From sunny morning when dew sparkles on the grass to dark nights when stars appear in the sky, the great outdoors is the perfect summer “classroom” for your child. Enjoy these activities together to help then appreciate nature and learn more about it.

Observe Nature

Have your child put together an outdoor exploration kit. They could fill a shoebox or a reusable grocery bag with a magnifying glass for examining bugs, binoculars for gazing at constellations, and a sketch pad and colored pencils for drawing and labeling what they see. Let them use this kit all summer long in your backyard, at the park, or on hikes.

Count Collections
Encourage your child to gather leaves, nuts, seeds, and other objects from the ground. They’ll practice math skills as they count, sort, and graph what they find. They might make a pictograph to compare the number of seeds, nuts, and leave they have collected.

Take Poetry Walks

Go on poetry walks. Your child can jot down notes on what they see, hear, feel, and smell. Perhaps they can walk barefoot across damp grass, sniff a patch of honeysuckle, or run their hand over the bark of a tree. Then, they could use their notes to write a poem.