Tag: nature walk

Acorn Animal Craft Challenge

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Travis’s craft challenge from Highlights this month was to make little animals using nothing more than acorns, wiggle eyes, and paint.

We collected a whole bunch of acorns (about 20) from oak trees nearby, which was no easy feat in 10 degree weather!

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Inside, I asked him what colors he wanted to paint, thinking about what animals he might end up with. He opted for gray, so we mixed black and white together. Because he didn’t want to get his fingers messy on the small acorns, I held them while he painted.

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For variety, we made a few pink acorns as well.

Once the paint dried, we glued together a few simple creatures. The stems on the acorn caps made us think of curly pig tails, so two pinkish acorns were glued together as pigs. Travis glued on the googly eyes, although the large size of the eyes made it hard for them to stick while the glue dried.

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The gray acorns made us think of little owls, who also received eyes.

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If Travis were older, I would have encouraged him to paint on little feathers, but I knew that sort of fine detail was too much for him. In sum, a cute project but not our favorite craft challenge to date.

Shades of Nature

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Here’s a fun twist for your next nature walk, as the last few days of vibrant fall colors leave us behind. Bring along some paint chips (these are free at any local hardware store) and hunt for fall colors!

Travis and I stopped to pick up paint chips in the morning, making sure we selected lots of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns. Next stop: a local trail!

Travis noticed lots of browns right away, spanning from dark brown leaves…

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…to light brown grasses.

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Our local area is past peak leaves, but we managed to spot some deep reds left in the bushes..

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…as well as fallen yellow leaves.

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Our favorite was these orange beauties!

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In sum, this was a nice way to add purpose to a weekend family stroll, and Travis enjoyed playing color detective!

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Nature “Size Hunt”

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This mini scavenger hunt will inject some math into your next nature walk. We had a  beautiful family afternoon along a local trail, and I challenged Travis to find a few things of various sizes compared to something else along the way. You can vary your list, but here are a few ideas:

First up, he needed to spot something smaller than his fingernail. I thought he might find a bug, but he surprised me with this little pebble.

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Longer than his arm? A stick!

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A rock was bigger than his hand, and an acorn was smaller than his foot.

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For the last one, he needed to spot something larger than a leaf. The leaf we found was cool all by itself, almost mitten-shaped! 

Nature Size (1)What items do you find on your “size hunt”? Please share in the comments!

Bugs vs. Birds

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To slip some subtle math and science into your child’s next summer nature walk, turn it into a tally hunt for bugs and birds. I told Travis we’d be counting both, and asked him whether he thought he would find more birds or bugs. He quickly replied birds, but then thought about it for a moment; we passed a bunch of flowers, already teeming with five bees. “Bugs!” he guessed.

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To prepare a little scientific notebook, print out a picture of a bug and a bird, and tape or glue down to notebook paper. Now you can tally as you walk.

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This will also be a great lesson on tallying and making marks in groupings of 5 (good for skip-counting!).

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As we walked, Travis sometimes forgot to count, since there was so much else to see. Eventually we decided he would look out for bugs, and I was in charge of birds.

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It quickly became apparent that bugs were far more abundant…so much so we eventually stopped our tally at around 35. Although hard to see, the picture above shows two beautiful dragonflies perched on a limb.

In short, this game is a great way to get your little one noticing nature on a closer scale, as well as to think about the differing populations of species within an area.

Mood Enhancer: Play in the Grass

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Science has shown over and over that “green exercise” (i.e. getting outdoors for a walk) is a quick way to boost your mood and get a natural high. This is equally as true for busy parents as it is for the baby who comes along for the ride. So today’s assignment for myself and Veronika was simply to get out some place green!

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I scoped out a local park in our new town with a trail through the woods. First, we paused on a picnic blanket together. Already she looked happy!

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Primarily, I wanted her to feel the grass, a fantastic new sensation for babies. I dangled her toes in it for a tickly feeling.

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Then I plucked one blade to tickle her feet and her legs.

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She really wanted to hold the grass, but I had to be careful because she wanted to eat it!

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Then I strapped her in the stroller and we headed off on a trail walk. I could feel the change in my own body immediately, parts I hadn’t even known were tense letting go as we listened to the leaves rustling and heard birds chirping.

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More importantly, a little girl who had been fussy from the energy of unpacking at home loosened up.

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There’s a Veronika smile!

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The wonder in her eyes watching the trees overhead was worth it alone.

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And then of course there’s the ultimate power of “green exercise”; you might just lull baby to sleep and get a real pause to yourself!

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If you live in a more urban area, consider this activity in a local park or square. You’ll reap those same outdoor benefits, even if it’s slightly less green!

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Go On a Nature Trail

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Spring has sprung!

