We love summer vacation in our home! We have fun going on adventures, attending fairs, swimming at the pool, and hanging out with friends. Even with all of that excitement, we still have “boring” and “lazy” days. Those days are wonderful in many ways, but sometimes we just need to shake things up a bit to get the kids playing and engaged in activities again AND outdoors! 

Why try hanging basket activities? 

Here are a few reasons why I love this idea:

1. The containers are durable and easy to clean! You can easily clean any bubble or chalk reside. They are made of strong plastic and can take a beating. It’s ok if kids throw the toys back in, the baskets can take it!
2. You can keep them in the same predictable spot or you can move them around your yard to keep kids guessing and searching for them. Kids will enjoy the challenge of finding the “basket activity of the day!” If you have dinosaur figures, you could place the basket in an area of the yard with a lot of plants to mimic their natural surrounding. If you place books inside the hanging basket, put it in the garden or somewhere you would like to read books with your kids. The options are endless!
3. Try rotating toys in and out of the baskets to keep them fun and exciting for your kids. Your kids might be getting bored of their car collection, but try bringing them outdoors and they can create race lanes with sticks or rocks! If you change their typical play environment, the toys feel new to kids. 
4. They are easy to take off the hook to put in the garage or in the house if rain is predicted. You could keep plastic toys outside, but I would bring the other play options indoors during inclement weather. 

Here’s Our Outdoor Activities Set Up:

The idea here is to breathe new life into those old everyday activities or try a new activity in an outdoor setting! Try filling your hanging planters with these fun activities:

1. Books

There’s nothing better than reading a book outside on a nice day. Fill a hanging planter with a few old favorites or surprise your little one with new books!

2. Bubbles

I love these hanging planters as storage for bubbles because you can spray a hose inside the basket when it gets sticky from bubble residue. There are also drainage holes and a removable base so you don’t need to get messy when dumping out the water, it will simply drain out the bottom. It’s the perfect size for multiple bubble bottles for a party!

3. Chalk

For the same reason I like this for bubbles, I also love it for chalk! We all know that chalk can get messy, so it’s super simple to spray a hose in the hanging planter and let the water drain out the bottom. This doesn’t need to be placed near concrete, kids can color on large rocks, mulch or sticks!

4. Learning Material

I added some nature identification books to the hanging planter to inspire outdoor exploration, but you could put worksheets or even craft supplies in a planter!

5. Games

Add a few small games to inspire outdoor time on a beautiful summer day. Put a blanket and a couple of outdoor pillows near the hanging planter to create an inviting space to play!

6. Toys

I have always loved bringing toys outside for my kids! Brining toys outdoors into a new environment, invites kids to play with their toys in new and different ways. Here you can see the DIY Magnetic Tiles that I made, but you can try any toy! I particularly love the magnetic tiles because they stick right on the metal stand!

Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies for the Chicken Boredom Buster:

• Shepherd Hooks– There are tall and short hooks, so make sure you get the size that will work best for the height of your child. When purchasing, make sure to consider that the planters will hang down from the top height of the hook . This 48 inch set of hooks would work well for young children. We have 35 inch hooks and much taller hooks. The planters hang a couple inches from the ground with the 35 in hooks. 
• Hanging Planters– We used these hanging baskets. Again, there are different sizes so make sure you get the size that works for your needs!
• Books– Check out this list of picture books that are great for spring and summer. Consider the size of the books and hanging planters to make sure they will fit. 
• Toys– We added these DIY magnetic tiles! They are perfect because the magnets stick right on the hooks! Different toy figures would be fun too. This dinosaur set or a simple car set would be perfect in an outdoor setting.
• Chalk 
• Bubbles
• Small games- We like placing card games in the planters. 

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

What would you add to the planters? Let me know on Instagram. 

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I hope you enjoy these outdoor activities in hanging planters as much as I do!

-Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

Wasp Nest Decoy

More than 30 Press Flower Crafts

The post Outdoor Activities in Hanging Planters appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

These scavenger hunts are so easy to make and so fun to use! The best part about the magnifying glass, is that it extends the amount of time children spend outdoors searching for items! I guarantee this will be the most engaged your child has ever been with a scavenger hunt. The magnifying glass helps children focus their attention on the objects right in front of them and they love getting an extra close look, through the magnifying glass. 

You can also use the printable without a real magnifying glass. The cut out by itself is a great focal point for imaginative play and learning! Either way, these are fun and engaging leave no trace activities for kids.

What’s included in this Nature Scavenger Hunt Printable Packet?!

There are 18 scavenger hunt printables included in this packet. The scavenger hunts include: general nature, signs of spring, signs of summer, signs of fall, signs of winter, summer flower, spring flower, garden, leaf, seed, insect, color, gratitude, tally mark, cloud, mushroom, animal tracks, and alphabet. Seventeen of the eighteen scavenger hunt printables come in both black & white and color options and one comes in just black & white, for a total of 35 pages!

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

Find the Printable for this Activity on TPT or Etsy! 

How to Make the Magnifying Glass?

The magnifying glass is easy to make! Laminate the cardstock and cut out the lens part of the printable.

Last, tape the edges of the credit card sized magnifying glass to the back of the printable! The magnifying glasses are made of plastic and durable.

Below, you can see how well the magnifying glass works! It’s even more fun to use outside in nature. 

Here’s a Couple of ways to use your Nature Scavenger Hunt Printables:

This example shows the printable with a real magnifying glass and clothespins are used to check off items found. Start with clothespins at the top and bottom of the printable and move them to the side as you find items.

This example does not have a real magnifying glass and a dry erase marker is used to cross off pictures of items found. The dry erase marks can be easily erased when finished. Try sticking one velcro circle on the scavenger hunt and other velcro circle on the dry erase marker. This is a great way to keep your supplies all in one spot. When the marker is not in use, just stick it right to the velcro on the scavenger hunt

Here’s a Peak at all of the Scavenger Hunts!

Before we look at the scavenger hunts, I want you to think about a few things. I did not add instructions because I want children to use it in a way that works best for them! To keep the scavenger hunts fresh and fun, try the clothespins one day and dry erase markers on another. Use a real magnifying glass for one scavenger hunt and go without it for a different one. Children will like to use these sheets in different ways and that’s ok!

A few of the scavenger hunts, like mushrooms and clouds, have scientific names. These can be difficult to pronounce and I wouldn’t expect a child to be able to read or remember all of them. That’s also ok! This is all about exposure and having fun.

If you aren’t having any luck finding specific items on the list, try searching for the colors of the items. For example, you can look for the colors of leaves on the leaf scavenger hunt instead of the particular leaves! Make this work for you. 

Now lets get to the scavenger hunts! These scavenger hunts are perfect for seasonal activities! Check out the spring, summer, fall and winter scavenger hunt printables. 

Here are a couple of scavenger hunts that are great for any time of year! For the tally mark scavenger hunt, use a dry erase marker to make tally marks on the laminated printable. This is great for reinforcing early math skills while being outdoors!

The animal track and mushroom printables are fun for adventurous little explorers! Try looking for animal tracks in mud or snow! And remember, don’t touch or eat mushrooms because they could be poinsonous.

These scavenger hunts are fun to try right in your own backyard! Children love spending time in the garden and really enjoy looking for insects and seeds. 

I love these three scavenger hunts! The alphabet scavenger hunt can be used in a couple of different ways: Children can either clip a clothespin on the alphabet letter after they find something in nature that starts with that letter or write the word next to the corresponding letter. For example, if a child finds an apple, they would write “apple” next to the “Aa.” I find an ultra fine dry erase marker works best in these small writing spaces. 

The gratitude scavenger hunt is fun to try around Thanksgiving or Valentine’s Day. And the color scavenger hunt is fun for children of all ages!

The alphabet and color scavenger hunt printables can be used indoors on a rainy day!

Here’s what you’ll need to make these nature scavenger hunt printables!

