactile activity that can help motivate children to form letters and words.

Top tip! Use this game as a creative art task after reading the book together.

6. First words game: Paper planes

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Step 1. Grab some scrap paper and go outside and make paper planes.

Step 2. Have a competition and see who can throw it the furthest.

Step 3. In a group of young learners, ask them to draw a picture of their favourite character from Peppa Pig on the wings of the paper plane.

Step 4. Now it’s time to throw them and find someone else’s paper plane. Can you guess the name of the character on the plane you pick up?

(This activity can be used to accompany First Words with Peppa Pig: Paper Planes )

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18 Unique Third Grade Reading Comprehension Activities Your Students Will Love

Build crucial literacy skills with these fun activities

Third grade reading comprehension activities like using posting and beach balls.

By the third grade, most students are really starting to get the hang of reading. They are enthusiastic readers, with preferences for particular themes and genres and opinions about everything they read. Here are 18 third grade reading comprehension activities that will help them dig deeper into what they’re reading and build skills to carry them to the next level.

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

1. Build a Comprehension Cootie Catcher

collage of images for a reading cootie catcher free printable as part of third grade reading comprehension

Turn reading comprehension into a fun game with these free cootie catchers. There are three different versions available, and each has questions that will help your students dig deeper into their reading. Each cootie catcher tackles elements of third grade reading comprehension like character, plot, setting, problem, and solution, and the questions are general enough that they can be used with any book.

Learn more: The Classroom Game Nook

2. Practice determining importance

Have you ever asked a student to summarize a story, only to hear them include every little detail? Or maybe they only retell a small part of the text, excluding important characters or events. What these readers need to learn is to discriminate between what is and what isn’t important. And in order to do this, they must sort through the actions and/or information they’ve read and decide on their importance. This is where graphic organizers come in. Check out the blog below for two effective lessons on determining importance.

Learn more: This Reading Mama

3. Play a round of Roll and Retell

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

One of the best ways to help students build comprehension is giving them a chance to talk about what they’ve read. This is a fun game to play, and all you need is a pair of dice. Students can pair up and share information with one another about what they’ve read. Or they can work solo and roll the dice and write out their answers.

Learn more: Home School Giveaways

4. Practice inferring with wordless books

Wordless picture books are great for making inferences. Use this free graphic organizer along with wordless picture books. On the graphic organizer, students describe what they noticed in the illustration and what they were able to infer from that illustration. Students could practice on their own or work with a partner or small group. Have each student or group use a different  book or use the same book and then compare the inferences.

Learn more: Ashleigh’s Education Journey

5. Make a paper chain of connections

Third grade reading comprehension activity making paper chains made of students' text connections

Good readers make connections as they read. Track your students’ connections with this engaging visual activity from Brooke at Literacy in Focus. First, students write their connections on colored strips of paper (each type of connection is made on a different color). Next, students link up their connections and attach them to the corresponding text-connections label or poster (see the example bulletin board at the link below). Links can be added throughout the year as new texts are read. The link-up activity makes a great visual representation of the entire text-connections process.

Learn more: Literacy in Focus

6. Use story maps

Story maps give students a framework to record their thinking before, during, and after reading. From spider webs and stars to Venn diagrams and shaped maps, there are endless formats of story maps available online. Try the 15 free versions below.

Learn more: Education.com

7. Build inference skills

Third grade reading comprehension student worksheet with a photo in the middle and written comments around it

Check out this blog for eight fun activities to build students’ inference skills, including watching short films, reading wordless books, and using picture task cards.

Learn more: The Teacher Next Door

8. Summarize using basic signal words

As students read a text, they keep track of words that answer the questions who, what, when, where, how, and why by writing them on a sticky note. After they write the words, they attach their sticky notes to a record sheet. Once they finish their note taking, they summarize the story using their notes.

9. Bat around a beach ball

Inflatable balls and cubes with reading comprehension questions written in sections as a third grade reading comprehension activity

Using a Sharpie marker, write different questions for students to answer about the book they are reading. Hit different elements such as character, problem and solution, setting, connections, predictions, etc. Kids will have a blast batting the inflatables around as they build comprehension skills.

Learn more: Conversations in Literacy

10. Run a nonfiction relay race

According to instructor Clio Stearns, Ph.D ., “Kinesthetic games allow third graders to put their bodies to use alongside their minds and can be particularly helpful for students who do not like to sit still or who benefit from multi-sensory approaches to learning.”

One of her ideas for boosting reading comprehension is to run a nonfiction relay race. This activity is great after reading a nonfiction book or article together. Break students into teams and head to the gym or outdoors. Set up a racecourse, for instance 100 yards marked off by flags or one lap around the track. The first student on each team will run the course, and once they return, and before the next student in line can run, they must repeat one fact they learned from the reading. The first team to have all runners complete the course wins. 

Learn more: First Cry Parenting

11. Hold a Book Character Day

Children dressed up as book characters

Kids love Book Character Day! It gives them a chance to show how much they really know about one of their favorite characters. Encourage them to dress as their character and carry props that are part of their story. Maybe they’d even like to act like and talk in the voice of their character. Be sure to set aside time for each student to tell their classmates about the character they chose and why.

