Nature Detectives

Why not capitalise on your children’s love of the outdoors and teach them all about Autumn by inviting them to become Nature Detectives? These activities need very little preparation or resources, just access to the GREAT OUTDOORS!

What you might need:

  • A clipboard and pencil to record your discoveries
  • Binoculars
  • Magnifying glass
  • Bucket / Specimen jar / Net
  • Tweezers / Trowel

Jobs for your Nature Detectives

  • Collect some acorns ( 5-10 ) and bury them. Learn how squirrels have to have a good memory to survive the winter and use your memory to find the acorns you have hidden.
  • Collect some natural resources and then add water and find a stick to stir. Mash the ingredients together and see what it looks, smells and feels like.
  • Make a bracelet or belt and attach double sided sticky tape to it. Decorate it as you find interesting resources to stick on.
  • Carefully investigate fallen leaves to find out if they are a shelter for insects e.g. beetles, earwigs, slugs or snails.
  • Create a leaf storm with sounds – begin by gently rustling the leaves with your feet, gradually getting louder ending with throwing the leaves as high as you can into the air. 
  • Create a mud café – form mud into shapes and decorate as mud pies, spread mud between leaves to make mud sandwiches, spread mud on top of a large leaf base and decorate with acorns, twigs, fir cones etc to make a mud pizza.
  • Find a special treasure in the outdoors and create a special path to find it. You could leave a trail to follow to help you find your way.
  • Improve your mathematical skills by collecting leaves, acorns, seeds, twigs, branches and then using them to sort, match, count and compare. 
  • Use your collections to create patterns, pictures and shapes by placing and moving the objects around. Don’t forget to take some photos of your finished pieces! 

So, what are you waiting for……… engage your children’s senses, fire their imagination, let them experience the awe and wonder of nature by becoming NATURE DETECTIVES this Autumn.

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash