6 Nature Inspired Activities To Do With Your Preschooler

One of my favorite things to do with the boys is get outside and get dirty! Children thrive outdoors, there are so many opportunities for them to learn, play, and grow. Besides, what child doesn’t want to get outside and play in some mud? There are countless games you can play outside, with countless tools all around you. You and your little can come up with your own ideas and games, or you can try some of the ones I’ve listed here!

Our favorite nature based lessons for Fall:

I did this one just the other day with the boys, it’s extra fun during fall. I had them gather all the different colored leaves they could find; orange, red, green, brown, and yellow.  After they spent some time collecting, they brought them all back and sorted them into color piles.  We then made a big collage on a piece of cardboard with all the leaves, showing which colors they turn throughout their lifecycle.  

Use rocks, sticks or leaves for counting!  We will do addition and subtraction using rocks, and have recently started learning about the difference between odd and even numbers.  If your kid is a little younger, you can let them line the rocks up and use their finger for basic counting.  It really helps kids to get a visual idea of what each number looks like in a group. 

Leaf printing!  I’ve done this one with my son many times.  All you need is paint (whatever type you have is fine), leaves or flowers, and a canvas!  You can use white fabric as well.  Just paint the backside of a leaf and press it down flat onto your canvas.  You can use the petals of flowers in the same way!  This project is great for when you travel, because each new place will have different plants to use.  We always learn the names of the plants we use (if you’re not familiar with the area, there are many plant identification apps available), and will sometimes write them down next to our prints to make sure we remember.

A nature based STEM skills activity:

 This one is a little less hands-on, but something I enjoyed doing very much with kids when I worked at a forest preschool. All you need for this is a journal, a pencil, and the will to hike! For preschoolers, you will need to help with this one, older kids should be fine doing it on their own.  While on a hike, nature walk or in your garden at home, find a small sprout, allow your child to measure it and observe it.  Whip out those journals and pencils and log down what you see!  Write down the height, whatever else you notice about it, and even try to draw a picture.  When you are done, grab a stick and stick it in the ground right by the plant.  Have your child make a hypothesis about how it may change.  Next time you come, you can see how the sprout has grown! 

Nature based lessons on letters:

An alphabet scavenger hunt!  This one is very open ended, which makes it even more fun and challenging!  There are a couple of ways you can do it – make up the list for your children, or keep it even more open and let them choose what they find.  An example would be to find an acorn for the letter A, or just let them find anything they think begins with A.  The second option may be easier with older kids.  Our 3 and 4 year olds still struggle with understanding the sounds of letters.

Create alphabet twigs.  You can do this in sections, at whatever pace you think fits best.  Take your little on a nature walk and give them the task of collecting as many twigs as their little hands can hold.  Once you’ve gathered a decent amount, get some kind of twine (I use a thin hemp rope) and tie the twigs into letters.  If you can’t get a twig to bend a certain way, no worries, just use the twine for that part and do what works.  You can start small, doing A-C, or do a few more.  Allowing your little to do this with you will help tremendously with letter identification!  When finished, hang them on the wall or keep them out for your child to grab and look at whenever they feel.

Those are only a few of my favorite things to do outside with the boys, I assure you though, there’s many more!  You don’t have to be creative, start with everyday things or search Pinterest for inspiration. Bring your lunch outside with a blanket, maybe you and your child will find a super cool bug and you can do a small lesson on that.  The ideas are endless!