Learn more: Shann Eva’s Blog

12. Retell a story with rock painting

Take a classic childhood art project—rock painting—and add a story for a creative, engaging third grade reading comprehension project. In this activity, children will read a book, then retell the story with pictures they have painted on stones.

13. Play a board game

3 board games kids can use for third grade reading comprehension

There are many fun board games for the classroom that boost literacy skills, including Scrabble, Story Cubes, Tall Tales, Hedbanz, and more. Try this fun option, which has three different board games that students can play to boost their reading comprehension. Put it on your classroom wish list!

Buy it: Comprehension Board Game Trio on Amazon

14. Make a game show of it

Try a fun game show–style class game for third grade reading comprehension. It’s easy to play a Jeopardy-style game, interactive tic-tac-toe, or a team game where students buzz in with the answer. (Check out these fun game show buzzers on Amazon.) Divide students into teams, then ask comprehension questions by topic or just randomly. Give teams time to talk about the answer before sharing it. This allows students to learn from each other, explain their thinking, and prove their answers.

Learn more: A Love of Teaching

15. Track your thinking with sticky notes

classroom anchor chart showing students how to use sticky notes to show their thinking

According to Home Reading Helper , one great way for students to remember and internalize what they read is by using sticky notes. Using these symbols as a guide, students place a sticky note with the appropriate symbol next to a line in a book to show their thinking as they read.

Learn more: RB Comprehension Strategies

16. Be a word detective

We can teach inferring for a variety of purposes. Students can infer how a character feels or why they behave in a certain way. They can even infer the theme of a book. This engaging activity focuses on inferring the meanings of unfamiliar words. Using the free download, students pick out “mystery words,” make a guess as to what the word means, identify clues, and write a sentence using the word.

Learn more: The Measured Mom

17. Create anchor charts together

Collage of Anchor Charts for third grade reading comprehension

From marking a text to visualizing to understanding a character’s journey, there’s a comprehension anchor chart for it. There are more than 35 colorful samples for you to build along with your students during direct instruction time.

Learn more: Reading Comprehension Anchor Charts

18. Make “wanted” posters

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Your kids will love this fun writing and drawing activity that demonstrates their understanding of character development. After reading a story, kids will use what they know about the bad guy in a book to create a wanted poster.

Learn more: Education.com and Happy Teacher Happy Students

Looking for more ways to encourage third grade reading comprehension? Check out our list of 60 best third grade books .

Plus, get all the latest teaching tips and tricks by signing up for our newsletters .

From character tag to short films and more, these third grade reading comprehension activities will boost your students' literacy skills.

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Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

April 2, 2017 | 6 Comments | Filed Under: Math , Reading , Writing & Grammar

Outdoor Learning Activities for Upper Elementary

The spring and summer seasons are the perfect time to take your students out of the classroom for some outdoor learning activities. Your students will be more motivated to work before, during, and after the outdoor learning activity. Outdoor learning is also an excellent behavior motivator for when your students have spring or summer fever.

There are so many ways to take your students’ learning outside, and this post will share my ten favorite ways – with lots of free outdoor learning printable activities! Note: The free outdoor learning activities included in this post are now available in a Google Slides version for some outdoor digital learning! Not all of the activities are free so make sure you read carefully and click the necessary links.

Spring and summer is the perfect time to take your students outdoors for some outside learning activities. This post shares TEN activities and freebies!

1. Outdoor Writing Activities

One of my favorite activities is a sensory walk writing lesson. After a quick mini-lesson on the five senses and how they can be used to help our readers visualize the stories we write, take your students outside to record what they see, hear, feel, smell, and what they would taste if they were tasting things. 😉

Then, take this activity to the next step and have them write a fictional narrative or a personal narrative that takes place in the same area they just explored. Have them incorporate their sensory details into their writing.

Take your students outside for a sensory walk to use in their writing. Click through to read more outdoor learning activities for grades 3-5!

There are so many other writing activities that you could do.  Here is another one of my students’ favorites. They choose an element of nature and write from the point of view of that element.

Outdoor writing activities are the perfect way to get your students outside and learning. Read more on this post!

To purchase the outdoor writing activities shown (including SIXTEEN more!), click here to head over to my TpT shop to see my Outdoor Writing Activities resource. The writing activities come in a variety of formats to fit your needs. Your students will love these writing activities!

2. Geometry Scavenger Hunt

When you are studying 2-D shapes or 3-D shapes, you can take your students outside to find these shapes in nature. Use a simple recording sheet like the one shown below to have them record the object, sketch the object, and then determine the 2-D shape or 3-D shape.

FREE Geometry Scavenger Hunt Printables. Click through to read more outdoor learning activities for grades 3-5!

****Click here to download the Geometry Scavenger Hunt printable shown in the image and several other versions (pages 3- 8 of the download).

3. Review Egg Hunt

My students are definitely not too old for an egg hunt that involves review. Put review questions (for any subject) inside plastic eggs for a fun outdoor learning activity that your students will love. Read more and grab a free recording sheet to have your own Review Egg Hunt on this post.

