Nature Activities for Kids – Page 2

Nature Activity of the Week – Nature Cards

by Editorial Staff

For our nature activity this week, we’ll be creating Nature Cards. These are easy to make and work for children as young as 18 months. Thanks to Fiona Danks and Jo Scofield authors of the book Nature’s Playground (one of my favorites) for the idea.

Supplies You Will Need

Cardboard cards (white works best)
Double-sided tape

What to Do

Cut the stiff cardboard into small squares or rectangles
Cover one side with the double-sided tape, leaving the tape protector on the exposed side
Head outside to look for tiny natural items like flowers, leaves, grass, sticks, etc.
Remove the top tape protector
Stick found natural treasures to the cards to create beautiful mini mosaics

The Challenge

Collect as many different colors as possible.
Create patterns or pictures.
Cover the entire card.

Great Ideas

Use the little creations for greeting cards
Frame them to create pictures
Cover them with sticky-backed plastic to make bookmarks

Additional Tips

Take the back seat and allow the children to work on their own
Tell them not to collect the whole flower, and be careful to use commonly found species

Safety Tip
Direct the children away from poisonous or stinging plants.

Benefits to Your Children
Encourages exercise and concentration and promotes imagination and creativity.

Birds

10 Spots to Watch Spring Migration in New England

by Editorial Staff

‘Tis the season to watch nature awaken from it’s long winter nap. It’s an exciting time as we watch the bulbs sprout from the ground and the snow cover melt away. It time to look forward to the arrival of migrating wildlife, especially the birds. This time of year provides a wonderful opportunity to teach children about the seasons and the habits of wildlife, which often resemble our own seasonal habits. Though you can watch for spring migrants in your own backyard, following is a list of favorite places to spot migrating birds in New England.

Best Spots to See Migrating Birds in the Spring in New England

1. Hammonasset State Park – Madison, Connecticut: warblers, waterfowl.2. White Memorial Foundation and Conservation Center – Litchfield, Connecticut: Bluebirds, Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Tree Swallow, Canada Geese, grebes, terns and Red-Winged Blackbirds.

3. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge – Newburyport, Massachusetts: Over 285 species of spring migrants have been viewed here.

4. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge – Chatham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts: turnstones, sanderlings, sandpipers, plovers, Red Knots, terns and American Oystercatchers.

5. Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge – South Kingstown, Rhode Island: waterfowl, songbirds along with some nesting rare Osprey and Least Terns.

6. Norman Bird Sanctuary – Middletown, Rhode Island: warblers, shorebirds and more.

7. The Loon Center and Markus Wildlife Sanctuary – Moultonborough, New Hampshire: loons!

8. Mohegan Island – Maine: Blue-Winged Teal, Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwing, warblers, Osprey, American Kestrel and Peregrine Falcon.

9. Acadia National Park – Mount Desert Island, Maine: songbirds, seabirds, Purple Sandpipers and possibly puffins.

10. Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge – Swanton, Vermont: Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Northern Harrier, Catbirds, warblers and songbirds.

I invite you to add your favorite spots to this list, no matter where you live.

Thanks to WildBirds.com for location details utilized for this post.

Nature Activities for Kids

Connecting Kids to Nature – Now is the time!

by Jodi Valenta

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents often heard from a multitude of experts that kids were losing their connection to nature and the outdoors. We as parents have witnessed this ourselves. We were much more likely to spend the entire day outside playing with friends than kids are today. Now it’s harder to pry children away from their screens, whether it be a computer game, tablet, or smartphone. Often parents have to literally drag their kids outside in order to force them to get fresh air and exercise.

Now that we have spent hours upon hours at home and inside, we are all getting tired of staring at the same four walls. Our eyes and minds need a break from the screen and children, especially, need a break from Zoom and the opportunity to relax and spend time outdoors.

Please let me know what you think in the comments section.

Nature Activities for Kids

Involve Nature in Holiday Preparations

by Jodi Valenta

Wreath-making is a great way to encourage a connection to nature during the winter.