Supplies:

• Nature Scavenger Hunt Printables available on TPT or Etsy
• Cardstock or printer paper- I recommend cardstock for a more durable work mat. 
• Laminator machine
• Scissors
• Credit Card Sized Magnifying Glass
• Dry Erase Markers  or Clothes pins(I like mini clothes pins for this activity, but regular sized will work too!)
• Velcro Dots– These are completely optional! They are great to stick on the scavenger hunt printable and dry erase marker to keep all of your objects together. When the marker is not in use, just stick it right to the velcro on the scavenger hunt.

Now that you have all of your supplies, it’s time to get outside and start exploring!

These are great for every season, even winter! The snow looked beautiful magnified through the lenses. We could have looked at it for hours!

We preferred to go without the magnifying glass for the cloud hunt. The clouds looked really neat framed in the magnifying glass!

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I hope you try these nature scavenger hunt printables! I promise, your little learners will love it as much as my boys and preschoolers.

∼Tara

Looking for more fun printables for kids?! Check out:

4 Ways to Use Story Stones in the Classroom

Color Activities for Kids with See-Through Lenses

The post Nature Scavenger Hunt Printables appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

These tic-tac-toe rocks are so fun to make! You can use special flowers from your yard that you dried yourself or purchase a pack of pressed flowers from Amazon. 

Try making Tic-Tac-Toe rocks for every season by painting simple pictures on the stones. For fall you can make pumpkin and spider stones and for winter try painting snowflakes and simple evergreen tree stones. The possibilities are endless! 

Ready to make a DIY Tic-Tac-Toe game? Here’s what you’ll need….

Supplies:

• 10 Rocks- Make sure your rocks are a little larger than your pressed pieces of nature. 
• You can also find stones in craft stores, landscape shops,  or Amazon.
• White paint
• Paintbrush
• Pressed Pieces of Nature- You will need 2 sets of game pieces with 5 similar types of nature. We made 1 set with 5 pressed flowers and another set with 5 pressed leaves. This set looks nice and this set does too!
• Mod Podge– Play around with gloss and matte finish to see which you like more. 
• Tweezers– These are helpful for small and delicate petals.
• 4 Sticks- Make sure they are large enough to fit your unique pieces of nature. Our sticks are about 12 inches (30.5cm) long.

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

RELATED: Check out 10+ Simple and Beautiful Stone Activities for Kids!

Here’s How We Made This Beautiful Tic-Tac-Toe Game:

Step 1:

Paint your rocks white. Paint one side of the rock and let it dry. Then flip it over and paint the other side of the rock and let it dry.

Step 2:

Put a dab of Mod Podge on the rock and place your pressed piece of nature on the Mod Podge. The Mod Podge does not need to dry before moving on to the next step.

Step 3:

Cover the rock and pressed piece of nature with a coat of Mod Podge. Let the Mod Podge dry.

Step 4:

Repeat this process for all of your rock game pieces and let them dry thoroughly.

Step 5:

Set up you Tic-Tac-Toe grid with the sticks – Lay 2 sticks vertically about 4 inches (10 cm) apart and lay the other 2 sticks horizontally on top of the other sticks about 4 inches (10 cm) apart.

How to Play with the DIY Tic-Tac-Toe Board

1. One person has the flower rocks and the other person has the leaf rocks.
2. Players take turns putting their stones in the empty squares.
3. The first player to get three of 3 of his/her stones in a row (up, down, across, or diagonally) is the winner!

You can make a special bag for your game pieces and play over and over again!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

I hope you give this nature activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love this activity as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more nature craft ideas?! Check out:

Preserving Flowers in Resin

Magical Pressed Flower Lanterns

The post DIY Tic-Tac-Toe appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

We love this sweeping activity so much that we’ve done it with leaves, pine needles, flower petals, and bird seed! 

Check out the end of the post where I share two new ways to use this activity board. 

