Five simple nature activities for kids

1. Make your own scrapbook 

Use old envelopes, scrap paper, string and card to make a nature diary or garden scrapbook. Cereal boxes make great covers. Here kids can jot down their plant and wildlife observations as well as create nature-based art works, start a seed growing diary and record other nature notes.

2. Wild weed bottle garden

A ‘weed’ is a plant growing in the ’wrong’ place, which means that any plant can be a weed. Weed seeds can stay in the soil in a state of dormancy for years, waiting for the ideal conditions in which to suddenly appear – as this experiment will hopefully demonstrate.

You will need: Some garden soil (not shop-bought) and a two-litre clear plastic bottle.

• Quarter fill your bottle with soil.
• If the soil is dry, moisten it with a little water.
• Place the container garden in a cool, light place and wait…
• You may find that, though at first glance the soil contained no seeds, some plants grow up from the soil. Can you identify what species they are? 

3. Make a mini garden collage

Use some scrap card (a cereal box is ideal) and double-sided sticky tape – preferably the 5cm wide variety, but if that’s not available, use a few strips of the narrower type until your ‘canvas’ is about 5cm x 6cm in size.

Once you peel off the protective plastic film, stick small items found in your garden or local outdoor space onto the sticky surface. These could be feathers, leaves, seeds, small sticks, petals, stones or shells. The beauty of this activity is that it really helps us to focus on the minute details around us.

You can choose to go free-style or you can be more prescriptive and form the first letter of your name, a funny face or a tiny landscape. Once finished you can make these into badges with a safety pin.

4. How many plants have I used today?

This is a nice way to help us appreciate the sheer number and variety of plants we use in everyday life. Ask the question: “How many plants have I used since exactly this time yesterday?” and keep a record in your notebook.

You’ll likely find that by mid-morning the total is at least 50 plants. Think about cotton bed sheets, toilet paper, shampoos, soaps, moisturisers, toothpaste, tea, juices, bread and jam, furniture and even your wellies. This is the science of ethnobotany.

5. Make a sage leaf print bookmark

• You will need: A pair of rubber gloves (this could get a little messy!), at least one ink stamp pad of a dark colour, some plain, pale coloured paper or card and some fresh sage leaves. 
• Method:
  1. Put on your gloves. Then, place your leaf onto the ink pad and place some scrap paper over the top.
  2. Rub it all over (you’ll be able to feel the leaf beneath) so that the ink is evenly spread onto the underside.
  3. Take the leaf and carefully place it onto the paper or card you want to print onto.
  4. Put another piece of scrap paper over the top and rub all over again to release the ink.
  5. You’ll have a fine impression of that leaf and can repeat it to make a pattern.

I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast celebrates plants. It is a beautifully illustrated book full of hints, tips, fact and fun exercises to try at home.

This book is on sale from April 1st and available for pre-order at flyingeyebooks.com.