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Polishing rocks with oil has become a fun family activity for us! We love collecting special rocks at the lake and they look so pretty when they are all wet and shiny at the beach. Unfortunately by the time we get them home, they are dry, look dull and are almost unrecognizable. Here is an easy way to bring out all of the gorgeous details in the rocks!

First you need to decide which type of oil you would like to use. We used food grade mineral oil because it’s the first choice for many experienced rock polishers. Jojoba oil seems to be the second choice and also more environmentally friendly. We are planning on trying jojoba oil next!

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

Supplies:

• • Lake or River Rocks
  • Oil- Jojoba or food grade mineral oil both work well for this activity. We used food grade mineral oil for this blog post. 
  • Jar
  • Strainer
  • Oil for strained oil
  • Paper towel
  • Old absorbent towel that you don’t mind getting oily

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Here’s How to Make Rocks Shiny:

Step 1: Wash and dry the rocks.

First, wash the rocks with a light soap and water. Then leave them in the sun to dry.

Step 2: Place rocks in a jar and add mineral oil.

Gently add rocks to a jar and submerge them in oil. Make sure the rocks are completely covered with oil. 

Step 3: Cover and let the rocks sit in the oil.

Put the cover on the jar and let the rocks sit in the oil for at least two hours. The rocks are pretty fun to look at while they are soaking in the oil!

Step 4: Strain oil.

Place a bowl under the strainer and strain the oil from the jar. Set aside the extra oil and add it back in the jar for future polishing. 

Step 5: Polish with paper towel.

The rocks are pretty oily at this point so I like to give the rocks a quick polish with paper towel to soak up some of the oil.

Step 6: Use an absorbent towel to polish the rocks. 

This is the really fun part! Use an old towel to polish the rocks and wipe off the rest of the oil. The oil will stain the towel, so you might want to set this one aside to use over and over again. 

I’m always so surprised when I see the end result! The rocks look so beautiful and the details are stunning! These rocks will stay shiny for a few weeks and then they will probably need another polishing! 

I hope you enjoy this nature activity as much as I do!

-Tara

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Need more rock ideas?! Check out:

Simple Mummy Rock Craft for Halloween

A Simple Stone Activity to Try Today

The post How to Make Rocks Shiny 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!

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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.

If you follow this blog, it’s no surprise that we love to play, craft, and learn with collected pieces of nature! We love to collect flowers, but they don’t last very long after you pick then. One way to help your flowers last longer is to press and dry them. This process transforms flowers into unique and beautiful preserved piece of nature, ready for crafting and creating! 

Most flower presses are heavy, clunky, and include many tiny pieces that are difficult to keep together, especially when you are outdoors. This adorable DIY flower press can be effortlessly stored in a pocket or backpack and is easy to use with just a few simple pieces. 

Ready to make one!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• A piece of cardboard
• Rubber bands
• Markers
• Mod podge (optional)
• Pressed nature (optional)

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

Here’s How to Make Your DIY Flower Press:

Step 1:

You can completely skip this step if you don’t have any pressed flowers (yet) or you can order some pressed pieces of nature on Amazon to decorate your cover!

First, cut a piece of cardboard and fold it to look like a book.

I wrote “nature press” on the cover, let the marker dry for about 5 minutes, and then put a thin layer of Mod Podge on the entire cover of the nature press. My boys put the dried flowers and ferns on the wet Mod Podge and I sealed the pieces of nature with another layer of Mod Podge. 

Step 2:

Next, line the inside of the flower press with your choice of paper. My boys rubbed a glue stick on the corners of the cardboard to keep the paper in place. You can use white copy paper, tissue paper, or newspaper. 

This is how the inside and outside of the press will look like when you complete the first two steps. Grab a couple of rubber bands and wrap them around your nature press to keep all the pieces together. Your DIY flower press is all set!

Now find pieces of nature to press. You can press flowers, leaves, or flatter pine branches! Experiment with different types of nature! I do suggest finding pieces of nature that are around the same thickness so they will flatten evenly. 

When you are finished, wrap a couple of rubber bands around your press to keep your pieces of nature flat and in place. When you get home, you can either transfer the pieces of nature to a book, real flower press, or lay several heavy books on top of your DIY press! Check on them in a couple of weeks and they should be pressed. If they are not dried, give them one more week and check back.

Pin it and save it for later!

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

∼Tara

Need more cardboard nature crafts ideas?! Check out:

Easy Porcupine Nature Craft

Leaf Sweep Fine Motor Activity

The post DIY Cardboard Flower Press appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

I LOVE wooden nature display shelves, but they are pretty expensive. I decided to save some money and make my own out of a cardboard Amazon box! It was fun to personalize it for our needs and it turned out so cute. 

Ready to make a nature display shelf!? Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• A box
• Tape
• Masking Tape
• Nature
• X-ACTO knife or scissors

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RELATED: Check out Rainbow Flower Threading Board

Here’s How to Make This Nature Display:

Step 1:

Cut out the sides of your box. I cut two of the flaps on the bottom of the box as well. 

