For young children, nature is more than a topic or educational theme; it is the world where they live, learn, and play. Connecting children more deeply with nature serves an incredible benefit in every area of their cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development. A great way to deepen this connection, even within the four walls of your classroom, is to introduce children to nature through positive hands-on experiences and engaging activities.
The nature-themed activities in this article are perfect for children ages 3-5. They will learn from their environment and use natural loose parts to think critically and creatively while building a solid foundation in early mathematics and literacy skills.
To help you implement these activities in your classroom, we've also included a list of materials and idea starters to enrich the play in your classroom learning centers.
How does Kaplan ensure these activities are age-appropriate and support the educational needs of children ages 3 to 4 years old?
As a leader in early childhood education for more than 50 years, we understand the importance of classroom activities that are founded on research and support educational best practices.
All of the activities in this article are inspired by the best-selling Gryphon House books Simple STEAM: 50+ Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math Activities for Ages 3 to 6, Loose Parts Learning in K-3 Classrooms, and Provoking Curiosity: Student-Led STEAM Learning for Pre-K to Third Grade. We also include discussion topics and a materials list to make your job of lesson planning quick and easy!
Nature-themed art center activities that promote math and literacy skills:
Nature's Symmetry
To begin this activity, have a conversation with children about the concept of symmetry and what natural objects or animals they can identify as symmetrical. Then, take the children on an outdoor scavenger hunt to gather materials such as leaves, rocks, shells, pinecones, flowers, and more. As you walk around and explore the outdoors, ask the children if they notice any symmetrical objects or animals.
The children will use the materials they found to create symmetrical shapes, letters, and images, so gather a decent number of items to ensure this is possible. If you do not have an area near your facility where children can gather natural materials, ask families to donate materials or use any items you have on hand. Once the scavenger hunt is over, ask the children to sort their found objects by size, shape, color, and likeness.
You can complete this activity indoors or outside. To start:
- Give each child a blank sheet of paper and ask them to fold it in half.
- Ask the children to draw a line along the fold using a marker or crayon to visually separate the paper into halves.
- Prompt the children to use their natural loose parts to create a simple image or shape on the left half of their paper first.
- Then, ask them to replicate that same image or shape on the right half of their paper using the same loose parts as before. The objective is to create a perfectly symmetrical image or shape on the paper.
If the children need help choosing an image to create, guide them with prompts such as:
- What animal or insect has symmetrical wings? How might you create an image of those wings with your natural loose parts?
- If you place a white rock on one side of your paper, what might you put on the opposite side to create a symmetrical image?
Materials:
- Loose Parts
- A Loose Parts tray or something else to keep your gathered materials organized
- Paper
- A crayon, marker, or some writing utensil
Incorporating literacy and math into this activity:
To add an element of literacy and math to this activity, you can create template cards for the children to work with. You will fold a piece of paper in half for each template card. On one side, draw one-half of a shape or symmetrical letter, such as an A, M, O, V, W, or X. Leave the other side of the paper blank. Ask the children to complete their shapes and letters using the items they found in their scavenger hunt.
As the children work on their template card, you can encourage their critical thinking by asking questions such as:
- What might you use from these loose parts to create a semi-circle?
- How many acorns might it take to create the second half of this letter "X"?
- If one side of your shape looks like this, what might the other half of the shape look like?
What inspired this activity?
This activity was inspired by the book Provoking Curiosity: Student-Led STEAM Learning for Pre-K to Third Grade. In this book, you will also find easy-to-execute STEAM learning experiences focusing on light sources, plants, paper structures, and more.
Nature-themed group learning activities that promote math and literacy skills:
Seasonal Speculation
A great way to begin this activity is to read Lois Ehlert's Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, or any book that mentions seasonal changes. Have a classroom discussion about the different seasonal changes you may notice in nature. Some of these changes could include a noticeable increase or decrease in temperature, leaf color changes, flower blooms, increase or absence in insects and birds, among other things.
This activity will occur weekly throughout the year and is an excellent component of morning circle time and large group discussions. Take a quick walk outside and ask the children to quietly observe their environment. Provide prompts if needed so that children focus on observations such as the outside temperature, leaves on the trees, animals, etc. Examples of these prompts can include:
- What do you notice about the air temperature right now? Does it feel cool or warm?
- Are there any leaves on the trees? If so, what color are they? If not, what might that mean about the current season?