Ready to give these sunflower activities a try?! Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• Sunflower Seeds
• Black Beans if allergic to sunflower seeds
• Box lid
• Markers
• Paintbrushes

Optional:

• Tweezers
• Glue

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

RELATED: Check out Rainbow Flower Threading Board

Here’s What We Did:

Step 1:

First, find a cardboard box lid and draw a sunflower outline on the inside part of the lid. This can be as basic or detailed at you want it to be. I searched “how to draw a sunflower” on Pinterest and just followed the instructions step by step!

Step 2:

Spread your sunflower seeds around your sunflower. I rinsed the salt off of the sunflower seeds and let them dry first because I didn’t want a salty/powdery residue on the box. 

*If you are working with a classroom of kids or your child has a sunflower allergy, try dried black beans! They look similar and have the same effect.*

Sunflower Activity 1:

Now you are all set to invite your child to sweep the seeds into the sunflower’s head. This is a fun way to work on pencil grip and strengthen those fine motor muscles. Activities like this help prepare your child to hold a pencil correctly and write properly! 

Children also love the challenge of sweeping the seeds into one spot. It’s more difficult than you would think and will keep your little one busy for a while!

This activity helps children make the connection that sunflower seeds grow in the head of the sunflower and will also help them identify the seeds in the future!

It looks so cute when complete!

Sunflower Activity 2:

Ok, I know what you are thinking…this is adorable and I want more sunflower activities!

Here is another idea:

You can also place the seeds in the sunflower head and invite your child to tweeze the seeds out! This is another great fine motor activity and fun way to pluck the sunflower seeds. I used less seeds for this activity than the sweeping option. It seemed a bit overwhelming and the tweezers take much longer to use. 

This activity is a new favorite in our house!

Sunflower Activity 3:

Try turning this into a permanent piece of art! After trying the other sunflower activities, you can glue the seeds in place and hang it on your wall! Kids will love squeezing the glue bottle and can use the tweezers or their fingers to put the seeds on the sunflower head. 

My little guy was proud of his work!

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I hope you give these sunflower activities a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more easy fine motor activity ideas?! Check out:

A Simple Butterfly Symmetry Activity

Double-Sided Nature Crown Board

The post Sunflower Seed Sweep {3 Fine Motor Activities} appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Symmetry is when two parts of a whole are identical. Something is symmetrical if you can draw a line down the middle and each side looks the same. Teaching children about symmetry can be tricky without physically showing them and getting them to interact with manipulatives. This way they are able to put into action what they are learning and it will more likely be something they remember. 

I thought it would be fun to try a nature threading activity to teach this math term! I love these nature threading activities because they’re an environmentally friendly way to learn without the use of plastic manipulatives or worksheets. Once you are finished enjoying this butterfly symmetry activity, you can just throw it right in the recycling bin, or press the flowers and save the cardboard butterfly future activities.

Check out these other activities here:

• Rainbow Flower Threading Board
• A Cute Dandelion Wish Activity for Kids
• A Simple Flower Name Activity 
• Dandelion Shape Boards

Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• • A variety of flowers
  • Cardboard– These cardboard sheets are a convenient option if you don’t have any to reuse. 
  • Something sharp to puncture holes in the cardboard- A sharp pencil should work. 
  • Scissors or X Acto Knife– These are excellent for cardboard crafts! They are very sharp ONLY for adult use. 

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

Here’s How to Make the Nature Threading Board:

Step One:

Cut out a cardboard butterfly shape. Here’s a trick:

1. Fold a piece of paper in half

2. Draw half of the butterfly

3. Cut it out so you have symmetrical wings.

4. Then trace that butterfly on the cardboard! 

Step 2:

Poke holes in your butterfly. Keep in mind you need the holes to be symmetrical. I used a sharp pencil to poke the holes in our cardboard butterflies. 

Step 3:

You can either let your children create their own butterflies or you can start them for your kids. I started them since this was a new term for them. I decorated half of the butterflies and invited them to finish the butterflies. 

My boys were excited to get going on their butterflies and started searching the yard for matching flowers. 

