Take an empty toilet paper tube and spread peanut butter all round the outside edge of the tube. Roll the peanut butter tube in bird seed. Cut a piece of yarn that is about 12 inches long. Attach it to each end of the tube to make a way to hang the tube onto a tree. Read More >
Children love to collect various items on an outdoor walk. Next time you go on a walk with your child, bring a bag with you. As your child collects leaves, acorns, and rocks, put them into your bag. When you arrive home, you and your child can sort and count the different outdoor 'souvenirs.' To begin a nature collection, give each different type of thing its ... Read More >
Go for a summer walk through the neighborhood and point out the changes since spring and winter, or have you child point out the changes, if he or she is old enough. This works with any season and is a great way to teach your child about seasons and the passage of time. Read More >
Next time you're out walking with your kids, collect leaves of different shapes and sizes. After you get home, help your child to place leaves between 2 sheets of tracing paper; then paper clip or tape the papers together. To create the leaf impression, let your child rub an unwrapped crayon over the paper. Once finished, disassemble the papers and discard the leaves. You now ... Read More >
Go on a nature walk with your preschooler. While on your walk, collect leaves, stones, flowers, and bark. Let your child pick up different objects that represent the nature in your area. Put one of each nature item in a quart-size ziploc bag and seal. Label each bag with a Sharpie (e.g. "Yellow flower"). Tape the bottom side of all 4 bags together with colored ... Read More >
Take your child on a walk around your neighborhood and listen for different sounds of nature. Can you hear birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, sticks breaking underfoot, dogs barking, or water flowing? Now, listen for 'people' noises: people talking or laughing, children playing, cars and trucks driving by, or noisy construction vehicles. Can you hear more nature sounds or people sounds? Have ... Read More >
This can be a great party craft or a fun project at home. Have kids paint the outsides of their flower pots and allow to dry. When pots are dry enough to handle, have the kids pour in the potting soil and sprinkle seeds in. Hopefully in a few weeks they will have a sprouted plant! Read More >
Teach your kids about wind and the weather with this fun activity. Decorate a large piece of construction paper with markers, paints or other art supplies. Then roll it into a long tube (about the size of a paper towel tube) and staple or tape the paper along the edge, fastening it together like a cylinder. Once the paper is securely fastened, tape pieces of crepe paper or ... Read More >
This activity combines the challenge of a nature hunt with the satisfaction of a simple painting project. Help your child to search the yard or park for an interesting stick, flower, leaf, or rock. Once you arrive home, place your child's treasure on a piece of white paper (thick paper will work best). Dip a small- or medium-sized brush in the paint of your choice and let ... Read More >
Cut out a long window on the side of an empty juice or milk carton (the side opposite from the pour nozzle). Paint the carton brown all over and leave it to dry. Once the first coat of brown is dry, add long streaks of dark brown and white, and small brown knots to make your bird feeder look like the bark on a tree. One ... Read More >
Take a texture walk with your child or children. Use the outdoors to take advantage of an excellent learning opportunity for your little ones. Take a walk and look for things that are soft like sand, dirt, etc. Look for pine cones or rocks that are hard and rough or smooth. Look at tree leaves or flowers that are smooth, flat or detailed. The conversation ... Read More >
Create an "ice ornament" or "ice sculpture" by arranging natural objects found on a nature walk (like pine cones, leaves, sticks, rocks) in a shallow pan. Fold a length of string in half and lay it in the pan so the fold is over the edge of the pan and the two ends are in the center of the pan. Fill the pan with water and freeze (either ... Read More >
We leave the house and set out on a squirrel hunt. We spy them in trees, digging up nuts, chasing other squirrels. Count how many you can find! It's great - they are everywhere! Read More >
Next time you're at the park (or anywhere that has daisies), pick 7-10 daisies, picking them so that there is at least 2 inches of stem at the bottom. Slit the stems with your fingernail, pull one stem of one daisy through the stem of another and repeat until you have a daisy string or a daisy chain. Have fun with the daisy chain, making a crown out of them ... Read More >
