4 Fun Nature Activities for Kids

Kids these days spend the majority of their time indoors. Where we used to play outside and enjoy nature every day, children living in the city seldom have the opportunity to really experience nature unless we make the effort to expose them to it. Here are 5 activities that kids anywhere can enjoy.

1. Take a nature walk. Even if you live in the city, a nature walk is possible. There are natural things all around us. If possible, go to a local park. However, even if there are no parks nearby, you can walk around the streets, looking for ones that feature trees and other plants.

While on your walk, keep a notebook handy. The kids can write down everything that they see and compare lists later on. For example, if they come across a squirrel, that can go in the book. Any trees and plants that they see can also be listed, along with a sample leaf so the plant can be identified later. It's fun to see what you can find each time you go out, so date the pages in the notebook and use it for every nature walk.

2. Press things. When you are out and about, collect flowers, leaves and grass. Back home, these items can be laid flat on a sheet of newspaper and covered with another sheet. Place the flower sandwich inside a heavy book, like an encyclopedia or a large dictionary. You can also stack more books on top to make a thin one heavy.

Now you need to be patient. The process takes about 2-4 weeks, depending on how much moisture was in the nature item. Kids like to check periodically on their project, just make sure that the newspaper is collecting all the moisture and that none are passing through to the book. Add more layers if needed.

Once the flowers and leaves are flat, dry and brittle to the touch, they are ready. There are many nature projects you can do with them. Try ironing a couple of flowers between two pieces of waxed paper (wax sides together) and cutting into a circle or oval to make pretty sun catcher. You can also add dried flowers and leaves to handmade cards.

3. Rubbings. Collect some leaves, looking for whole ones, with good strong veins and lines on them. Lay a leaf upside down on a hard surface and place a piece of regular writing paper on top. Using the side of a crayon, rub the crayon over the paper on top of the leaf. You will soon see the pattern from the leaf emerging. These rubbings can be used to make beautiful cards and prints to hang on the wall.

4. Make a nature rock garden. Collect a lot of pretty rocks and a container of dirt. You can make your rock garden in a tinfoil baking tray or any other shallow, wide container. Add the dirt at the bottom. If you want to put a cactus or small plant in the garden, now is a good time to do that. You can also put a clean tuna fish tin in the garden, filled with water for a mini pond! Now arrange your rocks around the garden. There is no set way to do this, you just adjust until you like the way things look. Set your garden in a window for all to enjoy!