Outdoor activities in the minority language

 During the summer months spending more time outdoors becomes the norm due to better weather, however this doesnt mean that it has to slow down our minority language input but rather that we have to find other ways to channel this outlet.

As I am trying to encourage my daughter's reading one of the ideas I came up with was to continue with the captive reading idea in the garden by making bilingual plant labels. I found these fairly reasonable plant labels with a little blackboard in a garden centre and wrote the names of some of our herbs & vegetables in both the majority and minority languages.I don't know whether my daughter actually even looks at the herbs or the labels but at least its there and maybe she reads it subconsciously.

Gardening can be another way for kids to expand their vocabulary of different types of plants and flowers, garden tools etc as you can talk while you're doing it and even better you get some help with the garden at the same time, if you can get the kids on board with the idea.

There are many outdoor games that you can play with your children in the minority language,many of which may also be traditional, such as British Bulldog,which means that not only are you having fun, practicing and using the majority language but also passing on your minority language's culture to your children. I'm going to giveyou some examples of some traditional outdoor games that you could play:

Hide-and-seek: Think this game is universal. Good for counting practice and the phrase "I'm coming to get you, ready or not!"One person counts to 10 or 20 and the others have to hide and then the person who is "on" has to find the others.

Red Light, Green Light:One person is"on" and has to face away from the other players and then shouts either red light or green light....if they shout green light, the other players can advance, if they shout red light the players have to stop and freeze...if they move they have to go back to the start. The aim is to reach and tag the player who is on.

What time is it Mr Wolf?....great for practicing saying the time. This game is very similar to Red Light,Green Light only the players shout: What time is it Mr Wolf? and the player who is the wolf answers with various times. If they say "Its dinnertime!¨ the "wolf" turns around and tries to catch the player nearest to him.

Tig & British Bulldog....British Bulldog is similar to Tig. One or two players are the ¨bulldogs¨  and stand in the middle of the garden or patio,park etc and the other players stand at the other end of the play area. They have to try to get to the other side without the bulldogs catching them.

Other outdoor games or activities that you could do to boost the minority language are nature trails or scavenger hunts and treasure hunts.These are also great at expanding vocabulary and also helping with biliteracy as the children have to read the clues or tick off the things they have to spot on the nature trail. I have yet to try these activities out on my own children but am looking forward to it. You could also play any outdoor sports such as rounders, cricket, bowling, which not only is a great way to have fun and do some exercise but also has the added value of that they are cultural sports that might not be played or as popular in your majority language country.

What are your favourite outdoor activities,games and ways to boost the minority language?