Are you excited about leading an Outdoors Adventure but need some inspiration? Check out these ideas to help kick start your imagination about what magical experience you can lead for kids.
Start A Mini Greenhouse Garden
Because dirt (and paint) is involved, this is the perfect project for outside, but the plants should live inside in a sunny window. You’ll only need three things to create a mini-greenhouse perfect for growing from seeds: clear plastic cups, potting mix, and seeds! Keep the fun crafting going by painting popsicle sticks for plant labels. Tuck them into the dirt alongside the seeds so you’ll remember what’s growing in which greenhouse. Or decorate and label index cards to be attached to the outside of the base cup. Marigolds are hardy, colorful flowers to grow. Kids love plucking their blooms, and they keep producing. Sunflowers are another kid-friendly fave, but make sure the family has room in a yard to transplant when they outgrow the cup. Or try growing food: herbs like basil are a sensory treat. Lettuces and pea shoots grow quickly and make an easy salad.
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Why Kids Will Love It
There’s something quite magical about watching a tiny seed grow into a plant that produces yummy food or beautiful flowers. Plus, kids get an excuse to play in the dirt!
Why Parents Will Love It
Gardening teaches patience, instills nurturing, connects kids to the Earth, and encourages picky eaters to try new foods.
Make It Extra Special
Grab a few unfinished terracotta pots at the local hardware store, and some acrylic paint. Decorate the pots together. Once dry, plant seeds directly in them (still using a clear top cup for the greenhouse effect). Hand-painted potted plants make wonderful gifts from children—perfect for Teacher Appreciation, Mother’s and Father’s Day, and more.
Be A Weather Scientist
Channel that curious kid energy into a real-life opportunity to be a weather scientist. Using some items commonly found around the house, make a weather station kit and put it to work. Print the weather log (or create your own) to keep the experiment going. Think like scientists and make predictions. What will the weather be like later? Tomorrow? What clues do we have? Use your cell phone to record a weather report to share with their parents. After, grab an empty soda bottle from the recycling bin and make your own cloud.
Why Kids Will Love It
Budding meteorologists and amateur scientists will love the chance to use real scientific tools to make observations and record their data. Plus they’ll get to capture a cloud in a bottle.
Why Parents Will Love It
Studying the weather connects kids to nature, encourages curiosity and observation, and just maybe it’ll help kids pay attention to the weather and dress more appropriately!
Make It Extra Special
Harness the power of the sun and make one-of-a-kind artwork with Earth’s favorite star. Using solar paper (available on Amazon for $12), you’ll create unique keepsakes and a reminder of the sun’s awesome power.
Make a Milk Carton Birdhouse
Making a milk carton birdhouse with kiddos is such an easy and inexpensive project. You’ll need a milk carton from the recycling bin. Milk jugs or smaller cartons, like for half-and-half, work as well. You will also need some string to hang it with, and you’ll need some sort of stick for birds to land on. You can use an actual twig, a popsicle stick, even a pencil. Beyond that, it’s up to you and the child to decide how to decorate. You may choose to use items found in nature or use craft materials you have on hand. The internet has boundless ideas to inspire.
Why Kids Will Love It
Combining a love of arts and crafts with nature will have little ones eager to make a special home for animal friends.
Why Parents Will Love It
Using recycled materials to build a birdhouse encourages children to rethink their waste while considering the needs of animals we share a world with.
Make It Extra Special
Make bird feeders to hang near your birdhouse.
Make a Nature Collection Journal
Make a nature collection journal to inspire kiddos to explore the world around them and then get creative with what they’ve discovered. Having a purpose will motivate children to take longer walks and explore more. Plus it keeps their brains thinking in more critical ways. The activities included in the journal expose the child to new ways of looking at the world and will broaden their appreciation for nature. Reflecting back on their walk and their discoveries will enrich the experience for them. The link above provides basic instructions and includes a printable set of journal pages for $3. Or get creative and make up your own journal prompts–even better, invite the child to help brainstorm activities to include. For this activity, you’ll need a printer and paper, a stapler and brown paper lunch bags.
Why Kids Will Love It
Kids love to gather treasures on their walks. This will give them a purpose to their collecting.
Why Parents Will Love It
The nature collection journal encourages children to not only observe and notice nature, but to engage with the things they find and have a more in-depth sensory experience.
Make It Extra Special
Make a few extra collection journals so the child has one for future outings. Keep them by the door so they’re easy to grab and go. Be sure to include something to write with.
Make Wildflower Seed Paper
Wildflower seed paper is a fun way to introduce kids to the idea of upcycling–taking something old (recyclable paper) and repurposing it into something new (plantable seed paper). You’ll need a strong blender, a packet of wildflower seeds best suited for your region, a stack of old paper to be recycled, and a piece of cloth that can get messy.
Why Kids Will Love It
Children use paper every day and will love getting to make their own. They will be blown away when you tell them they can plant this paper and it will grow flowers!
Why Parents Will Love It
Making plantable seed paper gives kids a behind-the-scenes science lesson into making paper, as well as a creative way to upcycle their old paper into something beautiful and functional.
Make It Extra Special
Cut, fold, and decorate your paper to make a set of notecards. Use them to send snail mail to a friend or give the set to a loved one as a present. Don’t forget to tell the recipient to plant the paper when they’re done.
Looking for more ideas to kickstart your Adventure creativity? Here are some creative ideas for Adventures in each of the available categories. Have fun!
