Make a Potion/Soup
Make a potion/soup Time: 20-30 minutes Materials: containers Activity: This activity can be a preface to or follow up from a story about magic or food. Fill the containers with some water and tell the kids they will be making potions or soups. Kids can find and add ingredients to their brew and stir with […]
Make a Fairy House/Garden
Make a fairy house/garden Time: 20-30 minutes Materials: none Activity: This activity can be a preface or a follow up for a story about fairies. Tell the kids that they will be making houses or gardens for a fairy or small creature. Use available materials such as sandbox toys, sticks, bark, and rocks to create […]
Create a Rainstorm
Create a rainstorm Time: 5-10 minutes Materials: none Activity: Thunderstorms, rain with lightning and thunder happen as the weather gets warmer. We’re going to go outside and make our own thunderstorm. Lead verbally and physically: First, we start with a very light rain – rub hands together. Then, the rain drops get a little harder […]
Build a Bridge (or Boat)
Build a bridge (or boat) Time: 15-20 minutes Materials: none Activity: Use a real water trickle or dig a ditch through a sandbox or similar. Tell kids they are going to pretend that little animals need some help crossing a ditch/stream/etc and they need to build the animals a bridge. Look around for objects that […]
Bird Nest Hunt
Bird nest hunt Time: 10-15 minutes Materials: 6 faux nests or printouts of nests (can color each nest to add color to counting skills) Activity: Hide the 6 nests Easter egg style before the activity. Tell kids birds use nests to help protect their eggs from predators. Nests can be in trees, bushes, grass, or […]
Camouflage Challenge
Camouflage challenge Time: 10-15 minutes Materials: large second hand clothes in earth tones (optional), printouts of camouflaged animals (optional) Activity: Tell kids animals are often colored like their environment to blend in. Fish have white bellies to look like the sky from below and fawns have spots to help them blend into dead leaves and […]
Stick Races
Stick races Time: 5-15 minutes Materials: none Activity: Find a flowing body of water. A bridge over a stream is ideal. Mark a beginning and an ending point to the race course. Have kids select a stick or plant to race. Drop the sticks in at the beginning and move along the stream with them […]
Leaf and Bark Rubbings
Leaf and bark rubbings Time: 10-15 minutes Materials: paper, old crayons Activity: Have kids explore a natural area by touch and share the different textures they find. Demonstrate how to do a rubbing on leaves or bark. Lay a piece of paper over the object and hold it still (tape can help) while rubbing the […]
Sight word soccer
Sight word soccer Time: 15-30 minutes Materials: cones or landmarks, balls, index cards, tape Activity: Write site words or letters on the index cards and tape them to cones or objects around the play area. Give kids assignments and have them kick their balls over to the right word/letter. Categories: Movement, Literacy Back to Library
Plant Seeds
Plant seeds Time: 15-30 minutes Materials: seeds (native and easy to grow seeds include black eyed Susan and lupine), digging tools (forks work well too) Activity: Locate a spot that you would like to plant. Have kids use their digging tools to loosen up the soil and get rid of any plants and grass growing […]
Plant a Tree
Plant a tree Time: 15-30 minutes Materials: tree seedlings (may be available for free or low cost from conservation districts), shovel(s) Activity: Locate a spot that you would like to plant. Dig a hole for the seedling, making sure to bury the roots. Have kids add handfuls of soil back to the hole to fill […]
Grass Whistles
Grass whistles Time: 5-10 minutes Materials: none Activity: Ask kids if they have ever made music with something from nature. Pick blades of grass (firmer more fibrous blades work best). Demonstrate pinching the grass between the knuckles of both thumbs with the thumbnails facing you. Blow across the grass to make a loud whistle. Music […]
Plant Breathing Experiment
Plant breathing experiment Time: 2 x 15 minutes Materials: clear cups, magnifying glasses (optional) Activity: Ask if kids know that plants breathe. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. We do the opposite, so they make the air breathable for us. We can’t see them breathing because they do it through little holes […]
Rock Pictures
Rock pictures Time: 15-20 minutes Materials: cardboard and glue (both optional) Activity: Gather a variety of small rocks. Point out how we can see different shapes in nature around us and in our rocks. Have kids identify some congruent shapes between their rocks and surroundings (e.g. this one is triangular like that pine tree). Have […]
Flower Exploration
Flower exploration Time: 20-30 minutes Materials: flowers, plastic knives (optional), magnifying glasses (optional) Activity: Show the kids the parts of the flower, petals, pistil, stamens, stem. If the flower has pollen, put some on your finger and show the kids. Explain how pollinators like bees and butterflies move pollen between flowers and once the pollen […]
Chlorophyll Painting
Chlorophyll painting Time: 10-15 minutes Materials: paper Activity: Tell kids chlorophyll is what makes leaves green. It is a pigment, like a paint, and we can use that paint to make pictures. Demonstrate 2 techniques: 1) crushing a leaf and using the juice to draw on a piece of paper; 2) laying the leaf on […]
Mow the Lawn
Mow the lawn Time: 10-15 minutes Materials: scissors 1/kid Activity: Practice scissors skills and strengthen hand muscles by letting kids trim lawn grass with their scissors. Giving back bonus: identify any invasive plants or noxious weeds and set your kids out to cut them down or cut off their flowers. The sap of some noxious […]
Maple Seed Helicopters
Maple seed helicopters Time: 5-15 minutes Materials: none Activity: If you have a maple tree nearby, collect some of the maple seeds, also called maple keys. Talk about what the seeds do and how they can grow. Climb up on things and drop the seeds, watching what they do. Ask why the maple tree might […]
Body Tracing/Self Portraits
Body tracing/self portraits Time: 15-30 minutes Materials: sidewalk chalk or spray bottles or sticks Activity: Pair kids. Have one kid lay on the sidewalk, dirt, or sand. The second partner then outlines their body by drawing or spraying (nice for a hot day) around the body outline. Once completed, they can add clothes, faces, etc. […]
Water Play (make a river etc)
Water play (make a river etc) Time: 30-45 minutes Materials: digging tools (forks and spoons work great), containers (optional), hose or watering can Activity: Locate a dirt play area with some slope. Allow kids to dig channels, install ponds, and create a gravity fed course for the water. Pour water at the top of the […]
Hot Drinks Store
Hot drinks store Time: 15-30 minutes Materials: Cups (optional) Activity: When playing outside, have kids imagine their favorite hot drink. Ideas include hot cocoa, hot cider, and tea. Have them hold an imaginary cup or a real empty cup with their imaginary beverage in front of them. Have them smell the cup and feel the […]
Snow Toy Hide and Seek
Snow toy hide and seek Time: 10-30 minutes Materials: assorted small toys Activity: Hide small toys in a deep fresh snow field or a pile of snow. Let kids root around to find the toys. Repeat as interest allows. Categories: Movement, Sensory Back to Library
Snow Angels
Snow angels Time: 10-15 minutes Materials: none Activity: In a fresh field of soft snow, demonstrate laying down and moving arms and legs side to side to create wings and a skirt. Bonus: challenge kids to try to make snowprints of animals or objects with their bodies. Categories: Movement, Sensory, Art Back to Library
Winter Carols
Winter carols Time: 2 x 15-30 minutes Materials: animals in winter book(s) Activity: Read one or several books about animals in winter. Pick a simple tune (eg twinkle twinkle) and make up some lines about animals in winter. Share your songs with neighbors like Christmas caroling. Literacy bonus: clap out syllables with the notes or […]
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