Children and nature just go together. The great outdoors is the perfect place to play and learn! Children need to move and explore with all their senses and the outdoors naturally lends itself to learning. Take learning outdoors with some great preschool nature activities.
Below you will find a list of preschool nature activities that have been featured on Things to Share & Remember. Click a post to be taken directly to the post related to each preschool nature play idea. Check back, I’m always adding more!
Let’s Explore Worms! Worm Discovery Page
Go outside and dig for worms! Then, bring the excitement into the early childhood classroom. Children love novelty—something new to see, touch, and explore. These…
Feather Discovery Activity Page
Let’s explore feathers! Bring some feathers into the early childhood classroom and create some excitement. Children love novelty, something new in the environment to see,…
Sorting Seeds Nature Trays
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes July has been all about nature activities with the EcoVenture theme from Experience Early Learning. We’re exploring wonders of the…
Create Calming Nature Discovery & Sensory Bottles with Kids
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes There are so many beautiful things around us, especially in the summer, so sometimes we take them for granted. It…
Mini Rainforest Terrariums
As we finish up our Explore the Rainforest theme with Experience Preschool, we created mini rainforest terrariums for the children to observe and care for.…
Cracking Nuts in Preschool
We’ve been learning about the weather and seasons and watching the squirrels in our yard. It’s that time of year when the grocery store puts…
Where do seeds come from?
When the weather changes, we see changes in plants. Fruits and vegetables are fully grown and harvested. Flowers have matured and are fading. Autumn is…
Superheroes Take Care Of the Earth
Let’s Be Superheroes from Experience Curriculum has made our summer extra fun! The weekly topics included: Superhero Dress-Up, Super Powers, Saving the Planet, and Everyday…
Build a Bird Nest Activity
Our days are filled with play, as they should be for young children. Setting up the environment that encourages children to test out new ideas…
Pine Tree Investigation
If we take a walk through the woods, we’ll see a pine tree. We might see also see a snowflake, pinecone, icicle or a snowman…
Nature Play Mud Pies
My kids loved making their nature play mud pies! Mud was the topic of lesson 10 from Down on the Farm. This is the perfect…
Y is for Yellow Dandelion Play Dough
This month, along with Experience Preschool (formerly Mother Goose Time), we’re focusing on letters Y & V. We have done several activities for letter Y,…
Loose Parts Nature Designs
Now that it’s fall, we’ve been learning about orchards, trees and also parts of a tree. This loose parts nature designs activity from Mother Goose…
Apple Seed Art
I just have to share our apple seed art from day one of the Orchard Harvest theme. They turned out so cute. It was a…
What’s in the Box: Orchard Harvest
What’s in the Box: Orchard Harvest Mother Goose Time Preschool Curriculum Kit for October 2018.
