16 Educational Activities with Nature

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Educational Activities with Nature are some of the best activities you can do with kids. Bringing education outdoors helps children connect with the world around them, build curiosity, and strengthen key developmental skills. Best of all, it doesn’t require fancy materials or expensive supplies, just some creativity, observation, and a willingness to explore.

Nature offers the perfect setting for hands-on learning and discovery. Starting a nature based daycare with kids is full of value! Here are some fun, simple, and meaningful educational activities with nature for young children.

Nature Activities for Kids

Fore even more ideas using nature with kids, check these out:

• Garden Games for Kids
• 30 Garden Activities for Kids
• Kids Nature Activities and Bug Facts
• The Benefits of Outdoor Play!

Nature Scavenger Hunt

A nature scavenger hunt builds observation skills, vocabulary, and categorization. Create a list of items for children to find, such as a smooth rock, something green, a feather, a flower, or something that smells interesting. You can also do hunts based on colors, textures, shapes, or seasonal changes.

Leaf Sorting and Classification

Collect a variety of leaves and have children sort them by size, shape, color, or texture. This activity teaches early science and math concepts like comparison, classification, and pattern recognition. You can also count how many of each kind you find.

Counting with Natural Materials

Use rocks, sticks, acorns, or pinecones to practice counting, one-to-one correspondence, and basic addition. Have kids line them up, make patterns, or group them in sets to match written numbers. These manipulatives are FREE!

Nature Art and Mandalas

Encourage creativity by making art with found objects. Kids can create pictures or mandalas on the ground using leaves, petals, seeds, and twigs. This supports spatial awareness, design, and fine motor skills.

Weather Tracking

Have children observe the sky and track the weather each day. Use a simple chart to record sunny, cloudy, rainy, or windy conditions. Talk about how the weather affects animals, plants, and your outdoor plans.

Storytelling with Nature Props

Invite kids to collect items from nature and use them to inspire a story. A pinecone might be a dragon, a stick becomes a sword, and a rock is a magic stone. This activity builds language, imagination, and narrative skills.

Measuring with Sticks

Use sticks or large leaves to explore measurement. How many sticks long is the picnic table? How many leaves tall is your friend? This introduces comparison, estimation, and measurement basics.

Building with Natural Materials

Challenge kids to build something using only what they find in nature. A bird nest, a fairy house, or a bridge for toy animals are great options. It’s a fantastic way to teach engineering, planning, and teamwork.

Bug Observations

Look under logs, leaves, or rocks to discover insects and worms. Use magnifying glasses and observation sheets to draw or describe what you see. This builds early biology and respect for living things.

Nature Journaling

Give each child a notebook to draw what they see, hear, smell, and feel outside. They can document their discoveries and practice writing or dictating their thoughts. Journaling connects art, science, and literacy. Really young kids can draw pictures or scribble their thoughts out.

Rock or Leaf Matching

Find matching sets of rocks, leaves, or flowers and mix them up. Let children try to match pairs by sight or touch. This is great for developing attention to detail and sensory processing.

Cloud Watching and Drawing

Lie on the grass and look at the clouds together. What do the shapes remind you of? Have children draw or paint what they saw. It’s a peaceful way to develop imagination and observational skills. It Looked Like Spilt Milk would be a great book to go along with that as well.

Listening Walks

Take a slow walk with the goal of listening. What sounds do you hear? Birds, wind, rustling leaves, water? Talk about what might be making each sound. This enhances focus and auditory discrimination.

Planting and Gardening

Let children dig, plant seeds, water, and harvest. Gardening teaches responsibility, patience, life cycles, and healthy eating habits. Even small container gardens are full of learning opportunities.

Sorting Natural vs. Manmade

Bring a few manmade items outside (like a bottle cap or toy) and compare them with natural objects. Talk about what’s made by people and what comes from the earth. This builds early environmental awareness.

Educational activities with nature support every area of development, from language and math to science and creativity. They also help children build a deep appreciation for the natural world. Whether you’re exploring a forest, a backyard, or a city park, nature is always ready to teach. All you have to do is step outside and let the learning begin.

Crooksie and Churro Learn to Count

For a really sweet and fun story about two garden cats named Crooksie and Churro, check out our new book on Amazon, “Crooksie and Churro Learn to Count“. It’s a counting book that talks about emotions and helps kids learn that it’s okay to feel them all.

Beautiful illustrations engage kids as you explore different places in the garden. And there’s even an easter egg in the book, so they can practice their I Spy skills. See if you can figure out what it is! Grab your copy today and come on a garden adventure with us.