This is an easy way to make an image of a leaf using a real leaf, a piece of paper, and a crayon (or crayons). Find a nice leaf -- whatever your child likes is fine, but big ones that aren't too fragile work best. Put the leaf on a flat surface, like a desk or counter-top, and cover it with a piece of paper. Let your ... Read More >
Using acorn tops or walnut shells, children can create boats that actually float! Take the clean, halved shell and place a small amount of clay in the bottom. Stick a toothpick in the clay. Cut a small square-shaped sail out of paper, put this sail on the toothpick by poking it through the toothpick. Put it in the water and watch it float. Read More >
Take a cookie cutter and punch a nice shape out of a slice of white bread. You can save the scraps for breadcrumbs or make ones with the center cut out. Punch a hole into the bread for yarn to hang, thread the yarn through the bread shape. Then let the white bread shapes sit out for a day or two so that they become firm. ... Read More >
If you are in an area with several kinds of birds, take the time to learn the birds and point out the different kinds to your child and say hello. In our local park with have sparrows, cardinals, and bluebirds, and we say hello to them and talk about their colors. Now whenever my 19-month old daughter sees a bird in the sky she yells out, 'Hi baby bird!' Read More >
Take your little one into the great outdoors to discover some unique smells! A local park or botanical garden would be the perfect location for this "smelly" activity. See if your child can find things in nature that smell: sweet, sour, flowery, minty, pine-like, and fruity Be sure to stay away from anything that smells too bad! Read More >
Help your child make a bug-catching jar for your next walk or park outing. Begin by cleaning an empty plastic peanut butter jar. Soak the jar in water to remove the label. Then, cut a few holes in the lid with a knife or utility scissors. You can then let your child write his or her name on the outside with a permanent marker -- or ... Read More >
Create a collage of leaves to hang in the window. Cut two sheets of clear contact paper to desired size (a square 8' is good). Peel back paper to reveal sticky side of one sheet, and stick on leaves, moss, etc. of various sizes and colors. Then peel and place other sheet of contact paper over it, and you have a collage you can hang in a window. Also ... Read More >
If you're trying to cook and your little one keeps demanding your attention, give them their own large mixing bowl and spoon. Hand them the odds and ends of whatever you're using: i.e. potato or onion peels, celery leaves, pasta, etc. Add water and any spices you feel you can spare. Stir, stir, stir... let your child keep adding whatever strikes their fancy. Et voila! ... Read More >
On your next trip to the park, see if you can coax a little quiet time out of your child by going on a Sound Safari! Take a few minutes to stand still and listen to all the sounds around you. See if you can hear: birds singing, water gurgling, trees rustling in the wind, snapping branches, small animals scurrying, insects buzzing, cars driving by, kids playing. Read More >
When your baby is about 6 months old, take him on a tactile tour of your neighborhood. Put him in a Baby Bjorn or some other type of carrier (I found this easier than a stroller) and take a walk, pausing at points that might be interesting to touch for your child. Tree bark, lamp posts, leaves, branches, metal sign posts, and much more will be a sensory adventure for ... Read More >
You won't need to disturb the neighbors with a nature scavenger hunt you can do right in your own backyard. For even more fun, head to your local park or botanical garden. See if your child can find the following: smooth rock, bumpy rock, green leaf, leaf with bug holes, "needle" leaf, insect, flower, broken branches, animal footprints, bird nest, ant hill, feather, water, and a bird. ... Read More >
On your next nature walk with your child, collect leaves that are small, medium, and large sizes. After you get home, create a sorting system for child. Tape one example of each size leaf onto the side of a paper bag. Put the rest of the leaves in a pile, and have your child sort the leaves into the correct bag, according to size. In the fall, ... Read More >
Left to their own devices at the beach, little children invariably turn into collectors. It it is ... Read more >
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