Handprint Spiders & Paper Plate Webs
We’ve been learning about animal homes including holes where rabbits live, beaver dens and lodges, and spider homes which are webs. These lessons are part…
Creating Seed Mosaics
First, we explored soil, then seeds as part of our gardening theme. One of our seed activities was creating seed mosaics which turned out beautiful!…
Planting Seeds in Preschool
It’s that time of year again to plant some seeds! Planting Seeds in Preschool is such a wonderful hands-on experience for children! I love that it…
Engage Families with a Moon Observation Printable for Preschoolers
As I prepare for next month’s theme on space, I decided to create a Moon Observation Printable for Preschoolers to work on at home with their…
Rock Letters
Teaching preschoolers letter and word recognition is easy and fun with creative materials like these Rock Letters. Rock Letters are perfect for a dinosaur theme but…
Nature Letters
Incorporating nature into my preschool program is important to me, so I loved this Nature Letters idea for a table top literacy activity from Mother Goose…
Slug Bug Habitats
Well, slugs are kinda lowly creatures. Interesting, but not the top of the list even when thinking of teaching children about insects. I’m glad they…
7 Ways Kids Can Explore the Garden in the Fall
It always sad to see the end of the summer come which means the end of the garden but, I leave my garden until late…
Colors of a Monarch
During week four of Bees and Butterflies Mother Goose Time Theme, we learned about monarch butterflies. We have been learning about the life cycle of…
Colors of the Garden Homemade Art Book #GroablesProject
It’s gardening time again! I look forward to the warm days and watching our garden grow. It’s early for planting yet in Wisconsin, but now’s…
Make a Leaf Garland
We had such a lovely time playing in the leaves last week. Our Autumn Blaze Maple took it’s time turning color and dropping it’s leaves…
In the Orchard Fall Preschool Theme
Our In the Orchard fall preschool theme is coming to an end. With Mother Goose Time, we’ve learned about so many wonderful aspects of the…
Pounding Colors from Nature
What will happen when you pound on fabric that is over a leaf? It’s an interesting discovery to see what happens! Experience Curriculum curriculum includes STEAM…
Exploring Seeds in Preschool
We have been exploring seeds the last few days with the Experience Curriculum theme, In the Orchard. One of the manipulatives included this month is…
Nature Sachet Air Fresheners
Learning about the air in preschool with Experience Early Learning’s nature theme has been super fun! Think about it – wind, sense of smell, balloons,…
Nature Play Dough
All through July we’ve been enjoying nature activities along with our Nature Detectives theme. One day we played with nature play dough. We’re always looking…
Nature Detectives Learning About Trees
The past week has been all about learning about being Nature Detectives Learning About Trees. Week one of the Experiences Early Learning Curriculum EcoVenture (2021)…
O is for Ocean Printable
O is for ocean! This is a simple ocean themed, fine motor and literacy activity. Use the O is for Ocean Printable to create the page.…
Bees Pollinate the Poppies
Last week we learned how bees help the gardens grow. I loved the connection between art, nature and science in our Experience Preschool lesson, “Bees…
Growing Gardens: Planting the Garden
The first week of our Growing Gardens theme is all about Planting the Garden. We learned that we first need soil. What can we find in the…
Simple Fall Science Centers for Preschoolers
Setting up a couple simple fall science centers for preschoolers is super easy. Sometimes my ideas get bigger than they need to be and I…
Outdoor Art: Autumn Leaf Collage
I like to incorporate a variety of activities in our outdoor play, including art. This activity includes many areas of learning actually – nature, sensory,…
Fall Nature Table for Preschoolers
Our fall preschool nature table – full of color & texture! The last few weeks I’ve really enjoyed looking for nature items for our preschool…
Fall Outdoor Sensory & Nature Play
Fall is such a wonderful time of the year for the preschoolers to explore nature and use what’s left of the flowers and plants in…
Preschool Art Study: Painting Sunflowers
In July, our activities focused on art with the Art Studio kit from Mother Goose Time. Preschool Art Study: Painting Sunflowers The children were inspired to…
R is for Rocks | Preschool Activities
Our rock activities included water and rocks sensory play, scrubbing rocks with water and brushes, combining rocks and playdough, investigating different kinds of rocks, shells…
Ocean Sand Sensory Bin
This sensory bin doesn’t coordinate with our current theme, but I was inspired to make it after finding the little sailboat while I was out…
We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt
We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt! We’re going to find some pretty ones! Here’s some red ones… and some yellow ones. Here’s a green one!…
Picking Green Tomatoes
We had lots of tomatoes in the garden that are still green. They just aren’t going to ripen there so I had the boys help…
Painting with Sticks
We love painting outdoors on our new easel ($2 at a garage sale!) Yesterday we tried painting with sticks. Like a brush but yet, not…
Free Robin Life Cycle Poster – Baby Robin Stages From Egg to Bird
Signs of Spring: Watching the Robins Return Each spring, we look forward to watching robins return to Wisconsin. It’s a sure sign that warmer days…