This was also a fun way to work on plant identification. My boys loved trying to figure out which flowers they needed to find!

They got to work their gross motor skills while running around the yard and fine motor skills when picking flowers and threading them on the cardboard.  

The butterflies looked so beautiful when finished!

They wanted to make their own butterflies when finished with their first creations. When finished, you can always take the flowers out of the cardboard and press them for another beautiful nature craft! 

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I hope you give this simple butterfly symmetry activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love this one.

∼Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

Sticky Scavenger Hunt

Magical Pressed Flower Lanterns

The post A Simple Butterfly Symmetry Activity appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Summer is in full swing and we have been spending a ton of time outdoors! We love this time of year. The wildflowers are blooming, the sunsets are gorgeous, and the butterflies are dancing all around us. With so many butterflies in our area, my boys are so eager to learn about butterflies. And they have so many questions! What are all of the different types of butterflies? How many butterflies are there? What do they eat? How do caterpillars turn into butterflies? So.many. questions.

We’ve turned to our favorite butterfly books for the answers and I thought it would be nice to have a space to document their learning. I’m all about low prep these days, but I also want activities to be inviting and fun. Enter flip books! They are so easy to prep. Just print them off, cut on the thick black line and staple or glue the pages together. My boys love flipping through the books and are so proud of their finished work!

Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• Butterfly Flip Books
• Glue or Stapler
• Scissors
• Optional Books- Here are a few of our favorite butterfly books: A Butterfly is Patient, Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies, and The Butterfly House.
• Optional Butterfly Garden

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RELATED: Check out Hands-On Butterfly Identification Activities for Kids

Check out the Butterfly Flip Books!

This is what the books look like when assembled. Just flip up the tabs to show the next page!

Kids love using these books and add an element of fun to any activity!

Adults can prep the books or let children give it a try! Just cut on the black line. 

Take a Closer Look

This is the first butterfly flip book:

This is called the Butterfly Nature Journal book. You can put this on a clipboard and take it outside! This is a naturally differentiated book so I only created one version. Older children can add more detail/label their drawings and younger children can practice drawing with simple lines. 

Kids can take their time with this book or finish in one nature walk!

I suggest adding a clip or clothespin to the top of the clipboard to keep the pages back. Try drawing simple sketches outside and then use watercolor, colored pencils, or crayons to add color and detail to the drawings!

This is the second butterfly flip book:

It’s called the All About Butterflies book and it comes in 2 differentiated versions! The covers and tabs look the same…

But the activity pages are different! This is an example of the “life cycle” page in the All About Butterflies book.

Here, my four year old is tracing the life cycle words and 7 year old is drawing the life cycle. These books are great for homeschooling, multiage classrooms, or to meet the needs and abilities of a typical classroom!

This is the third butterfly flip book:

It’s called the Raising Butterflies book and also comes in 2 differentiated versions. 

This is an example of the “caterpillar” page in the Raising Butterflies book. Here, my 4 year old is drawing his caterpillars and my 7 year old is drawing and writing about them. Want to give this a try?If your children like to learn about butterflies,  Grab the book HERE!

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I hope you give this simple nature activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love this one.

∼Tara

Need more nature study ideas?! Check out:

Hand-On Butterfly Identification Activities for Kids

Nature Collection Journal for Kids

The post Butterfly Flip Books for Nature Study appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Summer vacation is here which means we have all day to get outside and enjoy nature. Most of our time is spent in free play, but sometimes it’s nice to have an activity ready to go to mix things up a bit. Summer days can be long, so start collecting your ideas now! 

This rainbow activity is fun for kids of mixed ages, interests, and abilities! If you have multiple children, you can make one board for each child or encourage team work and have them share the same rainbow board. 

Just a quick reminder to only pick flowers in your own yard! 

Ready to give this rainbow activity a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• Flowers
• Sharpened pencil to poke holes in the cardboard.
• Cardboard– These cardboard sheets are a convenient option if you don’t have any to reuse. 
• Something sharp to puncture holes in the cardboard- I used a sharp pencil. 
• Scissors or X Acto Knife– These are excellent for cardboard crafts! They are very sharp ONLY for adult use.

