Enjoying the Last Days of Summer - Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Famous Footwear. All opinions are 100% mine. I don't know where the summer has gone. It seems like just yesterday that we had the whole summer stretched out in front of us and now we are preparing for back to school time. I am trying to savor the last few weeks before the kids go back to school and we get back into the busy flow of school days. While the weather has been warm, we have been enjoying the last days of summer by spending time outdoors and being active. Since I am a former teacher, I love to combine activity with learning, like we did when we played this Alphabet Scavenger Hunt.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Famous Footwear. All opinions are 100% mine.

This Alphabet Scavenger Hunt takes just minutes to put together. You will need a plastic shower curtain liner to make an alphabet mat (I picked mine up at my local discount store for $1), a permanent marker and scissors. I found the shower curtain liner to be a little big for my purposes, so I cut it in half and wrote the alphabet on it with a permanent marker. I made each letter between 8-10 inches long and spaced them about 6 inches apart so there would be room to place items on the letters.

Since the girls were going to be active playing this game, I knew that proper footwear was essential. The kids decided to wear the new shoes they recently got from Famous Footwear for back to school time.

Back to school shopping can be tough. Let's just say the things that a 6 year old looks for in a pair of shoes are not always the same things a mom looks for in a pair of shoes. My daughter would wear princess slippers every day if she could, but I know that would not be good for her feet or very comfortable. But when we go to Famous Footwear, I know my kids will find styles that they love from brands that I trust.

Our current favorite shoes are these Kids' Twinkle Toes Chit Chat Tye Dye Sneakers from Skechers and these Kids' Flex Run 2016 Running Shoes from Nike. They are stylish, comfortable and made for active kids. The Skechers contain colorful lights that blink with every step. The soles are made with memory foam and the first time my 6 year old tried them on she exclaimed, "oh, the comfort!" The Nike running shoes are breathable which is important when you are in your shoes all day.

These shoes are really going to help streamline my back to school preparations. The kids love wearing them so much that I won't be nagging them every morning to put on their shoes. As soon as the kids get dressed, these shoes from Famous Footwear come on!

When my kids are wearing great shoes I know that they feel happy, comfortable and confident which will make their school day go a lot better. This will make my day a lot better since I know they can concentrate on learning and having fun.

Speaking of learning and having fun, let's go on an alphabet scavenger hunt!

I set up the alphabet mat outside, using some large rocks to hold it down so that the wind wouldn't blow it away. I then challenged the kids to find objects, inside or outside. that started with each letter and bring them to the mat and place them on the correct letter.

You can set this up as a timed game and give your kids a certain amount of time to complete the challenge, or you can just let them do it at their own pace. We played the game untimed. This alphabet scavenger hunt teaches letter sound concepts, cooperation and gets kids moving. My kids ran all over the yard looking for objects and then ran inside and upstairs to find items for the letters. Our shoes from Famous Footwear kept up with them every step of the way. To help minimize kids looking for items that started with the same letter, my kids started telling each other what letter they were looking for. "I'm looking for B," my daughter would call as she ran to look for a ball. It was great to see the kids working together to complete the alphabet scavenger hunt in an efficient way.

When we got down to the last few letters, things got tricky. Certain letters were more difficult to find objects for, but the kids were able to think outside the box. For the letter Z my daughter got a sweater with a zipper.

The kids got more and more excited as the scavenger hunt neared completion. Soon it was time to place the final object.

Then we checked our work, making sure that each letter had an object and that the object started with the correct letter.

What do you do when you complete a challenge? Jump up and down of course! Just look at how high my youngest daughter was able to jump. I have never seen her jump so high, and while I can't say for sure it was her new shoes, they looked good and made her feel good, and that is reason to jump indeed! If these shoes, from Famous Footwear, can stand up to fun summer play, I know they can survive a busy and hectic school year.

The end of summer and start of a new school year can be an emotional time for moms and kids alike. You may have gotten used to having your kids around all summer and it can be hard to let go. But we are ending our summer with some great memories. I would love to know how you are spending the last days of summer and what are your top shoe picks for a new school year. Head over to Famous Footwear and check out the cool styles. Leave me a comment with your top shoe picks and let Famous Footwear know on Twitter and Instagram.