It's all about getting outdoors

This site has ideas for the natural explorer in all of us. The activities and resources I have chosen are for families and teachers to engage with the great outdoors. There are lots of different ideas so that they may appeal to all kinds of explorers. I hope you find some that you will enjoy.

In each idea there are links to help you implement and extend the activities including practical and story books, the theory behind the idea.

So what are some of the ways to explore?

• Blowing Bubbles
• Birdwatching
• Picnicking
• Kite flying
• Making a scarecrow
• Parachute games
• Playing Ball
• Learning about bees
• National Parks
• Fishing
• Gardening with kids
• Star gazing
• Being a scientist
• Learning about rainbows
• Exploring tidepools
• Free outdoor activities

Kids' nature clubs in the UK

Discovery, understanding nature, interacting with and learning about the world around you, these are the great things about the planned activities in the nature clubs.
This short informative video shows a nature club for parents and young children run by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust in the UK.



The Wildlife Trusts run more than 240 of these nature clubs for children across the UK including Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Mann and Jersey. Families can participate in new and exciting outdoor activities and learn about how you can make a difference to wildlife. Find a group near you on the interactive map.

Start your own nature day

There are lots of ways for you to have family fun outdoors but what about joining up with other families to explore and connect with nature? It's a great idea but just how would you go about it?

Well the problem is solved because Children & Nature Network has great resources that can help you start your own Nature Day or Nature Club to get groups of people together exploring nature. 

"Nature Clubs for Families is a great way to get started, get

involved, and get the benefits of time in nature. Nature is all around us. It abounds in rural settings and wilderness, but

it’s even available where we may least expect to find it—

from backyards, city neighborhoods, and rooftop gardens

to suburban parks and walking trails."

 
Children & Nature Network have suggestions and checklists, including a destination checklist, participant checklist, inspiration and tips including invitations, flyers and letters, all in their free tool kit brochure (pdf) Nature Clubs for Families.

   

The night sky

"Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above and the moral universe within."  Albert Einstein.

What happens to a child who has never ever seen the stars shining in the night sky? 

See a simple activity you can do as a family to view the awe inspiring stars and get ideas for budding astrologists.

This image was catalogued by Hubble Space Telescope Institute of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  Penetrating 25,000 light-years of obscuring dust and myriad stars, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided the clearest view yet of one of the largest young clusters of stars inside our Milky Way galaxy, located less than 100 light-years from the very center of the Galaxy.

Ice fishing

These two young men show off their catch of the day during one of the local ice fishing contests.

Kayaking

Two kayaks glide across the completely calm water of an open mangrove creek in Curry Hammock State Park, on the Florida Keys Scenic Highway at Little Crawl Key.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU

Wishing you and your family many wonderful days in the great outdoors

52 almost free outdoor activities with kids

Why almost free? Because for some of these activities you may need to use some things you have around the house like some paper, pencils and glue or a ball or some chalk.

• Go star gazing at night
• Look for insects: we love dragonflies and lady bugs and bees.
• Go bird watching
• Play with water
• Walk around  the whole park
• Play in the mud: read why
• Play with your shadow
• Create nature rubbings
• Feed the ducks your old bread scraps
• Draw on the footpath with chalk
• Grow something
• Kick a ball, roll a ball, throw and catch a ball
• Climb a tree
• Play hide and seek
• Collect rocks
• Create some rock art
• Play in the sand at the beach
• Make a sand castle or sand scultpture
• Visit the plant nursery
• Play in puddles
• Explore the creek
• Play the dandelion clock game
• Make a daisy chain
• Make a giant sculpture from old boxes and plaster tape
• Collect leaves
• Create some leaf art
• Collect twigs
• Create a twig star
• Collect shells
• Camp in the garden
• Have dinner at the beach
• Collect pine cones and make something with them
• Collect bugs
• Walk to the shops
• Take your bike to the park
• Throw a frisbee
• Roll down a hill
• Paint with water on the fence
• Dance
• Sing 
• Blow bubbles
• Fly a kite
• Make and fly paper aeroplanes
• Make a fairy garden or a fairy tent
• Play nature detective treasure hunt
• Explore tide pools
• Do science experiments
• Nature Art
• Cook breakfast at the park 
• Watch the sunset
• Visit the local growers market
• Learn about bees

