Explore your spring garden
- Learning Resources Posted On Mar 13, 2020 | Early Years
It might seem like there wasn’t a lot going on in yourgarden after the long cold of winter, but your garden in spring is waking up.You’ll soon start to notice flowers, insects and other animals. There’s a lotgoing on in spring. Head outside and explore: what flowers and animals can yousee?
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Daffodils
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Daffodils mean spring is coming! These bright,sunshine-yellow blooms are one of the first flowers to bloom in early spring.
Dandelions
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If you spot one dandelion, there are probably lots of them! That’s because each dandelion seed has roughly 100 feathery bristles called pappus, which help them to float in the air and travel far.
Bluebells
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You can probably guess how bluebells got their name: they look like tiny little bells, don’t they? But did you know that it’s against the law to deliberately pick bluebells? They’re delicate too, and if you stand on them, it takes them a long time to recover. So, if you have any in your garden, tread carefully and look after them.
Pansies
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The word pansy comes from the French word 'penser', which means 'to think'. What do you suppose flowers think about? Sunshine, probably...
Snowdrops
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These flowers can grow even when it’s snowing, which is why they’re called snowdrops. They might look pretty, but they’re also very tough.
Crocus
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Crocus is often called a ‘light bulb flower’ because before it blooms, the buds look like light bulbs.
Bees
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The first bumble bees you see are probably the queens, who have survived their hibernation and are now looking for nectar and pollen from the spring flowers.
Butterflies
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Most butterflies spend the winter in their chrysalis, ready to emerge in spring. When they emerge, you'll see them flying around to collect nectar from the spring flowers, just like bees.
Hedgehogs
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Male hedgehogs are usually the first to emerge fromhibernation, but both males and females will be hungry, travelling up to twomiles each night as they search for food.
Ants
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Ants hibernate for winter too. As the weather grows colder, ants slow down until they stop, like pressing ‘pause’. If you see them in spring, they’re probably busy clearing the entrances to their nests or gathering food.
Blackbirds
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Male blackbirds are black, but female blackbirds are brown!That’s confusing, isn’t it?
Starling
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Starlings are one of the most common birds in the UK. You might think a starling is a blackbird at a distance because they also have dark feathers (called plumage) and yellow beaks.
Frogsand toads
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Frogs and toads start spawning in spring. That means they start laying their eggs, which look like a strange kind of jelly. If you have a pond in your garden, keep an eye out for frogspawn at the edges.
Squirrels
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Squirrels hibernate for the winter, but when they emerge in spring,they’ll be hungry! If you see them in your garden, they’ll be on the hunt forfood. They’ll be very interested in your bird feeder if you have one.
Looking for more outdoor nature exploration ideas: why not explore your local community and see what nature interest groups are active in your area? Visit your local council website to find out about nature reserves close to you.
USEFUL LINKS:
- 7 animals and birds to discover this spring
- Wildlifewatch Wild Spring: top five things to look for
- Top 10 spring flowering bulbs
- Gardening: The Top Ten Spring Plants to Help Pollinating Insects
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Why are bees so important?
Bees are in decline and need your help! Learn about the importance of bees and how you can turn your garden into a bee-friendly haven.
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Fun ideas to #GetOutdoors with BritMums
As warmer weather arrives and lockdown unwinds, we’re all ready to get outside with our kids! To help us enjoy stimulating outdoor play like never before, we hosted a Twitter chat party in collaboration with our friends at BritMums.
Fun ideas to get outdoors
Everyone was encouraged to share stories, fun ideas, and suggestions for ways to get the most out of outdoor play. We had a fantastic time talking to everyone but if you missed out, don’t worry – we’ve rounded up some of the best ideas below.
Oh, and we also ran a competition to win a GeoSafari® Jr. Kidnoculars® Extreme™ - a fantastic toy for a child to take with them on an outdoors adventure!
What does your child like to do when playing outside?
We kicked off the Twitter chat with a question sure to offer us all some inspiration, and Catherine jumped in with a fantastic response: seed-growing!
Planting and growing plants helps kids learn about plant science, but it also teaches them to care for other living things. They’ll learn patience, too, and getting mucky with trowels and pots is always fun.
If you want to sow some seeds with your little ones, take a look at our guide to growing fruits and vegetables!
