We love the great outdoors and there are plenty of hands-on nature activities for children to enjoy.
Whether it’s going for a paddle in the sea, walking barefoot through the grass or bug hunting in the garden, there is so much outside to explore and help your children learn about nature and wildlife.
Playing outside has been proven to improve a child’s happiness and confidence, which is why I’m always keen to get outdoors every chance we have. The key is to tune in to nature as a sensory experience and use it as a way to learn about our environment and wildlife.
The summer holidays are coming up so I have collated 10 activities to help children embrace and learn about nature and embrace the great outdoors.
Bug Hunting
Most kids think that bugs are pretty cool so take some time to search for creepy crawlies in your garden. Search under rocks, dig for worms, look out for butterflies. Talk to your child about how bugs build their homes or where they get food. Do they sting? What colours are they? It’s amazing what you learn once you start looking a little closer at nature in your garden.
Create a Nature Journal
Take a journal with you on your walk and draw or write about what you find. Sketch pictures or write about the sounds you hear such as the babbling brook, the rustling of the leaves or the tweeting of the birds. Simply relax and enjoy your time outside. Guide your child to parts of nature they may not notice such as the rough edges of a shell they found on the beach or look for animal tracks.
The Art of Simple has some wonderful ideas on how to create a nature journal.
Geocaching
Combine technology with the excitement of a treasure hunt for some geocaching. Find hidden treasures using GPS device or even on your smartphone. Locations for caches are in various locations and can take you off the beaten path and discover parts of your local area that you never knew existed.
Barefoot Walking
Take off your shoes and go for a walk in your garden and feel the grass beneath your feet. According to studies, barefoot walking is great for your health and helps increase antioxidants, reduces inflammation and improves sleep. Whether you are stomping through mud or walking on a beach, ditching your footwear could be a great way to help your child use nature as a sensory experience and improve their health.
Make a Garden Sensory Tub
Your child can get interested in playing with mud, planting seeds, digging and generally getting their hands a little dirty. It’s a simple and effective idea to keep children entertained and interested in nature. Here are some garden sensory bin ideas from Mess for Less.
Create Rock Art
If your kids are anything like mine, they like to collect any rock or stick they find on a walk to take home with them. Spend an afternoon scavenging for rocks and pebbles that can be turned into art work once you get home. Use paint to transform the rocks into faces, animals or multi-coloured jewels.
Make a Terrarium
Terrariums can be a wonderful addition to any room. Plants can help bring about better sleep, reducing anxiety and stress and can mop up pollutants. You don’t need a great amount of equipment to make your own fun DIY Terrarium with your children for their room. Here are a few ideas from Mother Natured.
Muddy Rivers
Help your children create their own little river and get messy with all the mud. A small world river habitat is a great way to learn about wildlife around rivers and is super easy to make too. Read about how to create one with ideas from Live Over Cs.
Bird Watching
Watch birds from your garden, listen to birdsong, look at its colour and size of beak to try and identify its species. There are plenty of nature reserves throughout the UK where you can discover fascinating and beautiful birds that you wouldn’t otherwise find in your back garden.
Does It Sink or Float Experiment
The kids love water activities. They have a water table that they fill up with all sorts of rubble and bits from the garden. Sand, grass, pebbles, mud – if they can pick it up, it goes in there. Turn it into more of an experiment to see what sinks or floats. Fill up a tub with water and ask your child to get a few toys or things from the garden they thing would sink or float. Do this activity in the garden or in the house with a few towels laid down to catch any splashes.
What do you like to do to as a family to embrace nature?
18 Comments
Fairy Kissed Daisy
I used to love bug hunting as a kid, we were forever getting filthy digging in the mud for worms and things! I think the journal idea is great too, not only does it get them thinking about what they’re seeing and exploring but it’s nice for them to look back on
mummy here and there
Fantastic ideas to get your kids outdoors, I particularly like geocatch such a fun way to explore the world around you X #LGRTstumble
nightwisprav3n
My youngest son used to love looking for unique rocks in the woods. He loved finding them and then making up stories about how it ended up on Earth from Space. I miss those stories now. He has moved on to bigger stories but I loved those days:) #LGRTStumble
Lizzie - A Curious Journey
These ideas are great. I often prefer walking barefoot in our garden. I also love the idea of a Terrarium. This might have to be our next project…
Emma Maslin
We had a total nature indulgent week in Norfolk over half term – the kids love being outside with the bugs and frog spawn!
Kim - The Blog Genie
I love geocaching – it’s so addictive. There are loads of great ideas here that I’ll definitely be trying out this summer
Helena
There are some delights here. Of course our favourites are geocaching and nature journaling #ThursdayTeam
Emma MacDonald
There are some really lovely ideas in this post. I like the sound of the nature journal. I tried geocaching once but didn’t get very far with it. Must try again sometime. #ThatFridayLinky
Sarah
I loved this post as I really want to do more nature activities with the girls. I like the idea of the nature journal for my nearly four year old and I know our one year old would love the sink or float experiment! #thursdayteam
jade
Some brilliant idea’s here. My husband took the boys birdwatching and geocaching recently and they loved both. I think I need to try a garden sensory tub xx
emma
what great ideas, we are going to try geocaching. Have heard of it but didnt know what it was. looks really good and there are quite a few within walking distance of our house. 🙂
Emma T
I still haven’t taken my son geocaching. We really must try it before the summer holidays are over
Treasure Every Moment
Really good ideas! We went to Conkers where they have a barefoot walk and it was such an easy yet fun experience 🙂
Cath - BattleMum
You’ve got some great ideas there. I often take my son for a walk and let him collect stones to paint. Or we hit the beach for a paddle when it’s not too hot, nothing like sand between your toes.
Laura Dove
What lovely ideas! We spend 99% of our time outdoors, especially at this time of year, so will definitely be trying some of these ideas we havent done before!
Annette, 3 Little Buttons
These are lovely ideas for little ones to get stuck into. There’s something so nice about getting out into nature, even in the back garden. The sink or float game is a favourite of ours 🙂
Emily / Babies and Beauty
Such great ideas and will be super over the autumn term.
Mudpie Fridaysq
Geocatching has been on our list for so long. I even put it on our bucket list this year in a hope it may actually make us do it. My boys love being outside and any activities which encourage to them to do that is so important x