Spring Activity Guide
Activity - Outdoors
GradesK, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Visual and Performing Arts
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Provided by The Nature Conservancy
What it is
- This handout includes five activities for students to do outside in the spring.
- Students can make prints with flowers, play a game with sticks and a stream, jump around and make observations in the rain, experience the mud in bare feet, and use a brown bag to create with nature.
Teaching tips
Positives
- These are simple activities that require minimal materials.
- Students will love the sensory experiences and will feel closer to the natural world around them.
Prerequisites
- Before doing the activities, especially ones that have students playing in the water, teachers should send notes to parents so students are dressed appropriately.
- Additionally, teachers should have things like extra clothes, towels, and rain gear on hand so students without these items can participate.
Differentiation & Implementation
- To make literacy connections, teachers can borrow the book The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne from the library to read aloud and highlight the reference to the game Poohsticks, following the reading with a trip outside to play the game.
- When explaining activities that require students to collect materials in nature, teachers should discuss and show students how to collect natural items while doing the least amount of damage to the environment around them.
- After students have completed a few of these activities, teachers can tie them into a discussion appreciating nature. Teachers can then talk about how people do things that unintentionally harm nature and ask students to come up with alternatives and solutions. The human activities discussed can depend on grade level or science curriculum but can include littering, burning fossil fuels, wasting water or energy, not following the rules in public lands, planting or bringing in invasive species, and others.
- Teachers can send this list home with students over the weekend or spring break, asking them to complete one activity before they return. Teachers should avoid asking students to do a specific activity from the list in case students don't have access to certain things.
From the scientist review
This resource includes five nature-themed activities. The activities will help students connect with nature and spring. All activities can be included in a variety of lessons with a nature, environment, or sustainability focus. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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