Liz, on the other hand, had a very different activity:
You might not think of litter-picking as fun, but it’s a great way to teach kids responsibility for their local area, as well as some climate science too. But it can also be a game – who can collect the most litter?
Mel gets her kid outdoor with a much more traditional activity that we all just love here at Learning Resources: dens!
Mel and Skye have made a great den in that photo, but you can make your dens as basic as you like – even a sheet over a tree branch will get their imaginations going!
Meanwhile, Amy’s son is out there making spaces for all the little bugs to sleep!
Bug hotels are easy to make. A plastic bottle is perfect – cut it in half and you can make two for the price of one! And when it’s time to come in, getting your child to draw a picture of what the hotel looks like inside is a great way to extend the fun.
Speaking of extending the outdoor fun, Sarah had some more tips for us.
Painting leaves is a great way to start talking to your child about Autumn, but it’s also fun to just create weird and wonderful leaves! Stick them onto a drawing of a tree trunk to create a fun, 3D illustration.
If you’re not ready to come inside after a walk, here’s another way to keep the fun going:
Mel had an important reminder for us all:
British weather means we can’t always rely on sunny days! We must be lucky that kids love puddles and mud so much!
Sam has a great idea that will not only teach the kids about science and will also give them something fun to do with old toys.
She had another brilliant suggestion too – an activity that will get your child looking at the world in a little more detail, as well as creating something pretty that they can show off!
What mental health benefits do your kids get from outdoor play?
We turned next to the mental health benefits of outdoor play, and Catherine was one of many to highlight a huge benefit that helps parents too: better sleep!
Some studies have found that children are twice as active outdoors as they are indoors. Exercise of any form releases endorphins into our bloodstream, which helps the brain create melatonin which helps to regulate a good night’s sleep.
Catherine (a different one!) highlighted another benefit to getting outdoors: talking.
Without the distraction of screens and an emphasis on exploring, getting outdoors naturally encourages conversation. Not only does this help with language skills, but it also helps kids to get things off their chest and work through any questions or concerns they might have.
What has your child missed most about the outdoors during lockdown?
The conversation took a downbeat turn when we asked this question.
Unsurprisingly, most people responded with friends and family. Lockdowns have really restricted our ability to socialise, and children feel that as much as we adults do. We’re lucky that we live in a time where video calling is a thing! This time is even tougher on children without siblings too.
The problem of being restricted to our local areas is something that Cate summed up nicely:
It's difficult to hold an adult’s attention with the same setting, let alone a child’s! It can be hard to find something fresh to do with kids when you take them outside, so we loved this tip from Katrina:
Chris pointed out that it’s not just the faces of friends and family that kids miss – it’s their favourite places too.
Try to get your kids excited about going outdoors by recreating their favourite locations in your garden or local park. Get them to imagine the zoo, for example – what are the animals doing? Are there any new additions to the zoo? And, of course, they can play in ways they couldn’t at the actual zoo - perhaps they could pretend to get in with the chimpanzees and have a party?
Discovering our local areas
We decided to turn the chat towards the positive by exploring an overlooked benefit of the lockdowns – it’s given us a chance to learn new things about our local areas!
For instance, Mia learnt about a surprising historical link between her town and a rather famous American.
For the curious, this is Thrapston, a town in Northamptonshire! Montague House was the family home of Sir John Washington, the great great great uncle of George Washington. Does your local area have any surprising history?
Ria’s discovery has fewer links to the USA but is delightful nonetheless – horses.
Even if you think you live in a built-up area, you might be surprised to find wildlife close by. A little lockdown adventure can reveal plenty about where you live! Cate discovered woods and a beach all within walking distance.
Don’t fret if there are no sandy paradises or wild forests where you live – Katrina makes the very good point that kids are just as happy exploring a local estate.
What are you keen to do outside with your children
We turned to the future with our next question: ‘What are you keen to do outside with your children?’
Sarah jumped in with a great idea: geocaching.
Geocaching is a great way to get your kids exploring outdoors. Geocaching is essentially a treasure hunt that anyone can play, with caches hidden at certain points and ready to discover.
If exploration isn’t for you, Ria’s got a delicious idea for all of us to get stuck into once the lockdown is over: fruit picking.
If you’ve been planting seeds in the garden at home, this can also give them a sneak peek at what they’ll get once their seeds have bloomed into fully grown plants!