I have linked up with

Have a picnic

QUOTE:  if you have a place where you can go and have a picnic with your family, it doesn't matter if it's a recession or not, you can include that in your quality of life.  Jim Fowler

THEORY: An easy way to get everyone together enjoying time in the great outdoors. Don't forget it can be as simple as sandwiches in your own garden. You can learn a lot on a picnic and it is a great family time together.

ACTIVITIES:
Collect some food and an old blanket, your family and friends and head for the garden, a local park or a bit further a field to a National Park or beach to enjoy some time together. Don't forget to take a ball.

EQUIPMENT:
Blanket, ball, and maybe some food and drinks.

EXTENSIONS:

• Make a full-on group cooking morning preparation of yummy food. (See book below to learn a new recipe or two)
• Bar b que - definately male bonding time.
• For preschoolers you could read "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" and take along some of their favourite bears or other stuffed animals to join in the picnic. Of course the Teddy Bears would have to have their own plastic cups or teaset.

BOOKS:

Mother Bear's Picnic by Else Holmelund Minarik.
Little Bear wants to give Mother Bear the best Mother's Day present ever - a surprise picnic. But how can he surprise Mother Bear when she won't leave the kitchen?

Good Day for a Picnic: Simple Food That Travels Well by Jeremy Jackson

Featured at Field Trip blog hop

Have you been on any great picnics lately?

Create a scarecrow for your garden

Scarecrows in a rice paddy in Japan

QUOTE:
" I am a nobleman of husks, born of a pumpkin. I am Lord Scarecrow!"  The Scarecrow (1972) (TV)

THEORY:
Some of the seeds and plants you put in your garden may not grow if birds and other animals eat them. Try building a scarecrow to protect your garden.  Scarecrows were originally intended to keep away pesky crows and the name stuck, even though their flapping limbs scare off all types of birds.
You can make a simple scarecrow, like in the photo above, without any stuffing or you can use straw, leaves or old clothes to stuff the scarecrow.

INTERESTING FACT:
First recorded scarecrow sighting was over 3,000 years ago in ancient Egypt. They were also made in Greece, Rome and Japan.

ACTIVITY: BASIC UNSTUFFED SCARECROW

• Collect some old clothes including a hat to create your own scarecrow. Bright colours will work well
• You will need garden twine and scissors and 2 poles
• Put 1 sturdy pole into the ground so it is secure.
• Thread one pant leg down the pole from the top
• Tie some string around the pants as a belt and attach to the pole
• a long branch or old broomstick will make the arms: put an old shirt or jumper onto this pole and then tie it in place with strong garden twine or wire at the intersection with the other pole
• old buckets or flower pots work well as heads and are durable too
• you could use an old pillow case for the head or a plastic bag
• Find a hat that fits your scarecrow's head
• If you wish you can draw or paint your scarecrow's face

EXTRAS FOR YOUR SCARECROW:
Corks dangling from your scarecrow's hat will give it an Aussie look. Sunglasses for a sun-wise scarecrow. A scarf, gloves or a basket to carry. Straw hair for a rustic look.

