Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash
Nature activities are a great way to keep kids entertained, whilst nurturing their mental and physical health.
From teaching children about seasons, to providing an essential dose of vitamin D to keep them happy and healthy, the benefits of outdoor activities are innumerable!
You don’t have to travel far to spend quality time in nature with your family. In fact, there’s plenty of fun, free activities you can do in your own garden or local park.
Here’s a list of 15 brilliant things to do with the kids this half term from your own backyard!
1. Plant a bulb
Add some colour to your garden, while engaging in a fun, family-friendly garden activity. Planting bulbs is easy to do and you’ll be able to enjoy beautiful flowers for years to come! February is a good time to plant summer-flowering bulbs – they’ll start growing as soon as temperatures increase.
2. Hang a bird feeder
Photo by Mark Timberlake on Unsplash
Fill a bird feeder with nuts, seeds or mealworms and hang from a tree a little away from the house. This will help attract birds like robins, blue tits, great tits, goldfinches and woodpeckers into your garden!
Alternatively, make your own feeder by mixing nuts and seeds with peanut butter or vegetable suet and press the mixture into a pinecone (or roll into a ball and place in a recycled satsuma net) and hang with biodegradable twine.
3. Keep a nature diary
Write down everything you can see, smell, hear and feel in your garden. Track changes in wildlife as the seasons change!
4. Draw every insect and animal you see
Sketch the birds, trees, plants and bugs you can spot!
5. Make a picture from twigs and leaves
Make nature art by laying twigs, leaves and stones on the ground to create a beautiful picture!
6. Go stargazing
Photo by Ryan Jacobson on Unsplash
While it gets dark early, why not venture into the garden before bed and see how many constellations you can identify?
7. Bird watch
Sit quietly and see how many different birds you can see. Binoculars are great for getting a close-up view!
8. Play skipping
A brilliant game for all the family to get your bodies moving – you don’t have to leave your backyard to reap all the benefits of outdoor exercise!
9. Make an obstacle course
Using hoops, sticks and cones, create a route around your garden or local park with different obstacles and tasks to do – see how fast you can complete it!
10. Have a treasure hunt
Hide paper clues in plant pots, tree stumps and corners of your garden, with a prize at the end.
11. Have a campfire
Image by sagar pradhan from Pixabay
A fun family activity to bring some warmth and light to your winter evening. You can toast vegetarian marshmallows on sticks around the flames.
12. Build a den
Gather branches, sticks and leaves and build a wigwam or tipi structure around a tree! This is a great activity to build teamwork skills.
13. Have a tea party
Invite friends and family over for drinks and cake in your garden or local park. Put tea or hot chocolate in a flask to keep it warm!
14. Build a bug sanctuary
Using leaves, sticks and stones, create a bug hotel for all your resident worms, earwigs and centipedes!
15. Press flowers for craft projects
Photo by monica dahiya on Unsplash
Gather flowers and place them between two pieces of paper in a heavy book. Leave with more books placed on top for a few weeks for them to dry out and flatten. Then stick them to paper and cardboard to make pictures and homemade cards!
We hope these ideas get your little ones leaving their screens and reaching for their wellies this February half term!
If you have any further suggestions or feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out on Instagram, we’d love to hear from you!