It is so much more difficult to encourage kids to go outside when it’s cold! Lately, my daughter always says “no” when I ask “do you want to go outside?” My son, who has become the poster toddler for the “terrible two’s” refuses to take one step into the snow. I really can’t blame him. For someone with very little experience with the cold, wet and (now) crunchy stuff, it is hard to deal with. He wants me to carry him everywhere we walk in the yard. This doesn’t go over well with me, so he stands on the deck and watches us while complaining the entire time. I just chuckle to myself knowing that next year, I won’t be able to pull him away.

Last weekend, determined to get my daughter outside and helping to prepare for Christmas, I encouraged her to help me make the wreath for the front door. We walked around the yard
collecting natural items that could be used to augment the plain balsam wreath I already had on the door. Without knowing what to expect, we liked how it turned out! We used clippings from a white pine, a beech tree and a viburnum bush. Then we added a few branches that had red berries and a little artificial cardinal I had in our Christmas decorations.
Here’s the result of our creation:

If you would like to make a wreath for your door, you will need the following materials:

One 22″ wreath (you can buy it a the local garden center)
Sharp scissors to use for clipping
Clippings from your yard – use your imagination! You can collect anything such as bare or pine branches, even branches with dried leaves or berries, feathers (washed and disinfected), leaves from evergreen vines, trees and bushes, pine cones or anything that looks pretty or interesting.
Green craft wire
Ribbon to make a bow

Once you have everything collected, bring it inside and arrange it all on a large table or work area. Begin placing the clippings in the wreath by pushing them one-by-one into the wire that was used to hold together the wreath. Arrange the clippings any way you find appealing. For pine cones and the like you will need to use the craft wire to attach them to the wreath. You can either wrap the wire around the item and wire it to the wreath, or drill holes into the item (such as acorns) and go from there. Finally, add the finishing touch by adding a bow using the craft wire.

You will find that you enjoy this project. You might even finding yourself signing carols! During this time of hustle and bustle, it really helped me get into the holiday spirit. As for my daughter, she feels proud that the wreath on our front door was created with her help and your children will, too.

Lastly, to all my readers, thank you for your support!! I really enjoyed writing for you this year. As you know, I only do this part time (and often only when I have some spare time), and I thank you for continuing to follow my blog even during the slow periods. I am planning some great new features for 2010, so please stay tuned. I wish you all the best for a wonderful and happy holiday season. I also pass on to you a nice verse in a card I received from friends which says,

May we live peacefully

with one another and

in harmony with the earth.

Nature Activities for Kids

Trees on the Trail

by MCC

One thing you see a lot of while hiking is fallen trees. These provide a great opportunity for learning about nature. The next time you stumble across one while walking or hiking, take some time to investigate it with your child.

Look for signs of the decaying wood being eaten. The holes and tunnels you see are made by many different creatures including sow bugs, carpenter ants, beetles, milipedes and many more. Fallen trees are food for these creatures and are and important part of the food web know as the Detritus Cycle.

Many animals use them for hiding places to avoid predators and for shelter from harsh weather. Just a few of these animals are rabbits, turtles, raccoons, wood turtles, box turtles, shrews, voles, salamanders and even ladybugs.

Decaying logs also provide food for other creatures, most notably, woodpeckers. They eat the insects that are eating the wood. Other animals you may see on logs looking for food are spiders, beetles, nuthatches, warblers, turtles, chipmunks and mice.

Fallen trees make great places for animals to have and raise young. Many different insects such as as spiders, beetles, caterpillars and bees use them for this purpose.

When you think about it, one fallen log in a forest plays a very important and vital role for so many different animals. It is part of a community. You can discuss this with your child and help him/her understand the relationships between living creatures. Compare it to our dependence on other creatures for food, shelter, etc. and how humans depend on things in our community.

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Nature Activity of the Week – Nature Cards

10 Spots to Watch Spring Migration in New England

Thanks to WildBirds.com for location details utilized for this post.

Connecting Kids to Nature – Now is the time!

Involve Nature in Holiday Preparations

Wreath-making is a great way to encourage a connection to nature during the winter.

Trees on the Trail

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