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You are here: Home / Play-Based Learning Activities / Nature Scavenger Hunt Crafts: 7 Activities To Do Afterwards

July 22, 2016 By Alana Pace Leave a Comment

Nature Scavenger Hunt Crafts: 7 Activities To Do Afterwards

We love nature scavenger hunts in our family. It’s one of the ways to truly experience the wonderment of life through a child’s eyes. We’ve made lists and gone out with bins, basket, or bags. But there have also been times we’ve been stuck outside, waiting for an event or an appointment and I’ve simply made a verbal list of things for my kids to collect with their hands. Yesterday was especially fun. I had some craft ideas involving nature. By the time we were ready to head out, we could hear thunder off in the distance.  A storm wasn’t too far off. While I understand that most would take heed of the weather’s warnings and change their plans, I couldn’t resist going out. Honestly, I find some of the most fun can be had right before an impending storm. Rather than having unlimited time at the park or on a trail, we find ourselves really appreciating each moment before the sky opens up. And so yesterday, my son, daughter, and I ran out feeling a little rebellious as our neighbours sought pre-emptive cover.

 

We collected all sorts of items in our baskets. One of my favourite aspects of living in my current city is that the city does not permit the use of herbicides. As a result, the grass on the roadsides and local playgrounds are teaming with gorgeous wildflowers. Aside from flowers, we managed to grab sticks, rocks, bark mulch, leaves, and mud (my daughter insisted, we needed mud). Once home, we took out some of our favourite craft supplies, items from our recycling bins, brushed off our imaginations, and got busy. Here are the ways we brought our nature scavenger hunt to life and how you can too!

 

What You’ll Need for a Scavenger Hunt

  1. Create a list using pictures and/or words. Or, simply use a mental list. Pinterest has some great printables to make the process a bit easier.
  2. Grab a basket, container, or bag.
  3. Option to bring a camera or camera phone to capture images of insects, birds, and other wildlife.
  4. If you are venturing into forests and potentially protected areas, please familiarize yourself with protected and endangered plants. If unsure, don’t pick wildflowers. Dandelions are always fair game!

 

7  Nature Scavenger Hunt Crafts

Bring your nature scavenger to life with these 7 nature scavenger hunt crafts. Find printables for your nature scavenger hunt, ideas for what to look for and then 7 activities to do with your kids afterwards! Simple ideas, play-based learning, easy crafts for preschoolers, toddlers

 

1. Three Painted Rock Activities

Pet Rocks

While pet rocks may seem redundant, to your kids, they’re likely very exciting. All you need is some tempera paint, fine paint brushes, and a little bit of vision!

Nature scavenger hunt crafts

Alphabet Rocks

Using tempera paint or chalk markers, write the letters of your child’s name and/or common words (mom, dad, cat, dog) and have your child organize the letters appropriately. This activity is great for letter recognition, early literacy, and play-based learning as a whole.

 

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Filed Under: Play-Based Learning Activities, Posts Tagged With: crafts, diy, easy DIY, kids activities, play-based learning, scavenger hunt

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Hi! I'm Alana. When I'm not nursing cold, stale coffee, I usually can be found with the baby on my hip, barefoot, and racing after my two older kids. Thanks to a degree in psychology and a free-range childhood backing onto an expansive evergreen forest, positive parenting and play-based learning are my passions. Read more here.

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I remember in my earlier days of parenting when I I remember in my earlier days of parenting when I had two under two so much of my life was spent thinking I’ll be happy when…

I’ll be happy when they sleep through the night.

I’ll be happy when my husband doesn’t have to work such late hours.

I’ll be happy when I look and feel like myself again and not a feeding troth 😬😬😬

As it turns out this struggle with finding happiness isn’t unique to me or parenting. 

Collectively our mental health is suffering, but there are many research backed ways to improve happiness. (Link in bio to read more).
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Though there are countless people who understand t Though there are countless people who understand the importance of positive, responsive parenting, the idea that young children should self-soothe remains a prevalent belief.

Though this ideology is well-intentioned, it actually goes against what we know about human development.

Babies come into the world highly dependent on responsive caregiving not only for nurturance and protection but also to foster social and emotional development.

While it may seem that leaving a child to cry will help her learn to cope, it actually floods her brain with cortisol. She doesn’t learn to self-soothe but instead to shut down.

Though it may seem counterintuitive to some, independence is fostered through responsive care. The less stressed a child feels, the safer he feels to explore his world. The less stressed he feels, the more appropriate his emotional responses become.

This is first seen in late infancy but pervades through childhood and adulthood.

Have any questions about these findings? Feel free to comment below or send me a message!
❤️❤️❤️❤️ Teach Through Love ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Teach Through Love
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So often independence and attachment are thought t So often independence and attachment are thought to be mutually exclusive.
However, research shows that in order for children (and adults) to be independent, they need to feel safe and secure within their closest relationships. In childhood, this means having caregivers who respond to distress and both emotional and physical needs.
In adulthood, people who have responsive and caring partners feel more stable and comfortable being independent.
So hold and comfort those babies.
Hug and respond to your kids.
Love and hold space for the adults you are closest to.
Attachment fosters independence.
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"This year, I changed my assessments by adding a p "This year, I changed my assessments by adding a piece of paper at the end, asking, 'What else do you know about the topic, that I didn’t ask you about?'

Another teacher suggested this idea online about a year ago – I wish I could remember who it was! – and I thought, 'BOOM. I want to do this.'

Answering the question is completely optional, and when students do show more understanding on the sheet than they did on their assessment, I’ll point it out to them. Sometimes I’ll write, 'The learning wasn’t shown in your assessment, but I can see you do know this from what you wrote at the end.'

Afterward, I’ll follow up with them about how to recognize and answer test questions asked in different ways. Clearly, in cases like this, they understand the material but aren’t able to formulate an answer in response to the way I posed the question. I’ll point out to them that while it’s great that they’ve shown me their learning, they won’t always have a chance to answer assessment questions in an open-ended way, and I want them to succeed when they encounter assessment-style questions in the future.

I love what this change has done. This strategy has made my assessments more inclusive. It helps me communicate to my students: When I assess your understanding, I’m looking for what you DO know."
—Teacher Julie Arsenault via @teacher2teacher
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