Back in September, I sent out a Nature Class survey. The consensus? You’d like to know more cool nature spots to take your families, you’d like to learn more nature skills, and you’d like to know how to play the games we play in Nature Class! I tell the kiddos in class all the time that while we may not always have time for each of them to have a turn in class, they can all take these games home to play with their parents. Hopefully you have!

But… you know what would be super cool? What if you got to be your kiddo’s “Nature Hero” and busted out some of these activities and games this week? And beyond? Here’s a few of my favorite ones that are easy, fun, and foster deep connection (between you and your little ones AND with nature! Woohoo!)

Make a Nature Museum

When I ran a Pre-K classroom, our Nature Museum was where it was at! Friends were always jazzed to bring in a new nature treasure and share their discoveries. Then, during the day, everyone had opportunities to go to the Nature Museum and checkout all the cool stuff!

Here’s how you do this at home: Set aside a small shelf, table, bin or bowl as the new Nature Museum (maybe even make a cute sign?). Then, whenever you and your family head outside (or even if it’s just you) bring back small (and safe) nature treasures with stories behind them. Perhaps you bring back a nut that’s been chewed and you can ponder who chewed it? Maybe you bring back a cool piece of shale shaped like Ohio? Perhaps you find some cool pinecones in a magical evergreen forest?

To keep this safe (for you AND the environment), here are some simple rules:

• Only bring back small amounts of NON-LIVING treasures (rocks, pinecones, fallen leaves, exoskeletons etc)

• NEVER bring back large amounts of a single thing (buckets and buckets of acorns etc)

• NEVER bring back living animals (bugs in a jar etc)

• DON’T pick green leaves/branches from living plants

• DO have a reason/story behind collecting the treasure… so that you can tell others!

To make your Nature Museum even cooler, consider adding the following items:

• Magnifying glasses

• Mini-microscopes

• Field guides of plants/animals (check out the link for all the amazing FREE field guides available online from Ohio’s DOW)

• Art supplies/journals

Same Old Thing

Sometimes all it takes to make the “boring” and “ordinary” parts of nature exciting again is a different point of view. For this activity, have kiddos find something outside (or inside using objects from the Nature Museum) that they’ve seen before. You can even ask them to find something  “boring”. Now ask them to get on their hands and knees and look at it like a fox. How does it look different? Have them walk around and look at all the sides.

Next, have them lay on their bellies and scooch their faces very close to it as if they were an ant. How does it look different now? Did they find anything they hadn’t noticed before?

It’s a Small World

Similar to “Same Old Thing” above, mark off a single square foot on the ground outside (approximate…or precise if that makes you happy) with some sticks (you can have kiddos help gather their own!). After marking their squares, have kiddos look at it while standing. What do they notice inside the square?

Next, have everyone kneel down and describe what’s in their square from that vantage point. Can they see anything knew that they missed when they were standing? Notice how that square of earth gets more interesting the closer they get.

Finally, have them lie on their bellies and explore their square in detail. Have them pretend they’re an astronaut on a strange planet. If they find something inside their square that captures their imaginations- a worm, a plant, a bug, let them follow or inspect this friend as long as they like. 

Try to have kiddos (and grownups!) do this exercise for a few minutes. Afterward, have them stand back up. Does the landscape look different now? It’s a whole world of these interesting squares!

Super Raccoon Touch

In Nature Class, one of our beloved puppets is Whisper Raccoon! In the Fall, he helps teach us that Raccoons have a super power: Super Raccoon Touch! They use their extremely-sensitive fingers to feel around under leaves, underwater, and in the dark to find all sorts of yummy things to eat (by the way, they eat way less trash than you think!).

For this game, you can either go outside in the backyard or do it inside using your Nature Museum. Have players put on blindfolds. Next, if outside, guide them to a tree, rock, pinecone, grass etc without telling them what they’re feeling. Can they guess what they’re touching? If inside, hand them Nature Museum objects one at a time… how many can they correctly identify? This could be a fun competition with the whole family!

Take a String Walk

Unravel a good long length of string (you decide how long) to establish a “guide line”. Tie one end to a tree and stretch the string through some sort of natural habitat (woods, grassland, your yard etc… somewhere with a variety of natural obstacles/objects). Try to provide a variety of sounds, smells, and textures. Blindfold players (kiddos and grownups) either one at a time or multiple (with plenty of space between) and have them lightly hold the guide line (no clinching!).

Now, have them slowly walk the course, using the string as their guide. The goal isn’t to “win” by going the fastest, but rather experience as much as they can with their ears, nose, hands and feet. What did they feel? How did they feel? What did they hear? Smell?

And the Oscar Goes to…

If you really want to get to know an animal, you’ve got to see the world from their perspective… which is exactly what this activity is all about! Have each kiddo (and yourself too) pick a local animal: deer, chipmunk, squirrel, ladybug, ant, robin, cottontail rabbit, toad, jumping spider… etc etc. Now, have everyone transform into their animal of choice- this means they should begin moving like their animal, making sounds like their animal and everything else. You may want to watch some YouTube videos of the chosen animal brother or sister for research.

Have them look around the area and do the things they think their animal would do there. Is there somewhere they would go in the landscape to eat? Hide? Get a drink? What predators would they need to avoid? How would they do that? Encourage the kiddos (and yourself) to really get into character and try to move with the movements of their animal (chipmunks are careful, constantly stopping to look for danger. Robins hop around, frequently popping their heads up to see what’s around, ants scurry etc)

When the game is over, be sure to have each child “release” their animal and turn back into a person. What did they think? Does outside look different now? Consider making a “Nature Oscar” to present to the most convincing actor/actress!

Let me know!

I hope these activities bring you and your family closer together… and closer to nature! I have a pretty good feeling they will! If you decide to try these out at home… maybe even with the extended family over Thanksgiving, let me know! You can reach out on Instagram @jaredthenatureguy or email me at Jaredthenatureguy@gmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving & Gobble Gobble!