Why your kids need nature play PART 2

In my previous post, I discussed the important benefits of outdoor nature play on children's physical, cognitive, and social emotional development. I know its been a while but I promised to deliver some fun activities you can do with your kids to get engaged in some nature play.

Here are some activities that I have personally done with my own children or with my students.

• Nature Curtain - I got this idea from Tinkergarden. We strung up a piece of twine between two trees and over the course of a weekend added various natural items to the curtain. It actually stayed up for months. We did this at our cabin and each time we visited, we added to it. When you add the vertical hanging pieces of twine, tie rocks to the ends of the twine. The weight of the rocks will hold the twine tight. When you add an item you separate the strands of the twine by untwisting it then allowing it to twist back together with the item held tightly in between.

Here we added corn husks, leaves, ferns, and other things.

• Earth Art - Inspired by the art of one of my favorite artists, Andy Goldsworthy, you can do this activity with kids of all ages. Even adults can get into it. The idea is to find natural items and make some sort of 2 or 3 dimensional artwork using them. The truly special part of earth art is to leave it outside in nature and watch how the wind, rain, snow and sun change your art over time. It is a nod to the transience of life. Here is a rock sculpture someone built on a trail in Cook Forest that we saw on a hike there recently. If you are curious about Andy Goldsworthy you should definitely check out this documentary about his work, Rivers and Tides. It's awesome and so relaxing to watch!

I cannot take credit for building this cool rock sculpture it was found along a trail called Ancient Forest Trail in Cook Forest, PA

• Fairy Houses - You can honestly make a fairy house out of anything you find but my son and I made one a few years ago using a small milk carton that we glued nature items to. Maybe some would consider that cheating. If you really want to challenge yourself, try to find ways to make the structure without glue or anything like that to hold it together.

We positioned this fairy house at the base of a large oak tree. We added a little "landscaping" in the form of some rocks and a mossy lawn.

• Rubbings - I LOVE rubbings! I don't know why but I just love having the ability to reproduce texture by making rubbings with crayons, charcoal, pencil, etc. Tree bark is always a fun thing to make rubbings from and can be used to help with tree identification. For my preschoolers, we tape large sheets of paper around the tree trunk with masking tape to hold it in place. But you can also use rubbings to make a unique piece of art. For example try a rubbings self-portrait. Try to find things outside to use for hair texture, eyes, nose, teeth, etc. and just have fun with it.
• Nature collections - When I was a kid I had a small "fanny pack" type thing on the front of my bike that I used to collect treasures in. I was constantly picking up "stuff" while I was riding to add to my collection. Kids love collecting rocks, acorn tops, pinecones, etc. I loved playing with rocks growing up. Having "loose parts" like this around encourages imaginative, pretend play, building, sorting, counting and more. When I am at school with my students, they are constantly coming up to me with handfuls of dandelions, pinecones, acorns, maple tree "helicopters", everything under the sun that can be found on the ground. Instead of discreetly "filing" these items in the waste can (as one may be tempted to do at times!) I like to add them to our science area to be examined more closely or to use for little experiments like this next one...
• Sink or Float - you can do this one inside or outside. Next time you are playing in a stream or lake with your kids, collect some natural items and put them in the water to see if they sink or float. You can do the same thing inside, just use a bucket or dishpan of water. This is great for toddlers and preschoolers because they never seem to tire of throwing objects into water!
• Fort Building - good old fashioned fun! Fashion a structure of some type using whatever you have and then get cozy in there. Kids love having their own special place to escape to. I can remember always trying to find a "hidey hole" of some kind when I was little. I still do that today except they are harder and harder to find! In all seriousness though, I really do this. When I am stuck at a work meeting or something like that where I am forced to be inside doing things I find boring I will usually take a walk on my lunch break and try to find a special spot to be alone and explore.

There are so many resources out there if you are looking for some direction or inspiration. Here are some to look into:

• Natural Start Alliance - part of NAAEE- North American Association for Environmental Education, their site contains a list of Nature Preschools in the US, resources for parents and teachers, and links to research on environmental education for children.
• Tinkergarden - offers classes targeting children ages 6 months - 8 years old designed to immerse children in nature based/outdoor play to build skills while having fun. Right now. I noticed they are even doing some online classes in light of social distancing guidelines. Even if you are not interested in joining the classes or if there are none offered in your area, their website has a section on DIY activities you can do yourself.
• Learning with Outdoors - for parents or teachers, offers free activities and some downloadable PDFs that you can access if you subscribe by email, lists of books and songs related to nature play, and more.
• Rusty Keeler - offers design consulting for natural play spaces that encourage risky play (this might sound like a bad thing but research suggests that children need exposure to risky activities in their play to help them develop impulse control, self-esteem, problem solving and more) He also offers classes and workshops.
• Project Learning Tree - If you are local to Pennsylvania, the DCNR (Department of Conservation & Natural Resources) offers teacher training and educational opportunities for children PreK - 12 to engage students in outdoor play and exploration as well as teach about important environmental issues.

What are your favorite ways to make nature play fun for kids?