Nature Based Activities for Families

Looking for some nature-based activities that your family can do this weekend? We have put our thinking caps on and created a list of fun and inspiring activities for your family to check out!

Top Nature Based Activities for Young Families

Your family is likely to have participated in many outdoor activities before, such as making a mud kitchen, planting a garden, or climbing trees. Kids love getting outdoors to explore and as a parent, it is handy to have a list of nature-based activities on hand to choose from. Our favourites are:

∙Nature art – from leaf rubbings to building sculptures with sticks and stones, there are so many natural materials kids can use to create pieces of art with. One of our favourites is sticking flowers and leaves into playdough to create a living sculpture.

∙Bird watching – a great idea for the backyard, build a bird feeder or bird bath, or create a special area to do some bird watching in. Give your child a pair of binoculars and a list with pictures of common garden birds and see how many they can spot.

∙Float or sink – have the kids collect a range of natural materials such as stones, leaves, sticks, dirt, and flowers. Place them into a container filled with water. Does each object float or sink? You could use a collection of floating objects to then make boats and have a race.

∙Go for a nature walk – head out to the local park, bush walk or simply around the block. What can your child hear, smell, or feel? What colours can they spot? Are there any birds around? This is a fantastic opportunity to explore the sensory side of nature. You could turn this into a scavenger hunt, providing your child with a picture list of things to find as they go along.

∙Outdoor story time – whether you head to the local park or outside in the garden, bring a few children’s books with you to read aloud. Listening to stories gets even more enjoyable when you are in a beautiful environment.

∙Nature based play – climb those trees, play barefoot in the mud, splash in streams or build forts with branches. There is no end to the child-led activities to enjoy in the outdoors. 

Wherever you live in this beautiful country of ours, cherish your local outdoor spaces because we are so lucky to have them! If you need any outside toys, remember that we have some amazing ones available that we ship nationwide. Our Getting Lost cards are really popular with families!