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Nature art frames – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Nature art frames are really simple to make, fun to play with and create some wonderful images. They also encourage creativity and fine motor skills in children of all ages and abilities. You just need a recycled piece of cardboard, a pen and some scissors to make these. We hate to waste anything and recycling…
29 Rainbow activity ideas (Science and sensory) – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Sunlight which appears to us mostly as white light is actually made up of a spectrum of different colours which you can see when rainbows form. Rainbows appear in the sky when sunlight shining from behind us, hits the water droplets in the air in front of us at a 42 degree angle. When sunlight…
40 Spring activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Spring is a wonderful time of year to enjoy, explore and learn about the natural world, from new growth, buds and blossom of plants to animals nesting and raising young. Here are 30 fun and easy spring crafts, games and activity ideas, that children of all ages can explore and enjoy. And the best bit…
14 Lichen activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
There are over 20,000 species of Lichen in the world and they are some of the slowest growing and longest living organisms on the planet. A lichen only grows from about half a millimeter up to two millimeters a year depending on the species. However with this incredibly slow growth comes great longevity with many…
16 Weather activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Weather is something we all experience on a day to basis, it shapes our lives and world bringing life giving water in the form of rain as well as helping the plants and crops we rely on for food to grow, pollinate and spread their seeds. We really on weather to drive our natural environmental…
24 Valentines activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
24 fun and simple valentines crafts and activity ideas, that children of all ages can explore and enjoy. And the best bit is that most of them are made using recycled materials. From sensory play, arts and crafts to edible wallpaper, nature play, baking, homemade wildflower paper and heart shaped bean bags. 1. Sensory Valentines…
The Big Garden Bird Watch 2025 – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
The Big Garden Bird Watch is one of the world's largest wildlife surveys. Run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds it helps to monitor any concerning or positive changes in bird populations across the UK. Anyone in the UK can take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch from Friday 24th to Sunday…
New Year Plant Hunt 2024 – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
The New Year Plant hunt is a simple fun and easy citizen science project that anyone can help with. All you have to do is explore a natural or urban area to see how many wild flowering plants (not garden plants) that you can find from Saturday 29th December 2024 to Wednesday 1st January 2025.…
Pine and fir tree whisks – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Whisks were always traditionally made from wood before the invention of metal and plastic. Handmade wooden whisks are surprisingly quick and simple to make and look and feel beautiful. You can use either a Pine tree or Fir tree branches to make your whisk (It's a great way to reuse old Christmas tree branches) as…
25 Winter activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Winter is a wonderful time of year to enjoy, explore and learn about the natural world, from the all clever tricks animals use to survive the colder months to exploring overlooked plants and organisms and learning about the science of behind weather. Here are lots of fun and easy winter crafts, games and activity ideas,…
30+ Snow Activity Ideas (Science and Sensory) – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Snow is made up of hundreds and thousands of tiny ice crystals. These ice crystals form when the water vapour in clouds becomes so cold (anywhere below 0c) that it freezes straight into ice. The microscopic pieces of ice then start sticking together to form snowflakes. When the snowflakes become too heavy under the weight…
10+Christmas potato print ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Potato printing is a simple activity for children of ages, all you need is a potato cut in half, a bit of imagination and some paint to get started. You can find lots of easy Christmas print ideas below for inspiration. How about using the potato prints to make patterns, pictures, Christmas cards, posters, Christmas…
20+ Christmas nature play activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
20+ fun and simple nature play Christmas activity ideas, games and crafts, that children of all ages can enjoy and explore The best bit is that all of them are made using found and recycled materials. 1. Christmas scavenger hunt An easy to make Christmas themed scavenger hunt that you can use in the garden…
16 Christmas ice play activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Ice is a wonderful material for sensory and exploratory play. Its so easy to make and you can easily add extra sensory elements like scented herbs, flavoured oils, textured natural materials and colours. Here are 16 fun and festive ice play ideas that children of all ages will enjoy. 1. Ice cube snowmen Ice cube snowmen…
Christmas nature art ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Nature art (also sometimes called land art) is a wonderful nature activity that encourages creativity and fine motor skills in children of all ages and abilities. All you need to create nature art is your imagination and natural found materials like leaves, sticks, stones, pine cones bark and grass ect. You could have a nature…
8 Christmas cardboard tube crafts – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
8 simple and easy Christmas crafts you can do using old wrapping paper or kitchen roll tubes. We hate to waste anything and recycling and reusing materials is one of many small things we can all do to help the environment. So instead of chucking used cardboard tubes we like to find ways to use…
16 Christmas ice play ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Ice is a wonderful material for sensory and exploratory play. Its so easy to make and you can easily add extra sensory elements like scented herbs, flavoured oils, textured natural materials and colours. Here are 14 fun and festive ice play ideas that children of all ages will enjoy. 1. Ice cube snowmen Ice cube snowmen…
20 ways to make a home for wildlife in your garden – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
As wildlife habitats are in decline it’s more important than ever to make space for wildlife in our gardens or around our homes. You can find a whole range of simple and easy ideas for making a home for wildlife in your garden below. Even if you don't have a garden you can make use…
32 Christmas activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
32 fun and simple Christmas crafts and activity ideas, that children of all ages can explore and enjoy. From arts, crafts and nature play to science and sensory. And the best bit is that most of them are made using recycled materials. 1. Pine cone Christmas trees These simple but sweet little Christmas trees are…
Reverse Advent – Giving back in December – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Reverse advent is a great way to encourage children to think about others and teach them to be kind, considerate and giving. To take part in reverse advent all you have to so if something kind or helpful for others during December. You could do one thing a day or a few things a week…