How to make a stuffed scarecrow from The Royal Horticultural Society

BOOKS:
Scarecrows: Making Harvest Figures and Other Yard Folks by Felder Rushing
Creative Scarecrows: 35 Fun Figures for Your Yard & Garden by Marcianne Miller on how to make garden scarecrows. 
Little Bear Makes a Scarecrow - Board story book - by Else Holmelund Minarik

Now don't go away because there are even more Earth Day ideas and books being shared by these bloggers today! Stop by and bookmark or even pin them all! 
Teach Preschool : Child Central Station : Living Montessori Now : Aunt Annie's Childcare : Males in Early Childhood : The SEEDS Network : Flights of Whimsy : Pre-K Pages : Kreative Resources : I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here! : Share & Remember : Music Sparks : little illuminations : Greening Sam and Avery : Putti Prapancha : Early Play : Little Running Teacher : Look at My Happy Rainbow

Beautiful Bees

QUOTE:  

When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee's house some day.  
Congo Proverb


THEORY: Bees are amazing insects that provide hours of interest to the natural scientist, the artist, the photographer, the environmentalist, the historian and the gardener. We can all learn so much about their society and achievements and they are literally right in our own backyard.

ACTIVITIES:

• Look at your natural environment to get to know one of the most amazing insects on the planet.
• Attract bees to your garden by planting flowers, trees, fruits and herbs that bees love to pollinate. It is a great way to naturally increase the beauty and fruitfulness of your garden.
• Beekeeping, yes, seriously - beekeeping for children. All they need is the right hive, a good suit and some help to start off. Did you know the scouts use to have a Beekeeping Merit badge?
• Learn more about bees: here is a great site with lots of resources for children to learn more about bees: baby bees house
• Visit a local beekeeper and learn about bees and honey.
• Visit a farmer's market and purchase some honey.

EQUIPMENT:
No equipment is needed to study and learn about bee (unless you decide to become beekeepers)

BOOKS:

The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons introduces young readers to honeybees and bee culture through pictures.

Bees, Hives, Honey!: Beekeeping for Children by Tim Rowe is full of colour photos showing how to build a hive, how to catch a swarm, how to look after the bees, and harvest the honey.

 

Children help build a pollinator garden which will be full of plants to attract bees

 

 

Bee collecting pollen from a flower

 

Go Fish

QUOTE: Fishing is much more than fish.  It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.  Herbert Hoover

THEORY:

Fishing is a great way to connect - old people can teach young people; traditionally it was a thing you did with your family; fishing is good for your health and wellbeing: research has shown it reduces blood pressure and anxiety according to Prof. Alexandra McManus; it is both active and relaxing and a skill that can be taught and learnt easily.

Why Fishing Is Good for You and Your Health Through Relaxation

ACTIVITY:

• Visit a lake, pond, stream, creek or the ocean. Take a boat or stand on the shore with your fishing gear, bait and bucket and maybe a net and some burley.
•  Don't expect to hold children's attention for much more than 10 minutes at a time

RESOURCES

• Fishing for Kids: Let's Go Fishing Cards from Fisheries Victoria Australia 

for parents who would like to get their children involved in a healthy outdoor activity such as fishing but don’t have much knowledge of the sport themselves

• Developing fishing skills: learn to cast: Eight steps for casting
• Family Fishing Guide
• Guidelines for Getting Kids Started Fishing

BOOKS:

• A Good Day's Fishing By James Prosek
• Wishing I was fishing By Eva Wells.
• Salmon Forest By David T. Suzuki and Sarah Ellis
• The Biggest Fish in the Lake By Margaret Carney
• Fishing Day By Andrea Davis Pinkney

              

Take a hike

QUOTE:  

" In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."  John Muir

THEORY: A sense of adventure goes along with exploring and hiking is a great way to explore nature and come into contact with it's amazing plants and animals. You can hike in some of the most beautiful places on earth and in many different terrains including beaches, forests, plains, hills and mountains. Hiking is the starting point for many other outdoor activities e.g. camping, rock climbing and  mountaineering.  

