Outdoor Activities
A treasure hunt for spelling and language work
Make a glittering, icy candle holder to brighten up dark winter evenings. These lanterns are super easy to make and look amazing! Add holly leaves, berries or conifer greenery to the water for decoration Freeze your lantern outside on a cold winter night, or pop it in your freezer When the water’s frozen, ask a grown-up to help you free your lantern from the container Remember, ask your grown-up to light your candle, and never leave a burning candle unattended.
Create icy decorations to hang up in your garden All you need is your imagination and a few woodland items easy peasy! Find unusual and interesting items next time you’re in the woods Ask your grown-up to help you put your art in the freezer Take a photo of your sculptures to capture them before they melt Be patient! The water might take a day to freeze, but it’s so exciting when you finally hang it up!
Fun activity to start your session with
Keep a record of your adventures: make a super journey stick! Take some coloured wool or string with you next time you’re off on your travels. Then find a stick and tell the story of your journey. Which colour or object represents a different feeling, sight or smell? If you’ve been on a big adventure, choose a long stick
Fun activity to start your sessions
To create a labyrinth • To use the labyrinth for a meditative journey
Have fun colouring in a lovely little ladybird. Start making your woodland world by colouring a ladybird in your favourite colours. How many spots can you count? Use lots of crayons or paints to colour your ladybird Do ladybirds wear shoes? How many? Did you know that ladybirds are red to warn animals and other insects that they re not good to eat?
Build a cosy house for ladybirds, lacewings and other minibeasts. Collect sticks, dead leaves and pine cones and create a homely hidey-hole for your garden minibeasts. Lots of minibeasts snooze through winter, and they like to be cosy and hidden Different minibeasts like different types of houses, but ladybirds love snuggling into dead leaves, sticks and pine cones Remember to tuck your ladybird house into a quiet, sheltered spot
Go on a ladybird hunt and use our handy ID sheet to identify your discoveries. Seven spots, twenty two spots, some even have stripes! How many different ladybirds can you find? Ladybirds live in lots of different places in trees, by ponds and in your garden They re known as the gardener’s friend as many of them munch on aphids – a garden pest Ladybirds aren’t always red they can be orange, yellow, brown even black! Did you know there are 46 species of ladybird in the UK?
Find out all about the life cycle of ladybirds. Use your iDial to discover ladybirds, and help you ID and name the different stages of their lives. You’ll need to look really carefully on and around plants, especially if you’re trying to spot eggs! There are lots of different types of ladybird how many can you find? Check out our ladybird ID sheet to see what sort you’ve spotted
Make your own ladybird stamps. Use a potato and paint to create lovely ladybird pictures. Nature Detectives will love this minibeast craft activity Turn your pictures into cards, wrapping paper and posters Create exciting backgrounds using grass, leaves and twigs Can you make any other minibeasts?
Create colourful ladybird pictures with this simple craft. Potato stamping is brilliant fun! Use it to introduce inquisitive youngsters to one of our most popular insects – ladybirds. Use a potato and paint to create lovely ladybird pictures together Dab spots onto your ladybird with your fingers Turn your pictures into cards to give to family and friends! Can you make any other minibeasts using potato stamps?
Make your own forest friends using autumn leaves! Get creative next time you’re exploring – gather fallen leaves and turn them into woodland animals, or invent your own mythical creatures! Can you make a hedgehog, a fox, a squirrel or an owl? Look for leaves that look like ears, noses, wings and tails Add some googly eyes for the finishing touch!
Collect fallen leaves in this handy bag. Look out for different colours and types of leaves. Gather up the most amazing ones you can find and pop them into this leaf bag. How many different leaves can you find? Discover which trees the leaves have come from with our leaf ID sheet
Make a boat from leaves, twigs and bark! Follow our simple steps to build a boat, then sail it on puddles or ponds. Choose a piece of bark or curved leaf for the hull (bottom) of your boat. Use mud to attach a straight stick to the hull. This will be your mast. Thread a leaf or two onto the stick to make your sails. Find a puddle or pond to sail your boat on. More ideas Experiment with leaves and bark from different trees – which tree makes the best boat? Add cargo. Load small pebbles, nuts or berries onto your boat does it still float, or does it sink? Have a boat race against your family and friends! Stay safe: Take care near water. Always tell a grown-up what you’re doing.
Catch as many leaves as you can! Watch for brightly coloured autumn leaves falling from the trees, then try and catch them! Challenge your friends and see who can catch the most Who can find the most different coloured leaves? Find out which trees the leaves have come from with our leaf ID sheet
Challenge your friends and family to a leaf-hunting competition! Head outside and hunt for autumn leaves. Who’s the first to find an orange leaf, a star-shaped leaf, a tiny leaf? Sort your leaves by colour, shape and size. Make a leaf rainbow!
Introduce your little one to trees with a leaf hunt! Take your mini Nature Detective into the woods and help them collect different types of leaves. Choose leaves of different shapes, sizes, colours and textures Describe them are they smooth, rough, prickly? Let your little one hold each leaf Collect the leaves together and make a collage when you get home.
Make funny faces out of leaves, mud and bark! This nature craft can be done all year round using bits and pieces you can find in the woods or your garden. Look for mud, leaves, bark, flowers, pebbles and feathers. Create a face peeping up from the woodland floor, or peering down from a tree trunk. Make a leafy portrait, or a whole family of faces! Leave your funny faces in the woods for other people to find. On your next visit, look to see if any new ones have joined them!
Find all the lovely leaves on this super spotter sheet. Take this spotter sheet with you when you’re out and about. Can you find all the leaves? Look for leaves on the ground and in the trees Have you spotted more long, fat, spiky or curled leaves? Which is your favourite type of leaf? Try collecting the different types of leaves you find. Perhaps you could take them home and use them to make a lovely leafy picture?
Learn about the trees in your garden, street or local wood. Here’s our handy leaf ID sheet. It has 13 common British trees on it, including oak, hazel and holly. Use it identify leaves on trees and on the ground. Look at leaf shapes and sizes. How are they different? Some leaves change colour in autumn. Find out why. Did you find all the leaves on the sheet?
A handy tool to help kids identify trees found in the UK. Print and make the leaf iDial, then take it with you on your next adventure. How many different leaves can you find? Look out for leaves during spring, summer and autumn Challenge your friends to see who can find each leaf first! Try guessing which tree or shrub a leaf belongs to, then check the iDial to see if you were right! Did you know? Leaves are large and flat to help them absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide, which they turn into food to help trees and plants grow.
Everything you need to know about Ireland’s forests
Make a colourful mask using autumn leaves. One of the best things about autumn is the colourful leaves! Turn them into a fantastic face mask with this fun and easy craft. Head outside and collect some fallen leaves – look for reds, yellows, oranges and golds. Cut out a mask shape from some card. Don’t forget the eye holes! Stick your leaves to the card. Attach some ribbon so you can wear it.