Ruby Robin Award – Songbird activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
The Ruby Robin award is a fantastic, free initiative by Songbird survival to help birds survive in winter as well as teach children and families more about all the native birds you can find in the UK. It is free to sign up for and there are a whole host of fun and easy activities…
16 Remembrance day poppy activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
A red poppy is a symbol of remembrance of the first world war and of all the lives lost. On 11th November each year there is a Remembrance Day 'Lest we forget' the tragedies of the past and so we do not repeat them in future. Did you know that remembrance poppies were originally designed…
The Great Coastal Bird Watch 2024 – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
The Great Coastal Bird Watch 2024 runs from Saturday 19th October to Sunday the 3rd November this year with the annual arrival of migratory birds along the Solent coastline. Anyone who can visit a Solent coastline (in the UK) can take part. It only takes an hour and it's free and easy to do, plus…
Día de los Muertos – Mexican Day of the dead activities – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Dia de los Muertos (which is also known as the Day of the Dead) is a colourful and vibrant celebration of life and death bringing families and communities together to celebrate and remembering dead loved ones. It is a two day holiday that originated in Mexico but is now celebrated across Latin America on the…
Citrus peel play shapes – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Instead of chucking away the peel from citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruits. You could recycle and re-use them by turning them into colourful shapes for threading, sensory and loose parts play. We hate to waste anything and recycling and reusing materials is one of many small things we can all do to…
Halloween rock painting ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
We love finding painted pebbles and rocks when we are out and about, it’s wonderful to see the creativity and love that people put into them. You can easily find pebbles to decorate yourself by looking in your garden, on a nature walk or along the shore. All you need then is some paint or…
Halloween potato print ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Potato printing stamps make great invitations to play for children of all ages. They can use the potato prints to play and explore or make patterns, pictures, cards or even recyclable wrapping paper. All you need is a potato cut in half, a bit of imagination and some paint to get started. Below you can…
16 Halloween nature activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
15 fun and simple Halloween themed nature activity ideas, games and crafts, that children of all ages can enjoy and explore The best bit is that all of them are made using natural, found and recycled materials. 1. Halloween nature art frames Nature art frames are really simple to make, fun to play with and…
36 Halloween activities crafts and games – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
It’s that time of year when the evenings are getting darker, the leaves are falling and Halloween is around the corner. So we’ve put together a list of 30+ of our favourite Halloween activities from science and sensory to arts and crafts, as well as games and recipes that children of all ages can explore…
Pumpkin activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Pumpkin is the name we use to describe round, orange varieties of winter squashes, but there are actually hundreds of species of winter squashes and they can come in a variety of different colours shapes and sizes. Pumpkins (and squashes in general) have been farmed for food in central America for over 7,500 years. They…
11 Fern activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
There are over 10,500 species of fern in the world and over 50 of them grow in the UK. Ferns are leafy green, flowerless and seedless plants that reproduce via spores. They play an important role in the environment by providing food and shelter to a wide variety of wildlife as a well as well…
Apple activity ideas and recipes – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
There are over 7500 species of apple tree in the world and 2500 of these are grown in the UK. However the only variety of apple that is truly native to the UK is the crab apple. Crab apples are much smaller and sourer than most other varieties of apple, but they also contain higher…
Autumn activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Autumn is a wonderful time of year to enjoy, explore and learn all about the natural world, from acorns, blackberries, leaves and trees to moss, lichen, mushrooms, spider, bats and hedgehogs. Here are several easy autumn crafts, games, recipes and activity ideas that adults and children of all ages can enjoy. 1. Learn about the…
23 Acorn activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Acorns are the wonderful seed bearing, dry fruits produced by oak trees. Each acorn contains a single seed (consisting of an oak embryo and a store of food) that is encased in the tough green shell that forms the nut. And a single oak tree can produce an incredible 2000 acorns a year and over…
20 Conker activity ideas and games – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Conkers are great fun to collect and play with for children of all ages.* They are the seeds of horse chestnut trees and these wonderful, autumnal treasures can easily be found on nature walks amongst the leaf litter in many woodlands and parks. We have put together 20 of our favourite conker activity ideas below…
Autumn potato print ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Easy autumn potato print ideas from fallen leaves and mushrooms to berries, pinecones and pumpkins. Potato printing is a simple activity for children of ages, all you need is a potato cut in half, a bit of inspiration and some paint to get started. They make great invitations to play for children of all ages…
18 Ice play activity ideas – STEM and sensory – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Ice play is a great activity for children of all ages. It is so quick and simple to make and you can easily add extra sensory elements using scented herbs, flavoured oils, colouring and textured natural materials. You can find 16 fun and easy ice play ideas below, from sensory and crafts to STEM activities and…
22 Blackberry activity ideas + recipes – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Blackberries are full of flavour, smell and colour which makes them perfect for sensory exploration and play. You can find lots of fun and simple blackberry activity ideas below, from taste safe paint, non toxic slime and edible blackberry play dough to water play, botanical dyes and Tataki Zome. As well as lots of tasty…
The Big Butterfly Count 2024 – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
The Big Butterfly Count is the world’s largest survey of butterflies and this year it starts on Friday 12th July and runs until Sunday the 4th August. Anyone in the UK can take part. It only takes 15 mins and is free, fun and easy to do. All you need to do is download a…
15 Badger activity ideas – Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground
Badgers are one of the most iconic animals you can find in the UK however they are also one of the most elusive. They are mostly active at night just after dusk or before dawn and they spend most of the day sleeping in large underground burrows called setts. Badgers play a special role in…