You may also be interested in THE BUSHWALKERS CODE OF ETHICS

ACTIVITIES: 
Hiking can be simple or involved and this probably depends on the length of your hike, the terrain and what lessons, if any, you may want to take from the hike. To be really organised you may want to consider:

• stretching to warm up before a hike
• your equipment
• a map of the area and how to read it
• safety: advice on staying found, what to do if lost, first aid
• the weather
• bugs, wildlife and plants in the area
• making a hiking journal
• the environment: Leave No Trace or in other words take your rubbish with you, leave what you find and respect wildlife.
• Tips to enjoy a family walk

EQUIPMENT: Good walking shoes and sox, a backpack, bottle of water, a snack that is light to carry, a hat, insect repellant, a compass, sun screen and first aid kit.

BOOKS: Buck Wilder's Small Twig Hiking & Camping Guide: A Complete Introduction to the World of Hiking & Camping for Small Twigs of All Ages by Tim Smith and Mark Herrick (1997)

Hiking for Fun! (For Fun!) by Jef Wilson (2006)

Trekking on a Trail (Activities for Kids) by Linda White and Fran Lee (2000)

  

Let' go fly a kite

QUOTE:  You can't fly a kite unless you go against the wind and have a weight to keep it from turning a somersault. The same with man. No man will succeed unless he is ready to face and overcome difficulties and is prepared to assume responsibilities.  - William J. H. Boetcker

INTERESTING FACT: Kite flying was banned in Japan in 1760 because so many people preferred to fly kites rather than going to work.

ACTIVITY: 

A. MAKE a kite: it's possible to make an inexpensive kite that's fun to fly and simple to build.

• Recycled plastic bag kite.
• Diamond shaped paper kite

B. FLY a kite: find an area with not many trees on a windy day, where you can run...

• WikiHow to fly a kite
• How To Fly A Kite - YouTube - 2 minute video
  
  
  If you don't want to make a kite you can purchase one:
   

THEORY:  Flying a kite is about so many things: symmetry, wind power, construction, tension, timing,  muscle strength, air pressure, spirituality and fun.
The History of Kite Flying

BOOKS:

• Let's Fly a Kite (MathStart 2) by Stuart J. Murphy and Brian Foca 
• Catch a Fish, Throw a Ball, Fly a Kite: 21 Timeless Skills Every Child Should Know (and Any Parent Can Teach!) by Jeffrey Lee and Philomena O'Neill
• Kites for Everyone: How to Make and Fly Them by Margaret Greger
• Kites on the Wind: Easy-To-Make Kites That Fly Without Sticks by Emery J. Kelly and Jennifer Hagerman
• 25 Kites that Fly by Leslie L. Hunt

KITE FESTIVALS AROUND THE WORLD or it's sometimes nice to just watch kites:

• Australia - Sydney Festival of the Winds
• Borneo International Kite Festival, Bintulu
• Canada - Windscape Kite Festival Saskatchewan         Dieppe KITE International in New Brunswick
• France - list of kite festivals
• Great Britain
• India - International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad
• Japan - calendar of Kite Festivals
• Spain - Barcelona
• USA - Sky Festival

Star gazing

QUOTE:  "The stars hang bright above, silent, as if they watched the sleeping earth." Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

ACTIVITY: 

• Lie down, on your back, in the grass on a clear night and look at the stars. This works best if you are not in an urban environment with lots of lights. Our family love doing this every year when we go camping. "When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

THEORY:

• Getting Children into Astronomy

  StarChild - A Learning Center for Young Astronomers

EQUIPMENT:

• "you can start observing with nothing more than your eyes. If you decide you want a better look into space, you can buy a pair of binoculars or a telescope."

BOOKS:

           
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

 

A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations--and How You Can Find Them in the Sky

          

Our Stars by Anne Rockwell  "When night comes, I can see billions of stars twinkling in the dark sky."

STAR CRAFTS FOR CHILDREN:

• early play ideas with stars

"Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above and the moral universe within."  Albert Einstein

Investigate insects : Things with wings: dragonfly

Insects are the most interesting mini beasts.

