Nature Activities for Nursery Groups
Guidance Notes for Leaders
Index
Sounds
Listen to birdsong and other natural sounds
Touches
Collect natural materials with different textures
Camouflage Trail
See which objects and colours blend with the natural environment
Rainbow Chips
Compare colours in nature with the colours of the rainbow
Colours
Look for different colours in nature
Make a Picture
Make a picture on the ground, using natural materials
Make a Rainbow
Use natural materials to make a picture of a rainbow on the ground
Artist's Palettes
Collect differently coloured natural materials on an artist’s palette
Colour Scavenger Hunt
Look for different colours in nature
Look and Feel Scavenger Hunt
Look for different colours and textures in nature
Wee Woodland Creatures
Hunt for activity cards showing pictures of minibeasts
Sensory Theatre
Recreate the sounds and textures of an animal story
General Points about Safety
Ensure the safety of children doing outdoor activities
Follow the Countryside Code
… for safety and the preservation of the environment
Sounds
Location
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a quiet outdoor area.
Instructions
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The children sit or lie down with their eyes closed and raise both fists in the air. Every
time a child hears a new birdsong, he or she raises one finger. Count how many songs
the children can hear.
There are several possible variations on this activity, for example:
 see if you can count to 10 without the children hearing a birdsong.
 get the children to listen for other natural sounds, such as wind, falling leaves, etc.
Notes
The children must be quiet during this activity!
Touches
Location
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outdoors.
Materials
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empty cardboard egg boxes
brightly coloured paints
varnish
pen and paper
glue.
Instructions
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Paint some egg boxes, making them bright and cheerful, and write the word ‘touches’
on top of the lids. A coat of varnish will make the boxes more durable.
Think of some contrasting textures, such as:
- wet/dry
- prickly/tickly
- fluffy/jagged
- hard/soft
- rough/smooth
Write each word on a slip of paper. Attach a pair of words to the bottom of each egg
box.
Divide the children into groups of three or four. Give each group an egg box. Tell the
children that it is not actually a box for keeping eggs in, but that it is a box for
collecting touches. On the bottom of each egg box are two words, which describe
‘contrasting touches’ (i.e., textures which are opposite to one another). Tell each group
what their two touches are. They must not tell anyone else.
Ask the children to collect three of each touch. For example, if their words were ‘hard’
and ‘soft’, they would have to collect three hard things and three soft things and put
them in their boxes. The cartons are then passed around and the other children have to
feel the objects and guess what the words are. The object is not to get the right answer,
but simply to practise feeling different textures.
Camouflage Trail
Location
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outside, along a path in a park or woodland.
Materials
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10 objects or scraps of material in various colours.
Instructions
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Choose a section of footpath and place your objects and/or scraps of material at
intervals on either side of it. Do not tell the children how many objects there are.
Ask the children to walk along the path one at a time and count how many
objects/scraps of material they can spot. They should not pick them up.
At the end, get the children to whisper to you how many they spotted. If no-one saw all
of them, tell everyone how many were seen and explain that there are still more to find.
Let them try again.
Tell the children how many objects/scraps of material there were. End with a discussion
about how camouflage helps animals and possibly go on a search for camouflaged
minibeasts, etc.
Notes
When you are selecting materials to hide, choose some that are brightly coloured and others
that will blend into the environment.
Rainbow Chips
Location
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outdoor area, preferably woodland.
Materials
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card of different colours, e.g. paint sample cards
a colourful drawstring bag.
Instructions
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Collect some card, making sure that this includes lots of different colours: you could
use paint sample cards.
Cut the card into small ‘rainbow chip’ pieces.
Find a colourful drawstring bag in which to store the rainbow chips: this will make
the chips seem more exciting when you present them to the children.
Ask the children if they have ever seen a rainbow. Talk about how rainbows have lots
of different colours in them. Then explain that nature is a bit like a rainbow – it is full
of different colours.
Give each child several rainbow chips and ask them to match up each one with
something around them, e.g. a leaf, a stone, etc.
Notes
This works particularly well as an autumn activity in woodlands, or during the summer in
an area where there are lots of wild flowers.