Spring and summer is the perfect time to take your students outdoors for some outside learning activities. This post shares TEN activities and freebies!

4. Inference Riddles

This outdoor learning activity is a perfect “advanced” activity for upper elementary students. The students will choose an object that they see outside and create riddles describing the object without actually naming it. They can do several of these riddles and then trade with a partner. When they have a new paper that is not their own, they will look for clues and details to determine what object is being described. They can write what they think the object is and the evidence from the riddles that helped them make that inference.

Outdoor writing activities are the perfect way to get your students outside and learning. Read more on this post!

This activity is also included in the Outdoor Writing Activities resource previously mentioned.

5. Independent and Partner Reading

This one is an easy, absolutely no-prep go to outdoor learning activity. Have your students take their reading books outside and read independently or with partners for an afternoon. I like using this on Friday’s as an incentive for on-task behavior throughout the week. One word of advice: clearly go over expectations for their behavior while they are reading outside, especially if they are reading with partners. Here are my expectations:

  • Choose a spot and then stay in the spot.
  • Make sure you are reading, talking, or writing about reading the entire time.

Super simple, but with many of my classes, it was really important that I made those expectations clear from the beginning.

6. Language Arts Scavenger Hunt

A simple outdoor activity could be having the students looking for basic parts of speech and recording them. If you go to an outside area that is calm without a lot of activity, the students could find nouns and then write describing adjectives and label each.

FREE language arts scavenger hunt printable! Click through to read more outdoor learning activities for grades 3-5!

If you go to an area with action (kids playing on the playground, cars going by, etc), the students could record verbs they see with accompanying adverbs and label them accordingly.

FREE language arts scavenger hunt printable! Click through to read more outdoor learning activities for grades 3-5!

**** Click here to download the Language Arts Scavenger Hunt printables shown in the image (pages 9-10 of the download).

7. Outdoor Science Activities

There are tons of outdoor science activities that you can do based on your science standards. Here are just a few:

  • “Exploding Coke and Mentos” experiement to teach the scientific method.
  • When teaching force and motion, test out push and pull “machines” MORE
  • Use sidewalk chart to create a model of the solar system on the sidewalk.
  • Hunt for decomposers, producers, and consumers on the playground (more about this on Tip #9)
  • Predict and test out whether items found on the playground are magnetic.
  • Look for examples of erosion and weathering around the school.
  • Look for evidence of the water cycle.

8. Sidewalk Scoot

Sidewalk Scoot is a perfect outdoor learning activity for math computation. Have the students use chalk to write a math problem on pavement or a sidewalk (may have to set some perimeters so you don’t have way too easy or way too difficult problems) and have the students scoot around solving the problems.

Sidewalk SCOOT is a great way to get your students learning outside. Read more about this activity and NINE other outdoor learning activities on this post.

Read more about how The Primary Girl uses Sidewalk Scoot in her classroom and grab her free recording sheet here.

9. Nature Scavenger Hunt

A common outdoor learning activity is having the students complete a nature scavenger hunt. The students can hunt for a specific list of objects or living things found in nature. This activity can even be adapted to match your science curriculum. If you are studying food chains, the students can look for examples of consumers, producers, and decomposers in the outside area you take your students.

10. Measurement Activities

There are several outdoor learning activities that involve measurement.

Here are a few of my favorites:

  • Have students find objects that they predict measure a specific amount. Then,have them measure to determine if they are correct.
  • Using specifics in your outside area, create a measurement scavenger hunt with directions to measure specific objects.
  • If you do any type of “body measurement,” in your instruction already, I recommend moving this to an outside area. It gives the students more room to measure and allows them to be a bit more chatty while whey measure and discuss those measurements.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to take your students outside and in ways that extend their learning in virtually all subjects! Do you have any other favorite outdoor learning activities that you and your students love? Let me know in the comments!

Can’t Find the FREE Outdoor Learning Activities?

If you came here looking for the free outdoor learning activities and missed the links embedded in the post, click here or on the image below!

Grab a few FREE outdoor learning activities on this post, including digital outdoor learning activities!

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outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

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Looking for spring activities for your upper elementary students? This post has ideas and resources great for spring!

Reader Interactions

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April 2, 2017 at 9:31 am

these ideas are great for this time of year thanks so much!!!!

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April 2, 2017 at 9:39 am

I loved on of these. I especially loved the inference one!

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April 3, 2017 at 10:14 am

I want to play Sidewalk Scoot! I could do that with younger kids too. Awesome. Thanks!

Reading with Mrs. D

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April 9, 2017 at 1:21 pm

Such great ideas! It is still rainy here in the PNW, but hopefully I’ll be able to use these soon!

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August 22, 2017 at 6:54 pm

Thank you so much for the summer ideas. School starts next week and my classroom can be pretty hot. Thank you for some fun ideas to take my kids outside. I was wondering if you read chapter books aloud and what books you used? Thank you!

