Hi and welcome to the 5 day nature challenge!

Here’s what you need to know:

Challenge: Get outside for 30 minutes each day
Duration: 5 days (Monday through Friday)
Join the Facebook Group: Nature Challenge
Post: a picture of your outdoor adventure everyday.

A nature activity is listed below for each day. You can make it as simple as you like, or turn it into a educational experience. Adapt it to fit your family and schedule!

This challenge is simple, short, and doable for all of us! Enjoy!

MONDAY

We’re starting with a low-stakes, easy activity today – a nature walk. This could be a hike or a simple walk around your neighborhood. The goal is to walk and observe nature with your kids for at least half an hour.

Ask your kids about the different plants or colors that you see. Ask them to describe the sounds that they hear. See if they can locate the bird that’s singing. Make it simple and light. If they don’t want to talk, that’s fine too! Our goal is to have fun, get a little exercise, and breath in some fresh air!

If you prefer to make your nature outings a little more educational, click here for a little more information. Or you can download the Nature Study Workbook if you’d like a thorough list of questions to discuss while on your walk.

TUESDAY

Today’s activity is a nature study. For those of you who have never done a nature study, don’t worry, it will be easy and fun. I promise!

The key to this activity is comfort. Find a cozy blanket to sit on, grab some snacks, and walk out your door. Find a natural object that’s close to your house and easy for your child to observe. Plants are easiest since they don’t move, but let your child choose.

Your goal for nature study is to discover something new about the natural world and you can do this by answering 3 simple prompts: 1) I see, 2) This reminds me of, and 3) I wonder. You can go through these prompts verbally with your child or you can take a notebook outside with you and journal your observations. If you would like a little more direction, click here to download my Nature Study Workbook. It has a worksheet to fill out, instructions for the activity, and guiding questions to help you observe nature.

There is a good chance you’re child will be done with their nature study before the 30 minute time period is up. Take this extra time to enjoy unstructured play outdoors with your kids!

WEDNESDAY

Today’s challenge is one of my favorites!! Nature Art

It’s simple, easy, and so much fun.

Go outside with your kids and collect nature objects (this will be your 30 minutes for the day so take your time and encourage play). As you’re collecting objects, you can have conversations about nature. Use the nature study workbook from yesterday, read the Nature Art Activity blog post, or download a more thorough version of the Nature Art Activity.

Once your kids are ready to come back inside, let them make something out of their nature objects. Set up a space where they can get messy! Give them markers, paint, glue, string, tape – whatever they need to be creative – and let them create a masterpiece.

Once they’re done creating, display their art for the family to see! And post a picture for us!

THURSDAY

Today, we’re going to have a scavenger hunt! And not just any scavenger hunt, but I want you and your kids to look for state nature symbols like your state tree, flower, bird, etc.

If you don’t know these symbols, simply do a Google image search for your state + “state symbols.”

Part of the challenge is staying outside with out kids for half an hour each day, so while you’re outside feel free to have a little fun with this one. I’m hoping you can find the actual symbols (plants are usually easy to find) but if you can’t, look for those symbols represented in other ways. We live in New Mexico and our state bird is the Greater Roadrunner. A lot of people have metal roadrunners in their yards and some businesses use them for a mascot. Those count!!

How many state symbols can you find today? Both indoor and outdoor finds count! (And remember, they don’t have to be real, they can be a picture, sculpture, whatever! Post the number of state symbols you found along with a picture.

Click here if you’d like to do more nature scavenger hunts in the future.

FRIDAY

Congrats! You made it!

It’s the last day of the Nature Challenge and we’re going to end on a high note! So far, all our activities have been focused on the everyday nature we see around our homes. Today, let’s take a little field trip to a nature destination.

Nature destinations can include the zoo, a botanical garden, a museum with an outdoor exhibit, a park you don’t usually visit, or you can go on a hike. You could even give your child a list of options and have them choose where you go. I’m leaning toward a trip to the zoo!

Tomorrow, I’ll be checking posts and pulling names for the eBook drawing. If you did the activities but have missed a couple of posts, catch up on those posts today!

5 Day Nature Challenge