Harvest Playful Learning this Spring!

Harvest Playful Learning this Spring!

Girls running through tulip field in spring time.

Experiencing the great outdoors is a must in spring time, take the children outside and get them to notice the changes that are taking place in the world around them. Get them to use all their senses; touch the flowers, smell the freshly cut grass, hear the new born lambs, taste the rain as it falls and play I Spy!

When planting a garden get the children to choose what is to be planted; vegetables, flowers or both! Planting is great fun for children and even more exciting when the planting is from seeds, choose plants that are big, easy to handle and quick to germinate. Children love to see the difference between big and little, so plant small tomatoes and giant sunflowers!

Spring is a great time to attract new wildlife into the outside garden, build minibeast and wildlife habitats. Why not build a birdhouse that all the children can work on and paint. Add seeds and bird food so the children can observe birds coming into the garden.

If you are lucky enough to have a pond, why not introduce some frogspawn. Watch the frogspawn as it develops and take pictures as it becomes a tadpole and transforms into a frog.

Kids love to paint Easter eggs, so encourage them to get creative and decorate them with a spring time feel. Schedule an Easter egg hunt for the children, get them to work in teams of 2 or 3 to discover eggs and Easter treats outside. Cover the hard boiled eggs in tin foil so the children can roll down a hill and have egg races.

Spring is a great time of year to use fun activities to learn about all the new changes that come with the season. Rebirth is amongst the most common themes, with baby animals being born, flowers poking through the ground and new colours showing through. Other themes such as Easter provide stimulating opportunities for children to celebrate and learn through outdoor play. So now is a great time to get some spring in your step and get playful outside!

Lots more outdoor activity ideas can be found on the Woodland Trust Nature Detectives website.