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

Related: Check out Nature Sun Catchers Made With Recycled Items

Here’s How I Made the Rainbow Activity Boards:

Step 1:

Make your rainbow board. I used 2 different sized bowls to trace half circles on my cardboard. Next I cut it out with an X Acto knife. This doesn’t need to be perfect because it will be covered in flowers!

Step 2:

I drew simple rainbow lines with a pencil on my cardboard. Then poked holes with a pencil for threading the stems. 

Once it was all set, we headed outside and went around our yard quickly to check out our current flower situation. We looked at the different colors that we currently have and decided which ones to thread on the board. We decided on red, yellow, green, and purple! 

My boys are obsessed with identifying plants ever since our sticky scavenger hunt activity, so this was a fun activity to tap into that interest again!

My four year old loved pointing to the plants and identifying the colors!

Our creation looked more and more beautiful with each color we added!

I love that we can reuse this rainbow activity board over and over again! We will try this activity again during wildflower season:)

You can also try to place wax paper on top of the flower rainbow and place a heavy book on top to press the flowers. This way the decoration will last much longer!

Pin it and save it for later!

I hope you give this rainbow activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

A Simple Flower Name Activity

Fun Ways for Kids to Collect and Craft With Nature In All Four Seasons

The post Rainbow Flower Threading Board appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

This is one of those activities that you can 100% tailor to meet the needs and the interests of the children you are working with. If you have multiple children at home, you could have one child searching for alphabet letters and the other searching for sight words. If your children need help with math skills, you could write numbers or draw dots on the stones for counting. This is a naturally differentiated activity that helps children learn in a fun and active way. 

Ready to give this garden activity for kids a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• Stones
• Chalk
• Watering Can

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

RELATED: Check out 10+ Simple and Beautiful Stone Activities for Kids

Here’s How We Did This Garden Activity for Kids:

Step 1:

This is basically the only step! Just write letters on stones with chalk and hide them in your garden! Remember you can do this exact same activity with numbers, words, shapes, or anything else you are currently working on. 

A few of the stones that I wrote on were larger stones and already set in the garden. Once I hid the rest of the smaller stones, we were ready for the alphabet letter scavenger hunt! I tried to have a nice mix of easy to find stones and a few that were a bit more tricky to find. 

My four year old was completely sold when he found out there was a watering can involved. He loves watering plants in our yard, so this was pretty exciting for him!

This garden activity for kids is also great for gross motor skills. As you can see in the photo below, he is working on balance, coordination, physical strength and so much more!

My son loved searching for the letters and would shout out the letter names as he found them. I challenged him on a few and asked if he knew the letters sounds.

I plan on trying this with my older son next with sight words he’s been working on. This is so much better than a boring worksheet!

When he finished the activity, he grabbed the chalk and wrote some letters on a few rocks because he wanted to keep going! This one kept him busy for long time, was inexpensive, and got him outdoors! We’ll definitely revisit this garden activity a few more times this summer:) 

Pin it and save it for later!

I hope you give this simple garden activity for kids a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

Four Ways to Use Stones in the Classroom

Dandelion Rock Family

The post Alphabet Stone Activity for the Garden appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

We have a ton of new spring flowers popping up in our yard right now, so I thought it would be fun to help my boys identify the plants growing around them right in their own backyard. I created a reusable “sticky” flower scavenger hunt board that we can use throughout the year. I already can’t wait to try this in the fall! This board will look so beautiful decorated with colorful leaves. 

Please try a plant identifier app to make sure you aren’t using poisonous flowers for the activity! The spotted dead nettle does not sting and is actually considered a culinary herb. Also, I suggest only picking flowers in your own yard.

Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• Cardboard
• Clear Contact Paper
• Tape
• Marker
• Flowers

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

RELATED: Check out A Simple and Beautiful Nature Craft to Try Today

Here’s How I Made the Flower Scavenger Hunt Board:

Step 1:

Create your board- Give it a title and divide the board into two parts. Make sure you include a “find it” side and “stick it” side.  