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May 22, 2018 at 5:54 am

Thank you! I have my students create tesselations on the sidewalk with chalk the day of our fifth grade night. They love having their parents see them during the evening!

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outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Welcome friends! I’m Jennifer Findley: a teacher, mother, and avid reader. I believe that with the right resources, mindset, and strategies, all students can achieve at high levels and learn to love learning. My goal is to provide resources and strategies to inspire you and help make this belief a reality for your students. Learn more about me.

3rd grade learning games and activities

by: The GreatSchools Editorial Team | Updated: April 23, 2020

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Third grade learning games and activities

Looking for some fun ways to engage your child at home while building academic skills? Try these learning games and activities for 3rd graders!

Fun learning games and activities for 3rd graders

Crazy captions, microscope discovery, create a scroll, play a matching game, writing letters, power reading talk, water glass music, family fitness, follow a recipe, identify that state, make a self-portrait, develop a mental image, weather graph, jumping raisins, act out a script, make a pop-up book, make a reading tree, plant parts salad, describe an object.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

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Underwater Adventure

3rd grade | RI.3.1 | 7 minutes

In this reading game, 3rd graders explore the ocean depths while answering questions about informational text.

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38 Fun 3rd Grade Reading Comprehension Activities

June 10, 2023 //  by  Kellie Tanner

Third grade is a big year for reading comprehension. Your child will gather a deeper understanding of the meaning of what they are reading as they expand their vocabulary skills and build knowledge. They will also be exposed to more challenging books , articles, poetry, and online research. They will also learn to be more independent learners and thinkers as they receive less assistance from adults. Before the end of third grade, your child should be reading with greater accuracy and fluency. The following activities should assist you as you help your third grader improve his literacy skills.

1. Sticky Notes Project

3rd grade kids will love this sticky note project that teaches them about character traits. Providing students with a visual representation allows them to more easily compare the traits of different characters. This fun activity will help students think more deeply about characters which will allow them to more deeply understand the meaning of the story they are reading.

Learn More: Education

2. Book Squares Activity

Sequencing events in a story can often be difficult for 3rd grade students, and this book square activity will help! This activity is a great way to help your child take essential story details and place them in chronological order. Another great thing about the book square is that it can later be used as a bookmark!

3. Beach Ball Comprehension

This beach ball activity will quickly become one of the favorite games of your 3rd graders. All you need is a permanent marker and a few beach balls . Write questions on the balls for your students to answer about their favorite book. Include comprehension questions about setting, characters, predictions, connections, problems, and solutions.

Learn More: Conversations in Literacy

4. Teach Students to Visualize

This 3rd grade reading comprehension activity allows students to focus on text visualization which is a crucial strategy in increasing reading comprehension skills. This lesson utilizes an anchor chart , listening skills, and a descriptive book. Learn more about the details of this activity here.

Learn More: Raise The Bar Reading

5. Creepy Carrots Inference Activity 

This engaging activity is great for entertaining readers. Your 3rd graders will have a lot of fun as they learn about inference skills. This one-day lesson plan includes a lesson script, questions, and writing task instructions.

Learn More: thelemonadestandteacher

6. Animal Style Reading Comprehension Strategies

These engaging and fun reading comprehension strategies teach 3rd graders how to ask questions, make predictions, and draw conclusions. They are able to use animals to learn essential reading skills through entertaining poems. Learn more about these strategies here.

Learn More: ateachableteacher.com

7. Main Idea and Details Sentence Sort

This engaging activity can help students understand how details support the main idea of a story. Students will be given sentences from a paragraph that are out of order, cut apart from one another, and all mixed up. Your 3rd grader must use critical thinking skills to put the paragraph together correctly.

Learn More: thriftyinthirdgrade.com

8. Sentence Frames for Reading Responses

An essential skill for 3rd grade students to master is effectively responding to the text they are reading. Often, students struggle with writing accurate and meaningful responses to the texts they are reading. Providing the students with sentence frames teaches them how to write more accurate and meaningful responses.

Learn More: upperelementarysnapshots.com

9. Reading Comprehension Book Marks

This is one of the best reading comprehension tools you will find. These free bookmarks are terrific for helping 3rd graders improve reading retention as well as aid students in the practice of note-taking. These bookmarks are terrific for fiction stories and non-fiction books.

Learn More: 123homeschool4me.com

10. Cootie Catcher for Reading Comprehension

This 3rd grade level activity is an engaging and fun lesson that will definitely entertain your readers. The cootie catcher activity contains three versions and can be used with any fictional book. Find out more about this activity here.

Learn More: classroomgamenook.blogspot.com

11. Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension benefits our kiddos in so many ways. This allows students to focus on how well they can really listen. It also helps teachers to assess and understand where their kiddos are at. While audiobooks are a great choice, this Youtube reading passage has been specially formulated to help your kiddos develop 3rd grade reading concepts and skills.

Learn More: YouTube

12. Main Ideas and Details

Save time while preparing for your next lesson and tune into this video. This video not only gives a great overview of the main ideas and details but also provides plenty of structure to build some classroom visuals with your class.