Sarah reminded us that it’s not always about big, flashy activities – sometimes that classic ones are the best.
What do you think is the best thing about outdoor play
Finally, we asked everyone ‘What do you think is the best thing about outdoor play?’
Chloe summed it all up rather nicely: the exploration prompts dozens of new games and activities and, as we already mentioned, the mental health benefits are huge!
With a roadmap out of lockdown and the NHS rapidly vaccinating the population, we’re getting closer to a time when we can head back out into the outdoors. This is great news for our kids! But as they go back to school, spare a thought for their furry friends who have got used to having them around all the time.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a Twitter chat without a prize involved! Congratulations to Katrina Fox who won one of our GeoSafari® Jr. Kidnoculars® Extreme™ for her little girl.
Share your ideas! What tips do you have for getting kids outdoors, or for activities to do outside of the home? Visit us on social media to let us know.
Learning Resources has loads of fun ideas to encourage outdoor play and exploration. Shop our Outdoor Play toys, read more about The Importance of Outdoor Play and find 5 Ways To Explore The World Without Leaving Your Back Garden.
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Free scavenger hunt ideas for kids
Scavenger hunts can make an ordinary event such as an afternoon at home, a car trip, or a walk in the park, a fun journey of discovery. They’re ideal to keep curious kids busy and learning and make children more aware of their surroundings. Best of all, they are much easier to set up than a treasure hunt and can be done with things around you. You can tailor them to your child’s age and interests and create scavenger hunts for a single child or the whole family.
Take ‘I Spy’ to the next level with these free scavenger hunt ideas for kids. In this article you’ll find easy suggestions to get your creative juices flowing and free handy checklists to get you started.
Free scavenger hunt ideas for kids
What’s the difference between a treasure hunt and a scavenger hunt?
Both a treasure hunt and scavenger hunt send players on an exciting journey of discovery. In a treasure hunt, you’ll need to create and hide a series of sequential clues players follow to find the treasure. A scavenger hunt is much easier to set up because it starts with a list of things to find – no need to make and hide clues!
Teams vs solo scavenger hunts
You can set up a scavenger hunt to keep a single child busy, or as a competition with family and friends. If it’s a team effort, assign teams as evenly as possible so little ones don’t get left behind. And remember to award a prize – it’ll be a great incentive for everyone to keep their eyes peeled!
What you’ll need for your scavenger hunt for kids
- Scavenger hunt list (download our free printables or make your own)
- Pencil or pens to tick off lists
- Clipboard/s
- Bag or box to collect items
- Prize for the winning team (try these fun party bag fillers)
Try this: 50 things to find on a nature walk
Nature walks are anything but boring because there’s so much to do and see. Whether it’s finding a long piece of grass, an object shaped like a circle, or keeping your eyes peeled for spotting wildlife, this free printable has 50 objects to spot or collect, and tick off your list. Even if your child doesn’t find everything the first time around, keep it for your next nature walk. Download your free printable here and head out to the park, the woods or the beach.
Try this: Slash the rubbish outdoor scavenger hunt
Enjoy a walk through your neighbourhood while searching for rubbish to slash and trash. Participants earn one point for every piece of rubbish they find. Be sure to go prepared with gloves, a rubbish bag, and tweezers. Download your free list and take it along with you.
Try this: Arty outdoor scavenger hunt
Here’s a scavenger hunt with a fun twist that creative kids will love - go on an arty outdoor scavenger hunt. Children can either draw the items they find, collect leaves and flowers to press at home, or take rubbings of natural surfaces such as tree bark. Remember to pack a few sheets of paper and wax crayons if you plan on doing rubbings.
Try these: Home scavenger hunt ideas
Rainy day or stuck inside? No problem. Set up an indoor scavenger hunt. Choose a theme and make a list of interesting items to find. Try a colour theme and send children on an expedition to find items of a specific colour around the home – or try multiple colours. Try a maths hunt, where children need to find examples of maths and measurements such as a number written in words, a unit of measurement, a coin, an object larger than 10cm, and so on.
Happy scavenger hunting and don’t forget to share your finds with us. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram.
If you liked our free scavenger hunt ideas for kids, check out our other fun ideas for the best free free ways to entertain kids.
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