You could follow this activity with the Make a Rainbow activity.
Colours
Location
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outdoor area.
Instructions
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To get children to concentrate on any natural setting, ask them how many different
colours and shades of colours they can see in front of them without moving from where
they are standing.
Notes
This could be followed by the activity Rainbow Chips or by a Colour Scavenger Hunt.
Make a Picture
Location
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outdoor area, preferably woodland.
Instructions
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Decide on the piece of natural art that you want to make. It could be a tree, a flower, a
pond or an animal.
Get the children to collect leaves, twigs, grasses and other items to make up the picture
on the ground.
Notes
This activity could be followed by making up a story about the picture. For example, if the
picture show an animal, the children could act out what it does.
Remember: it is illegal to pick or uproot wild flowers.
Make a Rainbow
Location
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any outdoor area.
Instructions
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Ask the children to find different colours to make a rainbow on the ground, using
natural materials like leaves, grasses, stones and berries.
Notes
This could be used as a follow-on from the Rainbow Chips activity.
Artist’s Palette
Location
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outdoors.
Materials
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pen and paper
card
scissors
double-sided sticky tape.
Instructions
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Draw the outline of a leaf, or any other suitable shape from nature, on plain paper. This
will form the artist’s palette.
Copy as many of the shapes as you need onto card and cut them out.
Attach a strip of double-sided sticky tape along the length of each shape, leaving the
protective plastic on until you are outdoors with your group.
Give each child an artist’s palette. Ask the children to collect as many colours and
textures as they can and stick them onto the palette. In the end, it should bear some
resemblance to a real artist’s palette.
Note
This activity can be followed up by talking about different colours and textures in nature.
Colour Scavenger Hunt
Location
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outdoors.
Materials
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coloured card
plain card
glue.
Instructions
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Create a Colour Scavenger Hunt sheet by pasting four or five squares of coloured card
onto a piece of plain card. Each colour will show a colour from nature.
Tell the children about colours in nature and encourage them to look around for the
colours on the Scavenger Hunt Sheet.
Look and Feel Scavenger Hunt
Location
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outdoors.
Materials
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print the Look and Feel Scavenger Hunt sheet supplied, or create your own.
Instructions
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Explain to the children that there are different textures and colours in nature. Then
encourage the children to look around them for those shown on the Scavenger Hunt
sheet.
Look and Feel
Scavenger Hunt
Find something jagged
Find something tickly
Find something smooth
Find something rough
Find something wet
Find something dry
Find something flat
Find something round
Wee Woodland Creatures
Location
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area of woodland or scrub.
Materials
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card
coloured pencils or pens.
Instructions
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Create Wee Woodland Creatures cards by drawing minibeasts that the children are
likely to find.
On the back of each minibeast picture, write instructions for a related activity. For
example:
- a drawing of a caterpillar might be accompanied by instructions on doing a
leaf rubbing (because this minibeast eats leaves), or could ask the children to
look for things that are long (like a caterpillar)
- a drawing of a snail could relate to an activity that asks the children to find
hard things in the environment, or one that requires them to look for
evidence of animals’ homes.
Place the cards along the length of a trail, hiding them so that the children can find
them relatively easily. Take the group for a ramble along the trail and get them to look
for the cards.
When a card is found, ask the children what each creature is and encourage them to
carry out the activity on the back of the card.
Notes
This activity could be followed by a minibeast hunt. Get the children to look under small
logs or stones to see what creatures they can find.
Sensory Theatre
Location
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outdoors.
Materials
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one or two large blankets, held up like stage curtains.
Instructions
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The children are told that the curtain is no ordinary curtain: it is really a secret way into
the world of wildlife. As the children and the leaders go through the curtain, they turn
into different creatures.
One leader, the storyteller, is on the other side of the curtain already and welcomes
them to the world of wildlife. The children are addressed as though they are animals.
The children are then split into two groups:
- Group 1 is told a story about a duck family (using Story Sheet 1)
- Group 2 is told a story about a hedgehog (using Story Sheet 2).
The stories concentrate on sensory detail.