13. Hamster Hide and Seek Poem

Reading poems is quite a fun and engaging fluency project. This video is great because it walks you and your kiddos through a repeated reading lesson. It’s great to also be sent home with struggling readers and parents can easily work through the video with them!

14. Third Grade Test Prep

It’s never easy teaching test prep to third graders. Especially when you have a class of 20, on all different levels. Finding advanced stories, while also working with your lower levels can be difficult. This video provides a great video that will help to enhance your digital classroom by incorporating critical thinking skills and comprehension prep.

15. Guess Who? Guess What? Guess The Word!

This is a super fun twist on the classic Guess Who game. Help your third grader practice their reading skills in a fun and engaging way. This can work with centers and games for free time. Students will absolutely love when this board game comes out.

Learn More: My Class Bloom

16. Context Clues and Cookies

Providing students with plenty of visuals is vital to a successful reading space. This activity helps boost literacy skills among your third graders. Make this poster together as a class and then pair it with some favorite comprehension activities to practice context clues.

Learn More: The Teacher Next Door

17. Predict It

Is it time for teaching predictions? But you can’t seem to find the perfect book for your classroom? Sparky!   Is an amazing book for teaching predictions in the third-grade classroom. Students will love reading along and predicting what is going to happen next.

Learn More: Starts with a Story

18. Fluency Reminders

If you have a fluency center, then this is a great addition to that. If not, you can totally still use this reminder sheet. Whether you create your very own classroom poster or send it home with kiddos to remind parents about focusing on fluency. Whichever works for your classroom, it’s a great resource to add to the books.

Learn More: Literacy with Aylin Claahsen

19. Lucky Days

If you’re looking for the perfect Saint Patrick’s Day activity , here it is! Include this in your March madness activities. Focusing on Main Idea and key details, these printable worksheets will be engaging to all of your students.

Learn More: Hands On Learning LLC

20. Practice Transitions

Get your third-grade class moving with their transitional words! Use a book that is directly aimed toward the 3rd grade reading level like How to Catch a Leprechaun to get them hooked. Then, give them this worksheet to help them get to grips with these simple transitional words and sequencing events all in one. 

Learn More: 15 Worksheets

21. Compare and Contrast

Comparing and contrasting is one of the most important concepts your kiddos will learn about in third grade. It’s important to provide students with books that they will both be engaged in and easily be able to compare! These two books along with this simple worksheet are great for exactly that.

Learn More: Abram Academics

22. Teaching Vocabulary

Teaching vocabulary and sight words can get more and more difficult as your students get older. Not only are the words more challenging, but students need a bit more stimulation to be totally engaged. These vocabulary vipers are amazing to teach both vocabulary and sight words! They also make a super cute classroom decoration for a word wall.

Learn More: Life of a Former Third Grade Teacher

23. Flip Books

Who doesn’t love a good flip book? I swear by them because my students love making them. This flipbook is filled with different comprehension passages. Whether you need a fiction or non-fiction reading passage, equip them in your very own flipbook ! Watch students work vigorously to finish and decorate their beautiful books.

24. Vocabulary Assessments

There’s no doubt that assessments are a pretty big controversy right now, but sometimes they’re just necessary. Especially when it comes to vocabulary. Vocabulary can be really difficult for students, but also essential for them to have proper reading fluency skills.

Learn More: TPT

25. Informational Reading

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Sand Cat is the perfect brief, non-fiction passage for any third grade classroom! It comes with comprehension questions as well. If you’re looking for a quick comprehension package, then here it is. Low prep and engaging for your kiddos.

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

26. Improve Fluency

Improve your students reading fluency with these reading bookmarks! They can either be used solely as bookmarks or they can be used to follow along while reading. Students will love the different colored films to help highlight what is being read.

Learn More: Natalie in Third

27. Build the Word

Building on your student’s phonics skills is another important aspect of teaching reading comprehension. When students are able to quickly put together words, their fluency skills are automatically heightened. This is a great activity to work with your students on suffixes.

Learn More: The Literacy Lady

28. Story Maps

As students become more and more skilled with their comprehension strategies, it’s time to put them to work. Use a story map to combine all of the skills learned throughout a comprehension unit to assess students’ skills and levels.

29. Reading Detective

Although this may not be a freebie, it’s totally worth it. Your students will absolutely love to become detectives and make inferences from different texts. This is highly engaging for all students.

30. Social Studies Reading

This reading passage is great for integrating cross-curriculum lessons into your classroom. Students will love to mark up their papers.

Learn More: Ashleigh Education Journey

31. Book Reports

Book reports are super beneficial for third graders. Not only do they help readers to understand what they’ve read, but to also put it into words and pictures. This hits all of the different reading comprehension skills and students will also love to share their book reports with others.

Learn More: Terrific Teaching Tactics

32. Novel Studies

Novel studies have so many benefits it’s hard to list them all in such a short paragraph. Not only do they build on different comprehension skills, but they also build a special community in the classroom. Providing students with novel studies packets and stories will keep them talking, working together, and best of all, reading together.

