sky writing

Sometimes, you need nothing but your fingers and the sky to practice writing.

Today, during a way-too-hot lunch out on the porch, Owen, Cora, and I chatted about Brady’s first trip to the groomer that morning, about how excited we were about the pool opening this weekend, and about the letters we knew that were ‘kind of’ the same.

A pretty cool way of passing a lunchtime if you ask me. . .

• Sky Writing: Sky Writing is just that–writing in the sky.

The great thing about Sky Writing is that you don’t have to search for markers that work or a blank piece of paper; the not-so-great thing is that even with the most beautifully composed letters, you’ve got nothing to show for it when you’re done.

Today, out of the blue, Owen said, Mommy, do you know that B and R and P are all kind of the same?

Really? What do you mean?

I can make a ‘P’ like this (and he wrote a ‘P’ in the sky). And then for an ‘R’, I add this (he added the tail of the ‘R’ in the sky). And for a ‘B’ I just bring it back to the line like this (he made his ‘R’ a ‘B’–also in the sky).

You’re so right. Way to use your brain, Owen. What other letters are kind of the same? Hmmmmm. . . I can think of an ‘L’ (I made an ‘L’ in the sky), and an ‘E’, if I add two more lines like this (I added the lines in the sky).

Cora said, I can make a ‘C’. But I can’t do it in the sky. I need paper.

Owen said, A ‘C’ is like this. (He made a ‘C’ in the sky.) And it’s an ‘O’. (He connected the side.)

Or a ‘Q’, I added. (And I added the tail.)

Cora wouldn’t try a Sky Writing ‘C’, and that’s fine. We water painted yesterday afternoon, so she said she only wanted to make her letters with water and a paintbrush. And sometimes it’s just not worth arguing with a 3 year-old, right?

Overall, it was just a teeny bit of easy learning on a super-hot Thursday.

In the next few days, I think I’ll have Owen and Cora pull two letter cards from a pile or two letter lids from a big bucket and ask, Can you write a ‘B’ or an ‘L’ (or whatever letters they pull) in the sky–or before it disappears from our porch? It may be more of a fun way of getting them playing with letters. . .

Here are some Alphabet Letter Flash Cards as a pdf for a quick download if you’d like to try this with your little ones. Happy writing!