Learning in Nature with Kids

August 18, 2016 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

There are many times in the year when you just don’t want to take your kids outside, whether as a parent or a teacher. It’s too hot or cold or rainy or whatever and you’d rather not bother, right?

It’s important to resist that urge to stay inside at least sometimes because there are important things to learn and ways to explore no matter what the weather. As long as you gear up properly and don’t stay out too long, there are always adventures that can be had outdoors, and kids usually love getting to go outside even on days when the weather isn’t ideal.

So what to do out there? Of course just going on nature walks and exploring the world is a great place to start.

You can make sun prints like these on Weller Mama Blog (which has lots of great ideas for learning with nature, too). Check out 50 Ways to Explore Nature in Your Backyard and other backyard nature ideas from Go Explore Nature.

For a few from my own site: build a fairy garden, or a butterfly garden, go on a nature scavenger hunt, paint with leaves, paint on or with shells.

Here are some more ideas from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, or if you really want to get into it you can buy an ebook all about exploring nature with children, which includes a yearlong curriculum (I’m not an affiliate or anything, I just came across it and it looks interesting).

What are your favorite outdoor activities for when the weather isn’t great? I’d love to hear your ideas.

[Photo via Go Explore Nature.]

Do you know a little gardener? Check out these DIY Garden Kits, perfect for gift giving.

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Games to Make with LEGO Bricks

When my daughter was younger she had a ton of LEGO bricks, and I’m honestly a little sad we got rid of most of them because there are so many fun things to do with LEGOs outside of the kits you bought them in.

I love seeing all the ideas people have for LEGO building challenges, and I have shared some ideas for LEGO games before, but I saw one on Pinterest the other day that I felt was worth a mention.

This one is for those ’80s and ’90s kids who spent sick days home from school watching “The Price is Right”: LEGO Plinko!

For those who don’t know about Plinko, the original was a giant peg board set up at an angle and the contestant would drop a flat disc at the top of the board. As it moved down the board it would hit the pegs and change the way it moved, and there would be different prizes in the slots at the bottom where the piece would land.

This version from Play Party Game works on the same principle, using LEGO bricks to make the game board and marbles in place of the Plinko disc since your game board isn’t flat.

You can really use whatever bricks you have for this build, and while it shows all the pegs the same size and evenly spaced, you can play with different configurations and see what happens. It’s engineering and a game!

And while you’re playing with your LEGOs, make sure to check out this post from Kids Craft Room that includes minute to win it style games you can do with LEGO. From speed sorting to tower building as fast as you can, these ideas are sure to get you thinking about different ways to play with LEGO.

And if you need even more ideas, check out my post with LEGO building challenges you can print out for kids (and adults!) to try.

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