Learn More: Miss Kyla’s Star Students

33. Vocabulary Puzzles

Vocabulary puzzles are super fun and engaging. They can really be created using any words. Type your words on a paper and use puzzel.org to play around with creating different puzzle pieces. It’s super simple to laminate and to use again and again.

Learn More: Miss Vin 3

34. Author’s Purpose

Building anchor charts in the classroom are beneficial for both you and your students. It’s mainly important to stay on task throughout the entire lesson and allow your kiddos to add their input as you go. Don’t forget to refer back to the anchor chart throughout your entire unit.

Learn More: Keever’s Crew

35. K.W.L. Chart

Balloons Over Broadway is a great introduction to K.W.L. charts for your students. This is something that students do have some background knowledge about and they also can easily come up with questions to ask! There’s no doubt your students will use these charts for many years to come.

Learn More: Mrs. Homuth

36. Book Talk Wall

Building a book talk wall will help to enhance students’ vocabulary. Whether you go over the word daily, refer to them throughout your lessons, or just want students to look during downtime, the book talk wall is sure to have a positive influence on them.

Learn More: The Kentucky Teacher

37. Flower Vocabulary

Finding different ways to break down vocabulary words is an easy way to help students gain fluency. With better vocabulary knowledge, comes better fluency, and with better fluency comes better comprehension. It’s all connected. Find different ways to enhance your student’s vocabulary-building skills , like these flowers.

Learn More: Guide, Teach, Inspire

38. Random Wheel

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Last, but certainly not least is the random wheel. This wheel can be created and modified to whichever words you’re using in your lessons. Whether you want to use it for a game show, bingo or just to practice reading aloud students will love when you pull up the random wheel on your classroom smart board or projector.

Learn More: Worldwall

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Reading Comprehension Workbooks for Grade 3

Download & Print Only $3.49

Third Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Grade 3 stories and exercises.

Use these free, printable worksheets to practice and improve reading comprehension, vocabulary and writing. Included are fiction and non-fiction passages at a grade 3 level.  All worksheets are pdf files.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Leveled stories & reading worksheets

These leveled stories worksheets are from our series of leveled reading workbooks .  Each successive level provides greater reading challenge. Reading exercises follow each story.

Children's stories

Free children's stories for third grade . Each passages isfollowed by 6 questions. These fiction and non-fiction texts are 350-450 words long.

These historical passages and fables are followed by comprehension questions.  Exercises involve recalling information directly from the text as well as concepts such as prediction, inference and character traits.

Reading comprehension exercises for grade 3

These grade 3 reading worksheets focus on specific comprehension topics such distinguishing fact from opinion and sequencing events.

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outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

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outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

Snow Reading Comprehension Activities for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Grade

If you’re looking for printable snow reading comprehension activities for your 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade students, you’ve found the right place! These resources are popular for teaching about snow in the classroom. Learn more about this snow reading comprehension resource below!

Five snow reading comprehension activities

What is this Snow Reading Comprehension Resource?

This Snow Reading Comprehension Unit is about the life cycle of a snowflake. It includes tons of printable resources like leveled reading comprehension passages, discussion questions, writing prompts, vocabulary cards and activities, assessments, worksheets, and much more. You’ll have what you need to teach a comprehensive unit or series of lessons on this non-fiction topic.

Snow non-fiction reading passages and activities

What Does This Snow Resource Include?

This snow reading comprehension resource includes the following:

Teaching Guide

The teaching guide walks you through the different resources and suggests how to implement them in your classroom. You’ll have what you need to confidently implement the snow reading comprehension worksheets and activities.

Five snow reading comprehension activities accompanied by a worksheet close-up

Vocabulary Cards

The vocabulary cards each have the vocabulary term, an image that represents the word, and a kid-friendly definition.

Vocabulary Activities

The vocabulary activities help students develop an understanding of each of the vocabulary terms and be able to confidently use them in conversation.

3 Leveled Reading Passages

The three snow leveled reading comprehension passages help you differentiate and meet the needs of all your students, and help them feel confident in their reading abilities. Each snow reading passage was carefully crafted to look similar and have the same key vocabulary, but be scaled to meet the needs of a typical class with varied reading abilities.

Two reading comprehension worksheets about snow

Discussion Prompts

The discussion prompts promote reading comprehension and thoughtful class or small group discussions.

Discussion Prompt Cards

Laminate, cut out, hole-punch, and put the discussion cards on a ring so you can reuse them year after year.

Reading Comprehension Activity

This snow reading comprehension worksheet is based on the text structure of the reading passages, which gives students valuable practice opportunities.

Reading comprehension activities about snow

Writing Prompt and Thematic Writing Paper

The writing prompt and thematic writing paper support students in practicing their writing skills in this integrated unit.

2 Comprehension Check-Ins

There are two comprehension check-ins with answer keys. This allows you to grade them quickly and differentiate as needed.

Life cycle of a snowflake reading comprehension worksheets

Why Teachers Love Our Non-Fiction Reading Units

Listed below are some of the reasons elementary teachers love our non-fiction reading units.

