3 Easy Summer Nature Activities for Early Years: Part 1

There's something magical about learning outdoors during the summer holidays. Warm weather and an abundance of natural treasures create the perfect environment for children to explore, create and discover through play.

Outdoor play offers endless opportunities for children to develop their creativity, communication, confidence and physical skills while connecting with the natural world. Whether you're an early year’s practitioner, nursery setting or childminder, simple nature-based activities can create meaningful learning experiences without needing lots of preparation.

To help inspire your summer planning, we've partnered with Katie Taylor from Early Years Outdoors to create a free collection of engaging outdoor activities that encourage creativity, sensory exploration and imaginative play. So, grab a cuppa, have a read, then scroll down to download the activity resources for you to print at home.

Why outdoor nature play matters

Natural materials provide open-ended learning opportunities that encourage children to think creatively. Sticks become magic wands, flowers become ingredients and leaves become artwork.

These experiences support many areas of learning, including:

• Communication and language through discussion and storytelling
• Physical development through collecting, tying, wrapping and creating
• Expressive arts and design through natural crafts
• Understanding the world by exploring seasonal changes and different plants
• Personal, social and emotional development by encouraging mindfulness, confidence and collaboration

Better still, many of the resources can be found on a simple nature walk.

Activity 1: Make a wish for summer

Every child loves finding the perfect stick on a nature walk, so gather coloured wool, ribbons, grasses, flowers and leaves and give your children the creativity to decorate their chosen stick. As they create their wand, encourage them to talk about what they've found and make a special summer wish.

This activity is great for:

• Fine motor skills through wrapping and tying
• Creative thinking
• Storytelling and imaginative play
• Appreciation of the natural environment

Every wand will be completely unique, so celebrate your child's creativity.

Activity 2: Summer nature potions

Potion making is always a favourite with our children.

Using water, flowers, leaves, herbs and other natural materials, children can mix, stir and experiment with different combinations before carefully pouring their creations into potion bottles.

As they play, practitioners can introduce new vocabulary such as:

• Mix
• Stir
• Pour
• Float
• Sink
• Full
• Empty
• Fragrant

It really is a wonderful invitation to explore sensory play, early science concepts and imaginative storytelling all at the same time.

Activity 3: Summer adventure bag

Transform an ordinary cotton bag into a keepsake full of summer memories.

Children can gather flowers and leaves before gently hammering them onto the fabric to transfer their natural colours and patterns. Once dry, they can personalise their bag with drawings, names or favourite summer discoveries.

The finished bag can be used on future nature walks to collect treasures or take home as a reminder of their outdoor adventures.

Making the most of summer learning

The beauty of these activities is that they can easily be adapted for different ages and abilities. They work equally well as independent invitations to play, small group activities or whole-setting outdoor experiences.

By slowing down and encouraging children to notice colours, textures, smells and patterns around them, we're helping develop curiosity, observation skills and a lifelong appreciation of nature.

Download your free summer activity pack

Ready to inspire outdoor learning this summer?

Download our free Summer Resource Set 1, created with Early Years Outdoors, featuring:

• Summer Stick Wand
• Summer Nature Potions
• Summer Adventure Bag

Simply download the activity pack below and start exploring together.

Enjoyed these ideas? This is just the beginning! Keep an eye out for Part 2 of our Summer Activity Series, where we'll be sharing even more creative outdoor play ideas, including colourful water play, ice painting and seaside-inspired crafts.