Every once in a while, I realize that many of the activities and ideas that I share are more appropriate for little grandchildren.  It’s rather hard to come up with ideas to do with tweens and teens.  But, I think that this activity would be one that would be fun and challenging for your older grandchildren.  I call it the Digital Alphabet Hunt.

This is a great activity to do on a crisp fall day with a grandchild.  Grab your sweater (well, at least grandma might need a sweater . . .) and a digital camera for each participant and head outside.  The idea is to take pictures with your digital camera of things that you see that form letters of the alphabet.

For example, the crook of a branch in the tree forms the letter Y.  The rails of the monkey bars in a park playground could be your H letter.   A telephone pole could be an I or a T.  A car tire could be the letter O.  Do you get the idea?

Look at the cracks in the sidewalk, the bricks of a building, the clouds in the sky, bike racks, doorways, or vines climbing a trellis to help you find the different letters.

(By the way, can you see the letter B in the picture I’ve shared here?)

When you get back to grandma’s house, print out your pictures and compare and enjoy the creativity that was used in ‘discovering’ the alphabet letters.  You could staple the pages together into a booklet form or put in plastic sheet protectors and a binder to create an ‘alphabet’ book. If you are really technologically daring, you could post them in Facebook (you ARE on Facebook aren’t you??), to your blog, or to Flickr.

You might want to consider making (in advance) this yummy little treat to eat afterward along with a sip of apple cider.

Granola Snack
2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup Cherry flavored Craisins
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, stir together the rice cereal and oats and Craisins. Set aside. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Combine the brown sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until boiling, then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the cereal and oat mixture, and mix well. Press into the prepared pan using the back of a large spoon. Allow to cool, then cut into squares.