Welcome to day nine of our Stay at Home, Screen Free Activities Programme, where today we’re sharing nature walk ideas.
Read on for ideas for observing the seasons and using your walk as a springboard into art, craft, and sensory play.
Nature walk ideas
Depending on your reason for being at home, a nature walk might not be as freely available as usual. If you’re restricted for any reason, a backyard can still be a great place for fresh air and bird watching. And if heading out isn’t an option for you at all, skip to tomorrow’s activities.
Ready-made forest school lesson plans
Have you got your copy of The Forest Classroom yet? It is the perfect beginner’s guide to running a successful forest school. Download your forest school guide here.
A forest classroom is a place of adventure, discovery, and imagination. It can also be a wonderful place to learn about math and science, explore art and crafts, and develop language and social skills.
The Forest Classroom is a practical guide which will show you how to engage your children in fun and educational forest-school activities.
These ready-made forest school lesson plans are suitable for forest school leaders, teachers, childcarers and parents with children aged 4 to 10, to learn in a forest, school nature area, local park or your own backyard.
Get your copy of The Forest Classroom here and you’ll be ready to head straight outdoors and enjoy teaching, using our ready-made lesson plans.
The easiest, and perhaps best, way to enjoy a nature walk is to simply head out and see what you can find.
Talk with your children about the particular time of year and then go and see what signs of the season you can find.
Taking a walk in a familiar place at different times of the year helps your children contrast the changes, as nature does its thing over the course of a year.
For a variation, try these themed nature walk ideas.
Try this Sit Spot activity for a moment of peaceful mindfulness.
Use my forest treasure hunt printable and see what things you can find.
Make a nature bag and go on a scavenger hunt.
Collect some materials on your nature walk and use them to make some nature-inspired art, for leaf printing in play dough, for printing in paint, perhaps to make a word tree or try some twig weaving.
A nature walk can also be a way to start nature journalling. See my guide to getting started with nature journals here.
Free Forest School and Garden Classroom resources!
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Seasons School is NurtureStore's year-round program of living and learning with nature. Our activities and resources focus on hands-on, nature-based learning that connects children with the natural environment.
If you're looking for nature study lessons, arts and craft projects, campfire recipes, foraging ideas, outdoor math and literacy activities, outdoor games, and ways to explore forests, gardens, and outdoor spaces - think of NurtureStore as your forest fairy godmother!
Whether you're in a forest school or outdoor classroom, running a school gardening club, bringing nature lessons into your class, home educating with nature, or wanting to connect with the great outdoors at the weekend, you will love the Seasons School ideas.
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Thanks for sharing this great idea Allison! We live rural we have lots of places to walk. My daughter will love this activity. 😉