For my baby girl, born just as autumn turned cold and gave way to winter, I have been waiting and waiting for this first spring day to show her that the world can be warm and wonderful. So today we took advantage and took her on a nature walk! You can do this activity in any park or wooded trail near you, or even in your own backyard. The goal is simply to engage all the senses and introduce baby to nature.

Strapped in the front carrier, I narrated everything we could see to Veronika, including trees and the first spring flowers. Hello purple!

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If you want, let your baby get up close and feel interesting finds, like the bark of a tree or a smooth stick or soft leaf.

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You can also stop to smell, whether the fresh grass of the meadow we walked through, or any plants you find.

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Don’t forget abut the sense of hearing. We were delighted to happen upon a pond full of chirping sounds! At first I assumed it was birds, but then realized it was more likely frogs.

In sum, the simplest of outdoor trails will be full of wonders for your little one.

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Nature’s Alphabet

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How do you keep the alphabet fresh and fun for a preschooler who knows all his or her letters? Search for the letters outside, of course! This nature activity will challenge your child’s brain to see letters in whole new ways, all while getting some fresh air.

Take about a crisp fall day – we needed to pull out our winter coats, but the sunshine was gorgeous.

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First we made a list of the alphabet so we could keep track as we hunted. This is a good chance to review all the letters, or sing the ABC song if your child is learning alphabetical order.

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If your child has a camera or nature notebook, this hunt is also a great opportunity to use both! Travis is so proud whenever he takes pictures, although I had my camera, too, to catch closeups of the letters we spotted.

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Don’t try and find the letters in order – you’ll drive yourselves crazy. Instead, we stretched our eyes and imaginations, and saw what came to us.

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A few are easy, like x’s and A’s.

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Don’t forget to look up! There was a D in the curve of the branches when we looked up at this tree.

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Travis thought the three holes in this leaf looked like an M

 

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If we squinted, this funny shape in a tree’s trunk became a Q.

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Y’s are relatively easy to spot (think of Y-shaped sticks), but we liked finding them in shadows, too.

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We loved this spiderweb sparkling in the sunshine. No letter was immediately evident, but perhaps you can make out E’s or F’s marching along the side.

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In sum, this hunt was a great way to spend the afternoon outside together, and sneak in some learning! We didn’t find every letter, but we had fun trying.

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Nature Hunt Treasure Stick

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This neat idea from KiwiCo’s website is a great way to bring home treasures from the outside world. Bonus points if you craft it while you’re still out in the woods!

We went for a short walk after a morning of classes, bringing along two Y-shaped sticks that I’ve hoarded just for this purpose.

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As we walked, we gathered anything we deemed a “treasure” – leaves we liked, little flowers, berries, and more.

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Back at the park entrance, we seated ourselves at a picnic table and I showed Travis how to wind yarn (which I’d brought along) around the Y of his stick. Keep wrapping all the way up the Y, then tie the yarn off.

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Now tuck in your treasures!

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Travis and I each made one, reflecting the various things we’d found beautiful along the way.

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A great way to get outside with your little one in these wonderful autumn days.

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Leaf Drawings

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A recent nature walk yielded up the first of fall’s changing leaves, and we knew we had to make art with them when we got home!

My original title for this post was going to be “leaf butterflies”, since when I saw all the pretty leaves, I immediately thought of little butterfly and bug wings. Travis had plans of his own, hence the more generic title of “leaf drawings.” Read on!

For the original butterfly idea, I drew a few bug bodies in crayon, and Travis helped select which leaves would be their wings.

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Liberal application with a glue stick was all we needed to attach “wings” and googly eyes to each critter.

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But Travis wanted to make his own picture with the remaining leaves, and began gluing and coloring.

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“It’s you and me in a leaf pile!” he explained proudly, showing me his first one. A second “leaf pile” work of art soon followed.

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What other drawings would you make featuring leaves from a nature walk? Please share in the comments!

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Sandpaper Leaves

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We often think of leaf crafts as projects for the autumn, but here’s one that can be done in nearly every season (except winter!). It combines a little bit of nature, a little bit of sensory art, and a little bit of coloring all in one.

After a full family day at the park, we returned home with a collection of leaves. All of them were green this time of year (late summer), but we found leaves in as many different shapes as possible, everything from nearly oval, to trefoil, to pointy.

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Once home, I traced the leaves in permanent marker on sandpaper, making sure to include lines for the veins (a quick little science lesson on how leaves drink their water!)

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Travis loved selecting colors and filling in each leaf, with the sandpaper adding extra tactile fun.

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He made some leaves true to life (oranges, greens), and went beyond nature with a few others in vibrant pinks.

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Best of all was when he grabbed a handful of crayons for a rainbow leaf – his own invention.

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Cut out the leaves and paste up on the walls or use as pretty gift cards the next time you send a loved one something special.

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We loved this variation on leaf art!

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