Step 2:

Measure out equal sections and cut slits on the side of the cardboard box. You will want level shelves, so make sure you cut marks are straight. 

Step 3:

Cut strips of cardboard that will act as shelves in your box and slide them into the slits on the side of the box. I trimmed them down a bit so the ends wouldn’t sticking out too far on the sides of the box. *One thing to remember here, you don’t want your compartments too deep or it will be difficult to organize your pieces of nature. Play around with the size and depth of your shelves before you cut all of them out.*

Then I put masking tape around the box to give it a more finished look. You can also try decorative washi tape for this step!

Step 4: 

Now you can personalize your nature display by cutting little pieces of cardboard to make your little compartments. It will take a little trial and error to find the perfect size to fit in between the shelves. Once you find the right size, use that as a template and trace it for the rest of the pieces. 

I tried gluing these pieces at first, but that didn’t work well for me. I ended up taping the corners in the box as shown below. 

Your nature display is complete! Now you can choose to add labels or just fill the compartments with nature pieces! We decided to label our compartments. My five year old tore the pieces of nature, my seven year old helped sound out the words, and I wrote the words. 

Then we added our nature finds. We had a bunch of items stored in a shoebox, so it was nice to organize the pieces and see them displayed. 

I used double-sided tape to stick the labels and nature pieces to the shelf. You can choose to keep them loose if you would like! My boys liked the idea of the nature pieces sticking to the shelf when it was standing upright. We kept the pebbles loose, but everything else was taped on the box. 

We still have over a month of summer to go, so we have some blank compartments to fill! I can’t wait to see what special treasures we will find to fill our nature display.

Pin it and save it for later!

I hope you give this fun DIY nature display a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love this one.

∼Tara

Need more DIY Cardboard Ideas?! Check out:

A Beautiful Nature Frame

Sunflower Seed Sweep

The post Cardboard Nature Display 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

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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! 

Pin it and save it for later!

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.

I don’t know about you, but lately I’m grabbing on to any excuse I can find to head outdoors with my kids. This packet includes activities that are prefect for any time of year and spans a variety of interests and abilities! I love nature scavenger hunt ideas because they are quick activities you can print out to get the kids moving, learning, and having fun in a pinch. If you are looking for more simple activities to try at home in your own backyard, then check out 100 low-prep activities you can do in your own backyard!

This packet of nature scavenger hunt pages and checklists include these themes:

• alphabet and beginning sounds
• tally marks
• seasons: spring, winter, summer, fall
• insects
• neighborhood
• bird watcher
• verbs, adjectives, and nouns
• colors
• sounds
• senses
• and gratitude

Fun Ways to Use these Printables:

Try setting out the nature scavenger hunt pages in the yard to be discovered. I promise kids will be instantly excited and interested to check out the activity because it was presented as a fun surprise and no one is telling them they HAVE to do it! You can set it near a tree trunk or on a picnic table with pencils and a magnifying glass. Setting up this fun adventure activity will keep kids busy and entertained for a while! Depending upon the ages and ability of your children, you might need to be available to help with the activity.

If you just need a break and the kids need a calming activity, grab a timer and set it for 15 – 20 minutes. You can offer the window checklist and give children the chance to connect with the world outside on a rainy day or slow morning. I included this indoor scavenger hunt in this packet because I know we all need something to do when we can’t get outside. This is the perfect activity to help the family take a break, relax, and connect with the outdoors while you are stuck inside.

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

∼Tara

Need more simple nature activities?! Check out:

A Simple Nature Craft to Try Today!

Creating a Musical Forest in Your Backyard

The post 20+ Outdoor Nature Walk Checklist and Scavenger Hunt Printables appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

The post DIY Caterpillar Stone Puzzle appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

My kids are so curious about the natural world! Lately they love looking for animal tracks in the snow, so I thought why not support their interests with a simple and fun activity. This animal track activity is jam packed with learning and looks so cute when complete! Hang it on the wall when finished and you have a sweet homemade DIY animal track identification poster!

Ready to make one?! You will need…

Supplies:

• Roll of paper
• Marker
• Nature

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RELATED: Check out A Simple Stone Activity to Try Today!

Here’s How We Did this Animal Track Activity:

Prepare your activity. Google animal tracks and try drawing a few that you think you can take on. Your kids won’t judge your drawing skills so remember, these don’t need to be perfect (just somewhat accurate)! I ended up going with deer, fox, raccoon, and turkey tracks. These tracks looked easy enough to draw and offered a nice mix of straight and curved lines for my kids to trace over. I drew them in pencil so I could easily erase any little mistakes.

Next, make a cute title for your activity to make it a little more inviting and label your animal tracks.

Next:

Go over your animal tracks with dashed lines. You can erase the pencil marks after this step if you would like.

Now invite your child to trace over the tracks! My first grade son tried tracing the tracks first. This was pretty easy for him, but still great fine motor practice! He was proud of the fact that he could read the animal names next to the tracks and loved looking at the tracks he completed:)

He traced over the raccoon, deer, and turkey before handing over the marker to his younger brother. This was definitely more challenging for him, but he loved it! He really had to focus to stay on the dashed lines. He talked about the different shapes and sizes of the animal prints. “Look at these ovals I’m tracing, momma!”

