Educational Resources and Activities

Outdoor Activities

  • Monthly Scavenger Hunts
  • Outdoor trash pickup
  • Nature photography
  • Birdsong bingo – Open your windows and see if you can hear all the songbirds native to your area (Use a sound archive for help)
  • Nature bingo – Make some bingo sheets with things that could be found in a backyard or seen from a backyard (trees, birds, plants, types of clouds, etc.)
  • Scavenger hunt for different insects, plants, or birds
  • Go outside and dig through and roll logs!
  • Search for blossoms and buds
  • Make a checklist of local animal tracks and explore to see if you can find them all
  • ID the birds that fly through your backyard or along your hike using a bird ID guide
  • Collect leaves for 10 different (non-harmful) plants. Sort them by size, color, and texture.
  • Find, pick, and dissect a flower. Think and act like a scientist when you choose a flower and carefully take apart its parts. Not sure what every part is? Check out this site to learn more about dissecting a flower 
  • Find 10 rocks smaller than a dime. Give kids a dime so they can compare and a container to hold the rocks.

Websites/Apps

Virtual Tours & Live Cams

Art & Crafts

  • Leaf rubbings
  • Spore print art
  • Press some flowers
  • DIY bird feeders
  • Mud painting
  • Learn how to draw birds or other wildlife
  • Nature art (arranging sticks/rocks/leaves/flowers, etc. in a geometric or abstract way)

Citizen Science Projects

Books

  • Play the Forest School Way: Woodland Games, Crafts, and Skills for Adventurous Kids by Peter Houghton
  • Outside: A guide to discovering nature by Maria Ana Peixe Dias
  • Nature Crafts for Kids by Gwen Diehn and Terry Krautwurst

Other/Misc.

  • Find an animal or plant in their backyard or area (or anywhere really) and then write about it/draw or make a graphic or pamphlet about it
  • Backyard bug hunt – Take photos of all the bugs you can find, then go find out what they are and make a little field guide specifically for the bugs in your yard.
  • Plant seeds (pollinator-friendly seeds, native seeds, seeds that can be started indoors, seeds for plants that can be food, etc.)
  • Go outside, pick a tree and write a biography about it. Learn everything there is to know about the tree, work on the research outside with the tree, etc. After you’ve spent time getting to know the tree scientifically, write a literary biography or short story about it (can be fictional and fun).
  • Nature journal
  • Skype a Scientist
  • Sensory nature sit – select a location, and limit one of your senses (sight, sound; then on another day use the other) and record or just enjoy the difference it makes.
  • EcoElsa
  • Graph the types of birds that frequent your yard or windows. Check out tips on identifying birds, then once you’ve tracked your birds, make a graph to show how many of each kind were in your backyard during a certain period of time.
  • MN Project Go resources to get outdoors
  • The Cornell Lab bird learning games
  • North American Association for Environmental Education