Fall weather provides ample beautiful weather to get out in nature and toss some learning into the mix! Here were three fun ways Travis did just that with recent nature projects.

Nature Art

First up was a standard nature walk, equipped with a baggie to collect treasures. Travis took such pride in finding just the right leaf, stick, flower, and more to add to our collection. I loved how intent on nature he was on this particular afternoon, pausing to marvel at birds in the marsh or bees on the flowers.

By the end of your walk, aim to have a variety of textures, colors, and items, so your child can make a fantastic collage once home.

After sorting through the items, Travis left the process of gluing down to little sister Veronika…

…who happily obliged and wanted to add splashes of paint, too! I loved that this turned into a sibling collaboration

Grow a Plant

We don’t always have luck making things grow around here, since my kids are handicapped by mom’s lack of a green thumb. But a potting project with a dose of magic thrown in was one we could definitely get behind! I found a kit for “magic beans” (beans with words and images that show up after they sprout), which were the perfect seeds to plant after reading Jack and the Beanstalk.

To start, we needed to get crafty. Travis painted the provided white pot with bright paints.

Once the paint dried, it was time to set the magic beans to work. Travis filled the pot with soil, then each kid made a wish as they pressed a bean into the dirt. Add water until saturated, and set your plant some place that gets bright sunlight for at least half the day.

Three days in, the magic beans were sprouting. After a week, we had a beanstalk worthy of Jack’s attention!

Although there’s always something “magic” about watching a seed turn into a new plant, we loved the added wow factor in this project.

Nature Word Sort

Finally, we headed to the park, where Travis sat on a bench and I challenged him to write down everything he could see…but didn’t tell him why yet. He proudly scribbled in the dugout.

At home, we looked at his list and came up with three different ways to sort the words. One obvious answer was natural vs. man-made, but I was proud of Travis choosing to also sort them by color and sport.

This was a great quick activity to get him thinking about sorting.

What are your fall outdoor adventures so far? Please share in the comments!