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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Printable Letter Books for Preschoolers

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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