He also counted the claws on the fox and raccoon tracks. There was a lot of concentration and learning going on here.

My boys wanted to trace more tracks, so I plan on adding more to the poster as the week goes on!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

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

∼Tara

Looking for more fine motor nature activities?! Check out:

Pine Needle Sweep {A Fine Motor Activity}

A Heart Nature Weaving Craft to Try Today!

The post DIY Woodland Animal Track Tracing Activity appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

My boys are so fascinated by everything in outer space. The mystery of the stars, planets, moon, and sun captivate them and they drawn to learning alllll about this topic. They have a million and one questions about the night sky: “How many constellations are there?” “Why can I see stars only at night?” How do stars shine?” I could go on and on! So. Many. Questions.

In fact, they have been interested in the topic for years! We did a variation of this activity a couple of years ago with natural loose parts, but now they are older and ready for the next step.

Ready for a fun constellation game?! Here’s what you’ need:

Supplies:

• Sticks
• Stones- You can get creative with this! Try acorns in the fall or flowers in the spring and summer.
• Star stickers (optional)
• Roll of paper

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RELATED: Check out Practicing Prewriting Skills with Sticks and Stones

Here’s How We Set Up The Constellation Game:

Step 1:

Google different types of constellations and choose a few that you feel confident you can replicate. Trust me, there are some complicated constellations that I didn’t want to try recreating on paper;)

Now cut your sticks and put stars on your stones. You don’t NEED the stars on the stones, but they add a nice touch! I cut my sticks into three different sizes: 6 inch, 3 inch, and 1.5 inch pieces. You will notice that constellations are all different shapes and sizes, so this was the easiest way to show the variation in the constellation lines.

Step 2:

Map out your constellations on the paper. Make sure they fit nicely and aren’t touching each other.

Step 3:

Lift up the stones and draw stars underneath them. 

Step 4:

Lift up the sticks and draw lines underneath them. I used the ruler to help me measure out my different lengths for the stick pieces. Make sure you leave enough room so the stones won’t overlap.

Step 5:

Label the constellations.

Now your constellation game is all set! At this point, I explained the activity to my son. I showed him how to match up the correct size stick to the lines and place the stones on the stars. He was ready to go!

The hands-on aspect of this constellation game was really valuable. A couple of times, my son matched up the wrong stick and he noticed right away that he was wrong. He said, “Uh oh, that’s too short.” He might not remember the exact lines of Sagitta, but this will help drive home the fact that the stars in constellations are separated by different amounts of space.

This looks so beautiful when complete!

My son wanted to make more constellations when we were finished, so I’d say this constellation game was a hit!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

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

∼Tara

Looking for more nature activity ideas?! Check out:

Nature Collection Journal for Kids

A Beautiful Nature Frame

The post Nature Constellation Matching Game appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Halloween is a week away so decorations are EVERYWHERE! They’re in our neighborhood, in the stores and on TV. My boys love looking at them and have so many questions about allll the Halloween things! They are particularly interested in skeletons and are so curious about which part of the body the different bones belong to.

So I decided to make a simple DIY stick and stone skeleton sensory board to let my boys touch and investigate the the skeleton of the human hand. I plan on making more sensory boards for different parts of the body, but this is a good start and will hopefully spark some inspiration for you!

Supplies:

You probably already have these supplies in your home!

• Sticks and stones
• Cardboard
• Hot Glue Gun 
• Marker

This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

RELATED: Do you have beautiful fall leaves?! Check out these adorable Leafy Monster Rocks!

Here’s What We Did:

Step 1:

Gather and prepare the supplies. I snapped the sticks into similar sized pieces. They don’t need to be perfect!

Step 2:

Outline hands. I outlined my own hands, but it would be fun to outline kids hands to involve them more in the process.

Step 3:

Add the stones to make carpals.

I looked at an image of the bones in the human hand and tried to replicate it as realistically as I could.

Step 4:

Add sticks for the rest of the bones in the hand.

I glued three sticks on the thumb and four sticks for the rest of the fingers. You could always glue one long stick for each finger, but I think the smaller sticks look more realistic and help kids learn the names of the individual bones.

My boys loved learning the names of the bones and thought some of the words were pretty funny! They will never forget the word “phalanges” EVER!

Step 5:

Now kids are ready to investigate the hand! Invite them to touch the board while they count the bones and discuss the names of the bones. You could label the bones if you would like!

If this activity sparks a million and one MORE questions about bones, you can play Skeleton Dance on Youtube. It’s a cute song and dance video that teaches about the entire human skeleton. It’s perfect for tactile and kinesthetic learners that need to get up and move around!

Please pin this activity if you love it!

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

∼Tara

Need more Halloween nature activities?! Check out:

A Simple Mummy Rock Nature Craft for Halloween

Glow-In-The-Dark Mummy Hiking Stick

The post Stick and Stone Skeleton Sensory Boards appeared first on Little Pine Learners.