After the stories have been told, the children (with help) collect the natural materials
they need to recreate the sounds and textures of the story (i.e. the underlined words).
For example, they may collect dry leaves to make a rustling sound or ferns for a tickly
texture.
When the materials have all been collected, the children in Group 1 sit down with their
eyes closed. The leader from Group 2 then reads out Group 2’s story and the children
from that group are encouraged to act out the story using their materials (rustling
leaves, etc).
When the story is finished, the groups reverse roles and Group 2 listens to Group 1’s
story in the same fashion. At the end of the storytelling, the children are led back
through the curtain and become human again. Ask the children to talk about what they
experienced.
Story Sheet 1
A Day in the Life of a Duck Family
We woke up this morning in our nice soft and cosy nest under Mummy’s wing. We were
all huddled and cuddled together. Time to go off for a swim. Off we quacked to the
pond. The grass was tickling our tummies and feet.
We squelched through the mud and splashed into the cold wet pond. We said, ‘Good
morning’ to Mr Frog, who said, ‘Ribbet’ back. Then he flopped into the water beside us.
A dragonfly zoomed past and we felt a breeze on out faces. Then the dragonfly landed on
a lily. The dragonfly was really brightly coloured and its wings made funny buzzing
noises. We went to investigate and smelled the sweet smell of the flower.
Our tummies started to rumble. Time to eat! Mummy showed us how to duck down and
get pondweed. We ate until we were full.
We were all very tired by now and it was fun crunching through the dry leaves and
twigs on the way back to our safe, soft nest. We all went to sleep.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Z
Story Sheet 2
A Day in the Life of Hamish the Hedgehog
Hamish usually wakes up at dusk. He sleeps during the day under a pile of rustling leaves
or fallen branches.
When it’s dark, Hamish sets off to find his food. Walking through the long grass, which
tickles his feet, he uses his nose to snuffle out the smell of slugs, his favourite food. Even
though they are slimy, Hamish crunches them up in one mouthful.
Suddenly he hears the call of the owl, ‘Twit-twoo’, and feels the rush of air overhead as it
flies off to catch a nearby mouse. Hamish knows the owl has caught it as he hears a
squeak!
Hamish continues snuffling about, making a lot of rustling and scraping noises. As he
forces his way through a scratchy hedge he feels the twigs brush against his spines.
Just before dawn, Hamish comes to a road. He can hear the zoom of a passing car. He
crosses it, feeling the hard surface beneath his feet.
Heading home, Hamish feels very tired. He walks through the tickly wet grass of a field
and finally gets back to his warm dry pile of leaves. He curls up, fast asleep, and stays
warm and dry all day.
General Points about Safety
Here are some general guidelines followed by the Countryside Ranger Service to ensure the
safety of children during outdoor activities. Run through the following questions as you
plan the children’s activities.
Know your group…
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How many children are there?
Do any of them have special needs or medical conditions that you should be prepared
for?
Know the area you are going to…
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Is the area safe for the activity, free of broken glass, away from roads etc?
Where is the nearest phone?
Where is the nearest A&E department?
Be prepared…
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Have you got a first aid kit?
Do you have emergency contact numbers for the children’s parents/guardians?
Do the children have suitable clothing/footwear? Are they going to be able to stay
warm and dry if the weather changes?
Are there enough adults to supervise the children?
Make the children aware that some plants sting, have thorns or may be poisonous.
Make sure that the children always wash their hands after an activity.
Follow the Countryside Code
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Guard against all risk of fire.
Fasten all gates.
Keep dogs under control.
Keep to public paths across farmland.
Use gates and stiles to cross fences, hedges and walls.
Help to keep all water clean.
Leave animals, crops and machinery alone.
Take your litter home.
Protect all forms of wildlife, including plants.
Take special care on narrow country roads.
Glasgow City Council Countryside Ranger Service promotes responsible use of the
countryside. For more information, contact the Countryside Rangers at:
Countryside Ranger Service
Old Stable Courtyard
Pollok Country Park
2060 Pollokshaws Road
Glasgow G43 1AT
Tel: 0141 632 9299