QUOTE: " Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly
              Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky."
              Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Silent Noon


THEORY:

• There are more than 5000 species of dragonflies. 
• Dragonflies do not bite or sting.
• They can fly forward, backward, and hover.
• To the Native Americans, the dragonfly represented the winds of change, to a Samurai it was a symbol of power and agility, to the Chinese Good Luck and harmony, to the Japanese summer and autumn.
• Many cultures have given this amazing insect a unique meaning and generally it symbolizes change.

ACTIVITY:

• Visit a lake, pond, stream, creek or wetlands area. Take a picnic, a camera and binoculars and watch out for dragonflies. How many different coloured dragonflies can you see?

BOOKS:

• Are You a Dragonfly? (Backyard Books) by Judy Allen
• Eliza and the Dragonfly (Sharing Nature With Children Book) by Susie Caldwell Rinehart
• The Dragonfly Door by John Adams
• Stokes Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies by Blair Nikula, Jackie Sones, Donald Stokes and Lillian Stokes.

VIDEO: Hope you enjoy this short and information packed video about dragonflies

Collect rocks

QUOTES:

"There is a "World of Beauty" out there, just lying on the ground, waiting for someone to discover it!" Bob the Rockman.

"Some of our best days in the Badlands have been spent collecting rocks." from BadlandsInfo.com -  South Dakota Badlands Information.

ACTIVITY:

River beds and shallow creeks are an easy place to find rocks.

If you start looking you will notice rocks everywhere - along the roadside, in your back garden, at the park, you could even plan a special field trip to collect specific rocks. So how do you find where to go? You could join your local rock club or research on the internet or in the library.
Australian Lapidary Clubs, Societies and related Earth Science Groups
Mineralogy Clubs in Europe
United States Rock Clubs

Canadian Clubs

BOOKS:

Go Rock Collecting (Let'S-Read-And-Find... Science. Stage 2) by Roma Gans & Holly Keller

Looking at Rocks (My First Field Guides) by Jennifer Dussling  & Tim Haggerty

The Practical Geologist: The Introductory Guide to the Basics of Geology and to Collecting and Identifying Rocks by Dougal Dixon

THEORY:

Basic Rock information at  USGS Geology in the Parks

Rocks Tell the Story of the Earth. The Earth is made of rock, from the tallest mountains to the floor of the deepest ocean. Thousands of different types of rocks and minerals have been found on Earth. Read more of Rachel M. Barker's article at U.S. Geological Survey Information Services

What Type of Rock do I Have? at Minerology 4 kids

EXTENSION: 

Learning Activities about the different kinds of rocks and activities to try.

 

Nature detectives

QUOTE:
"If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive."  proverb of American Quakers

ACTIVITY:
Print your own free minibeasts hunt sheets from naturedetectives.org.uk Woodland Trust.*
Explore your local outdoor bush, woodland or garden equipped with your sheet and a pencil to tick off what you see - wasp, dragonfly, honey bee, fly, moth, butterfly, aphids, snail, woodlouse, harvestman, grasshopper and centipede. You can even create your own hunt sheet on the template provided.

BOOK:
The Nature Detectives' Handbook is a book created for the Woodland Trust.* An ideal resource to help children understand the world around them and encourage them to explore nature in their own garden, woods or nature trails. Fifty species are included, from trees to birds, and amphibians to butterflies. Each fact-file provides identification tips and detailed illustrations to help record and understand ‘nature’s calendar’.*The Woodland Trust is a woodland conservation charity in the UK started in 1972 to care for 1,000 different woods in the UK.    

THEORY:
The Importance of Insects. Insects perform a vast number of important functions in our ecosystem. They aerate the soil, pollinate blossoms, and control insect and plant pests; they also decompose dead materials, thereby reintroducing nutrients into the soil. Burrowing bugs such as ants and beetles dig tunnels that provide channels for water, benefiting plants. Bees play a major role in pollinating fruit trees and flower blossoms.
Learn About the Problem and more at Teaching the News



Bees on a flower



Honey Bee




Grasshopper

Butterfly



Snail

Fly


 

Please feel free to copy & share these mini beast photos for personal & educational use.