Step 2:

Put the sticky contact paper on your flower scavenger hunt board, sticky side up. I sized the contact paper so it fit right under the “find it” and “stick it” labels and just big enough to cover the front side only. I used packing tape to secure the contact paper to the edges of the cardboard. 

Or you can use double-sided tape like we did in our Stick Nature Picture.

Step 3:

Create labels- This is an optional step. I cut out little pieces of contact paper for labels. I put them on the board, non-sticky side up so I could write on them. This way, I can peel the labels off when we’re finished and we can identify different pieces of nature next time. You can always just write the names on the cardboard if you want this to be a one and done type of activity. 

Remember to ONLY include plants that you know are not toxic! I went around my yard with a plant identifier app called “Picture This” to make sure I only included safe plants on this board. Believe it of not, I found a type of daffodil and marigold that are toxic!

Step 4:

I stepped outside quickly before I introduced the activity to my boys to add a flower example next to the labels. Then I handed the board to my boys and challenged them to find these flowers in our yard! They loooove scavenger hunts, so they were pretty excited!

The dandelion was pretty obvious since we have thousands of them on our unsprayed lawn, but I had to include it because it’s a favorite for our family!

They quickly moved on to the bluebells. I tried to included the leaves on the board for all of the flowers to help them with the identification process. 

The boys loved sticking the flowers on the board!

About 20 minutes later, the boys found all of the flowers! They had so many questions about the flowers during the scavenger hunt, so we went around the yard with our plant identifier app to learn more about the flowers on our board and different plants! 

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I hope you give this simple flower scavenger hunt a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

DIY Caterpillar Stone Puzzle

25+ Nature-Inspired Summer Activities for Kids

The post Sticky Scavenger Hunt appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

We’ve been sharing a bunch of dandelion activities this spring and I have a couple more ideas for you! Today, I want to share our dandelion name activity. I love this one because it took me 2 minutes to set up and kept my little guy busy for a good 30 minutes. It’s not easy for those little hands to thread dandelions on the board, so this was a good challenge for him! 

My son has been writing his name in all capital letters, so this is a great way to get him thinking about just capitalizing the first letter of his name. 

Ready to make these name boards!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• Dandelions
• Cardboard– These cardboard sheets are a convenient option if you don’t have any to reuse. 
• Something sharp to puncture holes in the cardboard- I used a sharp pencil. 
• Scissors or X Acto Knife– These are excellent for cardboard crafts! They are very sharp ONLY for adult use. 

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

RELATED: Check out Magical Pressed Flower Lanterns

Here’s How We Made Our Name Activity Boards:

Step 1:

Cut a piece of cardboard into whatever shape you choose! You could cut a star, heart, square, or circle. We decided to keep it simple went with a rectangle since we just made the dandelion shape boards.

I wrote his name in pencil and poked holes along the pencil line with a sharp pencil. I poked the pencil all the way through to make larger holes. This makes it a little easier for threading the dandelion stems. 

Step 2:

Invite your child to make his or her name! I encouraged Leo to start the dandelions at the top line of the “L” just like he was writing his name.

It’s easier if you work with shorter stems because they stay in the board easier when it’s pressed against the ground. Leo had to tear a bit more of the dandelion stem pictured below. You can also tape the stems to the back of the board like we did with our dandelion frame activity. 

We have thousands of dandelions in our yard right now, but Leo liked running around the yard searching for the perfect ones for his name!

He was so proud of his name activity when it was complete!

He carried it around the yard for the rest of the night, setting it against trees while he played! I couldn’t help but think that it would make a cute sign for a birthday party!

When finished with the name activity, you can take the dandelions out and save if for wildflower season!

Pin it and save it for later!

I hope you give this simple name activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

Double-Sided Nature Crown Board

25+ Nature-Inspired Summer Activities for Kids

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