  • Our non-fiction units include an abundance of resources to choose from. This allows you to select which activities are best for your students.
  • All of the activities are either low-prep (some quick cutting) or no prep (just print and go) which saves you tons of time while still offering engaging learning opportunities to your students.
  • We’ve intentionally designed many of the resources to be open-ended and to include differentiated versions to make it easy for you to meet the needs of all your students. This also means that if you change grade levels in the future, you will likely still be able to use them with minimal modification.
  • All of our non-fiction units follow the same format and include the same types of activities customized to each topic. This creates a cohesive, year-long routine where students know the expectations and are able to focus on the topic.
  • All of our non-fiction units integrate reading, writing, and speaking standards with a timely and engaging topic, so students are fully engaged while practicing important skills.

Three reading comprehension activities about the life cycle of a snowflake

Related Snow Picture Books

Check out the related snow picture books below that pair well with the snow comprehension worksheets and passages.

Other Snow Resources

Below are some other snow teaching resources that you may be interested in.

In closing, we hope you found this post about these snow reading comprehension passages, activities and worksheets helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in these posts:

  • Snow Books for Elementary Teachers
  • Popular Snow Activities for Elementary Students
  • Winter Activities for Elementary Students
  • Read more about: ELEMENTARY TEACHING , LITERACY

You might also like these posts...

Veterans day reading comprehension activities for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade, activities for native american heritage month for students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade.

outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

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Leap Year 2024 Reading and Writing Activities

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Description

Leap Year Reading and Writing Activities for 2nd-4th Grade.

Resource Includes:

•Reading Passage

•Comprehension Questions

•Alphabetical Order

•Vocabulary Match

•Reading Passage Sequencing

•Writing Prompt

•Creating Sentences

Answer Keys are Included!

Leap Year only comes around once every 4 years--might as well make it a fun experience for the students!

Need Other February Resources?

February Reading Passages

Morning Word NO PREP!

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  1. Teach child how to read: 3rd Grade Summer Studies Free Printable Worksheets

    outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

  2. Reading Comprehension Activities For Third Grade

    outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

  3. Outdoor Pre-Reading Activity for New Readers

    outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

  4. Outdoor Literacy

    outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

  5. 3rd grade reading comprehension worksheets for free

    outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

  6. Reading Activities & Printables

    outdoor reading activities for 3rd grade

VIDEO

  1. Reading time grade 1 pupils#kidsvideo #1stgrade #reading #shortsyoutube

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  4. Tips for 3rd graders

  5. Learn vocabulary about outdoor fun activities. Outdoor Activities Vocabulary Words

COMMENTS

  1. 19 Outdoor Literacy Activities

    1. Laminate reading books for outdoor use and take reading outside. Outdoor reading provides a calming environment that can boost children's focus and attention span. Reading in natural light is also beneficial for learners' eyesight, reducing strain caused by dim or harsh lighting. 2. Organise a treasure hunt.

  2. 63 Outdoor Learning Activities Kids will Love

    August 10, 2020 Teaching Ideas 63 Outdoor Learning Activities Kids will Love For the Classroom, Outdoor Fun 39 As a parent, and teacher, I try to get my children outside as much as possible. I am always looking for new outdoor learning activities. I was once told that (almost) any activity you can do inside a classroom, you can do outside.

  3. 11 Outdoor Learning Activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Students

    4. Read Outside Never underestimate the power of a change of scenery! Have students do their independent reading outside - or let them relax and enjoy a good read aloud. These teacher recommended chapter books are a great read aloud option, or choose one of these books about showing kindness and empathy. 5. Go on an ABC word hunt

  4. Ideas to Teach Literacy Outdoors

    Outdoor Handwriting Practice. Handwriting practice can be a fun literacy activity to take outdoors. Handwriting can be done in different ways depending on children's ages and abilities. Copying Letters on the Pavement - Children can write over letters or words on the pavement. If the words are already written out in chalk, children can ...

  5. 10 Outdoor Literacy Activities

    1. Read outside. Grab a few books and head outside. Bring along a blanket to sit on, find a tree to lean up against, or cuddle up in an outdoor fort. Read together or allow your child time to read alone- whichever feels appropriate. 2. Play with alphabet rocks.

  6. 25 Reading Activities for Summer School

    Are you a Summer School Teacher looking for some fun and engaging reading activities? Then you found the right blog for you! It doesn't matter if you are teaching summer school, extended school year (ESY), at home with your own child, or even tutoring this summer. There are some great activities here for everyone!

  7. Outdoor Activities Teaching Resources for 3rd Grade

    Reading Center Activities Black History Month 2024 Back to School 2023 ... Outdoor Activities Teaching Resources for 3rd Grade Teaching Resource Collections; Outdoor Activities; types. Teaching Resource 53. ... Outdoor Activities for 1st Grade Outdoor Activities for 2nd Grade

  8. Wild Learning

    At Wild Learning ®, we believe that the outdoor environment is the ideal classroom for children. Our curricula, Wild Math® and Wild Reading® use nature as a tool for learning essential math and reading skills. Research has shown that learning outside can increase attention, is more engaging, and is naturally hands-on and multi-sensory.