- Do you hear any birds chirping or insects buzzing?
- Do you notice new smells related to seasons, such as spring flowers blooming or fall spices cooking?
Gather some natural materials such as a tree leaf, flower bud, bird feather, or photos that will act as a realistic, visual representation of the current season. Head back inside and use a large chart pad or empty pocket chart to document what the children noticed about their environment and the current season. Display the natural materials and/or photos on this chart if possible.
Materials
- Pocket Chart
- Blank Paper or Chart Pad
Incorporating literacy and math into this activity:
The main goal of this activity is to help children develop skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. Once you determine the current season as a class, mark the date of your observation and the season on a classroom calendar. Then, ask the children to predict how many days they believe it will be before their environment changes to signal the beginning of a new season. Record these predictions on a sheet of paper or a large chart pad.
Each week or daily, if the seasons are quickly changing when you begin this activity, take the children outside so they can observe the environment. Gather any materials that signify the turning point of a new season and add those to your seasonal chart under the corresponding season. Use counting, subtraction, and other math skills to determine which child's predictions align most closely with the changing seasons.
Encourage children to build their early literacy skills by having group discussions about their environmental observations and asking each child to write short sentences or words based on seasonal changes they discover. Examples of these writing activities could include:
- Flowers bloom in spring.
- Bees buzz around in summer.
- Leaves turn yellow in the fall.
- It feels cold outside in winter.
What inspired this activity?
This activity was inspired by the book Simple STEAM: 50+ Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math Activities for Ages 3 to 6. This book also includes engaging activities such as dancing worms, pattern caterpillars, and seed investigations.
Nature-themed dramatic play center activities that promote math and literacy skills:
Making Stone Soup
This activity is perfect for indoor or outdoor lessons. Before you begin, collect smooth stones that will serve as the "ingredients" for the soup lunch the children will prepare for their group. Use a marker or paint to draw letters of the alphabet on each stone. You can also use Alphabet Pebbles or some similar manipulative if you have them on hand.
Once you prepare your stones, read Heather Forest's retelling of Stone Soup or another book about cooking, sharing, and community building. Divide the children into small groups, allowing at most four children to engage in this activity simultaneously.
Depending on where you host this activity, place a large, empty bowl in the middle of a table, desk, or tree stump. Next, give each child an empty bowl or container. Ask the children to create alphabet soup for lunch by placing the stones in the large bowl. Encourage the children to add one stone at a time to the large bowl, taking turns so that everyone feels they are contributing to the meal.
You can encourage critical thinking and positive communication by asking the children these questions as they cook and stir their soup:
- What letter did you add to the soup?
- What is a food that starts with that same letter?
- If you add that food to the soup, would it make the soup taste salty or sweet?
Once all the stones are in the large bowl, have the children use a spoon or spoon-like utensil to scoop stones from the large bowl into their bowls. Ask the children to scoop out no more than six stones, encouraging them to count as they place stones in their bowls. Next, tell the children to examine their stones to find the letters in their bowl.
Materials
- Smooth stones or Alphabet Pebbles
- Large bowl or container
- Four smaller bowls or containers
Incorporating literacy and math into this activity:
After the children identify the letters in their bowl, ask them if they can create any words by placing the stones side by side. For children just learning to spell, provide sight word cards so they can match their stones with the letters they see on the card. As the children create words with their stones, ask them to say the word aloud and the sounds each letter makes.
To add some mathematics elements to this activity, introduce children to addition and subtraction concepts when creating and serving their soup. You can do this by asking questions such as:
- If the large bowl has five stones in it now, and you add two more, how many stones will be in the large bowl?
- If you scoop 2 of your stones into a friend's bowl, how many stones will you have left?
What inspired this activity?
This activity was inspired by the book Loose Parts Learning in K-3 Classrooms. This book provides strategies and tips to help educators develop a loose-parts mindset and ways to apply loose-parts teaching in the classroom. You can also browse these additional Loose Parts resource books to get more inspiration for activities that benefit children of all ages and abilities.
Ready to incorporate these activities in your classroom?
With these nature-themed activities, you can help children develop math, literacy, communication, and collaboration skills they can use for success. Let these activities inspire you while planning your weekly lessons, and feel free to make changes to better suit the needs of the children in your care.
Download a PDF version of this article to quickly and easily refer to the materials, activity details, and enrichment opportunities.