10 Reasons Children Should Do Bug Hunts
I’m Georgina, a former science teacher & Special Educational Needs Coordinator. I run The SEN Resources Blog is a site for parents and teachers of children with Special Educational Needs. My site provides advice, fun learning activities (crafts, fine motor skill activities etc) and recommends useful resources.
I love encouraging outdoor learning, and a bug hunt is a fantastic opportunity to get children outside and learning about the world around them. We’ve been trying out Learning Resources bug hunting resources including their GeoSafari® Jr. Bugnoculars, Primary Science Magnifier and Tweezers, Primary Science Big View Bug Jars, and GeoSafari Jr. Critter Habitat.
My top 10 reasons why children should do bug hunts
1. Fun - Always the most important point, going on bug hunts are great fun for many children. Even a walk around the block to find insects can feel like an adventure when you’re four!
2. Social Activity - Looking for insects can be a brilliant activity to do with family and friends. We loved the constant chatter that could be heard when our children were bug hunting ‘look what I’ve found!’, ‘have you found an ant yet?’ ‘What is this?’ etc.
3. Fresh Air- Any excuse to get children outside, away from screens and in the fresh air.
4. Exercise- Walking around finding insects and bending up and down to see them is all great, low impact exercise for children.
5. Learn about insects- It’s amazing how much children learn about insects when they see them up close. We found the children were full of their own questions and bursting to find out what the insects ate, where they lived, what animals might eat them etc. A brilliant, natural way to learn.
6. Sparks interest in science- Science in my opinion is fascinating, but not all children share my opinion. Bug hunts are often a great ‘way in’ to science, sparking an early interest in the subject.
7. Encourages patience- Sometimes children find an abundance of insects, other times it can be tricky to find any. We found bug hunts to be a good way of showing children that patience, concentration and waiting pays off.
8. Develops attention to detail- Looking at insects under magnification, either in the Big View Bug Jars or using the magnifying glass helps children develop their attention to detail. They were amazed at the patterns, colours and shapes on even the most (at first glance) bland looking insect!
9. Instil importance of protecting our planet - It’s so important that children understand why we need to look after our planet and the wildlife that inhabits it. Bug hunts provide a great starting point for talking about this.
10. Gives purpose to a walk- Getting young children to walk long distances (or even short distances) can sometimes be challenging! By turning it into a bug walk you can often get children to walk a bit further and complain less! (Although you may have to allow a bit more time!)
For more fun learning activities and recommendations of resources visitwww.senresourcesblog.com
 | About the author: Georgina is a mum of two, qualified teacher, a previous head of Special Needs (SENCO) in a secondary school and tutor for Children with SEN ‘Cheshire SEN LTD’. Follow the SEN Resources Blog on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. |
Get kids excited about the outdoors. Download your free bug hunting activity sheet to help you get started!
6 Fun Things to do in Autumn
Our friends at Muddy Puddles are children’s outwear experts, so who better to share some top ideas for celebrating Autumn? Grab something warm, pull on your boots and head outdoors.
Autumn is here and days are getting chilly, but this is not a reason to stop having fun outdoors. At Muddy Puddles, we believe that “there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong kit!”
Our mission is to inspire and enable thousands of children and families to enjoy the natural world around them and spend more time outdoors whatever the weather. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 6 fun autumn activities to enjoy with your children.
1. Play conkers
It’s now or never – go for a long walk with your children and collect lots of lovely conkers before they’re gone. Top tip: choose an uncracked one and store it in a cool, dry place before drilling a hole in it to make sure you win! If you don’t feel like playing conkers, turn them into lovely autumn crafts instead.
Learning Resources tip: After drilling a hole in your conkers let little ones have a go at threading them on the string to develop fine motor skills.
2. Go apple picking
Visiting a pick-your-own farm is great family fun! There are lots of places in the UK where you can pick your own apples. You can enjoy them as a healthy snack, but we recommend turning them into delicious homemade juice or yummy crumble.
3. Climb a tree
It’s one of the simple pleasures that we all love. Plus, it has lots of benefits. It improves your children’s problem-solving skills and imagination and is great for their physical development. What are your children’s favourite trees for climbing?
4. Go on a family adventure
Family walks are a great idea as they’re easy to organise and really good for you and your family. Whether you prefer an easy walking route or a more challenging one, you won’t have to look too far. If you don’t feel like going on a hiking adventure, go for a family walk. If you’re not lucky enough to live close to the woods, head to the nearest park or even go for an urban stroll.
Learning Resources tip: Here in Norfolk we love the Routes for Little Boots blog. It’s full of ideas for pulling on your wellies and exploring our local areas
5. Jump in (muddy) puddles
We love puddles (we are Muddy Puddles after all!). The only thing you need to enjoy puddle jumping is a pair of wellies and a waterproof coat for your little adventurers. The winner is the puddlestomper who makes the biggest splash!
6. Go on a scavenger hunt
Organise an exciting scavenger hunt for your little explorers this autumn. You can go scavenging pretty much anywhere you like, in the city or in your back garden. Put together a list of items for the children to find and let the fun begin!
We hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas for celebrating Autumn. Looking for ideas to turn outdoor exploration into a learning opportunity? Download our free activity sheets and let us know on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter which ones you’re giving a try.
Our friends at Muddy Puddles are children’s outwear experts, so who better to share some fun things to do in Autumn? Grab something warm, pull on your boots and head outdoors.
Autumn is here and days are getting chilly, but this is not a reason to stop having fun outdoors. At Muddy Puddles, we believe that “there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong kit!”
Our mission is to inspire and enable thousands of children and families to enjoy the natural world around them and spend more time outdoors whatever the weather. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 6 fun autumn activities to enjoy with your children.
1. Play conkers
It’s now or never – go for a long walk with your children and collect lots of lovely conkers before they’re gone. Top tip: choose an uncracked one and store it in a cool, dry place before drilling a hole in it to make sure you win! If you don’t feel like playing conkers, turn them into lovely autumn crafts instead.
Learning Resources tip: After drilling a hole in your conkers let little ones have a go at threading them on the string to develop fine motor skills.
2. Go apple picking
Visiting a pick-your-own farm is great family fun! There are lots of places in the UK where you can pick your own apples. You can enjoy them as a healthy snack, but we recommend turning them into delicious homemade juice or yummy crumble.
3. Climb a tree
It’s one of the simple pleasures that we all love. Plus, it has lots of benefits. It improves your children’s problem-solving skills and imagination and is great for their physical development. What are your children’s favourite trees for climbing?
4. Go on a family adventure
Family walks are a great idea as they’re easy to organise and really good for you and your family. Whether you prefer an easy walking route or a more challenging one, you won’t have to look too far. If you don’t feel like going on a hiking adventure, go for a family walk. If you’re not lucky enough to live close to the woods, head to the nearest park or even go for an urban stroll.
Learning Resources tip: Here in Norfolk we love the Routes for Little Boots blog. It’s full of ideas for pulling on your wellies and exploring our local areas
5. Jump in (muddy) puddles
We love puddles (we are Muddy Puddles after all!). The only thing you need to enjoy puddle jumping is a pair of wellies and a waterproof coat for your little adventurers. The winner is the puddlestomper who makes the biggest splash!
6. Go on a scavenger hunt
Organise an exciting scavenger hunt for your little explorers this autumn. You can go scavenging pretty much anywhere you like, in the city or in your back garden. Put together a list of items for the children to find and let the fun begin!
We hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas for celebrating Autumn. Looking for ideas to turn outdoor exploration into a learning opportunity? Download our free activity sheets and let us know on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter which ones you’re giving a try.
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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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