  9. 4 Ideas for Summer Reading Outdoors

    Whether your child prefers reading by sunlight or moonlight, here are five ideas for getting those pages in, outside. 1. Move your child's reading nook outdoors. Create a comfy reading nook outside wherever you are, whether it's at the park, the beach, or in your own back yard. Yoga mats add a bit of cushioning and protection if the grass ...

  10. 6 Outdoor Reading Activities to Engage Young Readers

    6. First words game: Paper planes. Step 1. Grab some scrap paper and go outside and make paper planes. Step 2. Have a competition and see who can throw it the furthest. Step 3. In a group of young learners, ask them to draw a picture of their favourite character from Peppa Pig on the wings of the paper plane. Step 4.

  11. Browse 3rd Grade Reading & Writing Outdoor Game Hands-on Activities

    Browse 3rd Grade Reading & Writing Outdoor Game Hands-on Activities. Award winning educational materials designed to help kids succeed. Start for free now!

  12. 25 Clever Outdoor Games for Kids

    1. Play a classic game. Hopscotch is one of those timeless games that is shared from generation to generation. Best of all, it costs nothing to play! 2. Hunt for frozen dinosaur eggs. This is a great activity for a hot summer day. Easily freeze dinosaur figures inside these ice eggs for a super-cool treasure hunt! 3.

  13. Results for outdoor reading activity

    Outdoor Activities Reading Comprehension Worksheet Bundle Hiking, Fishing Created by Teaching to the Middle This reading comprehension bundle includes passages on hiking, fishing, canoeing, camping, and rock climbing. I've included a color and black and white version, and a key.

  14. 3rd Grade Reading Activities for Kids

    Third Grade Reading Activities. Evolve classroom reading beyond "popcorn" with third grade reading activities like "Step Inside the Story!" that encourages students to journal from the main character's perspective. If your students need a little help describing aspects of the story, help them flesh out their vocabulary with third ...

  15. 18 Unique Third Grade Reading Comprehension Activities

    1. Build a Comprehension Cootie Catcher Turn reading comprehension into a fun game with these free cootie catchers. There are three different versions available, and each has questions that will help your students dig deeper into their reading.

  16. Outdoor Learning Activities for Upper Elementary

    Geometry Scavenger Hunt When you are studying 2-D shapes or 3-D shapes, you can take your students outside to find these shapes in nature. Use a simple recording sheet like the one shown below to have them record the object, sketch the object, and then determine the 2-D shape or 3-D shape.

  17. 3rd grade learning games and activities

    Try these activities together to build an awareness of the importance of exercise. Follow a recipe. This activity provides real-life practice in reading directions, sequencing and measuring. Identify that state. This game will help your third grader locate states on a map and build social studies skills. Make a self-portrait. Making a self ...

  18. Results for outdoor activities reading comprehension

    These worksheets are specifically designed to be used during the summer months when students may not be attending school regularly.The passages in these worksheets cover a variety of summer-related topics, such as beach vacations, camping trips, outdoor activities, Subjects: English Language Arts, Reading, Summer.

  19. eSpark Learning's Blog

    5 Free Online Games to Teach Third Grade Reading Skills September 26, 2022 | eSpark Contributor Student Activities | Reading Sparking a love for learning takes time—and a great activity to kickstart the process! If you've been searching for 3rd grade reading games and activities that are truly engaging for kids, you're in luck.

  20. Underwater Adventure

    Underwater Adventure. reading 3rd grade. 3rd grade | RI.3.1 | 7 minutes. In this reading game, 3rd graders explore the ocean depths while answering questions about informational text. Grade. pre-kindergarten kindergarten 1st grade 2nd grade 3rd grade 4th grade 5th grade 6th grade 7th grade 8th grade. Subject.

  21. 38 Fun 3rd Grade Reading Comprehension Activities

    Teach Students to Visualize This 3rd grade reading comprehension activity allows students to focus on text visualization which is a crucial strategy in increasing reading comprehension skills. This lesson utilizes an anchor chart, listening skills, and a descriptive book. Learn more about the details of this activity here.

  22. Third grade reading comprehension worksheets

    Breadcrumbs Worksheets Reading Grade 3 Third Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets Grade 3 stories and exercises Use these free, printable worksheets to practice and improve reading comprehension, vocabulary and writing. Included are fiction and non-fiction passages at a grade 3 level. All worksheets are pdf files.

  23. Snow Reading Comprehension Activities for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Grade

    It includes tons of printable resources like leveled reading comprehension passages, discussion questions, writing prompts, vocabulary cards and activities, assessments, worksheets, and much more. You'll have what you need to teach a comprehensive unit or series of lessons on this non-fiction topic.

  24. Leap Year 2024 Reading and Writing Activities

    Leap Year Reading and Writing Activities for 2nd-4th Grade. Resource Includes: •Reading Passage•Comprehension Questions•Alphabetical Order•Vocabulary Match•Reading Passage Sequencing•Writing Prompt•Creating SentencesAnswer Keys are Included!Leap Year only comes around once every 4 years--might as we...