I am seriously so proud of the Facebook Community Group I run. It is very different from the page so if you haven't already be sure to come and join! It's a place where you share your set ups, inspire others and perhaps ask for some advice and support at times too. Be sure to follow us on Instagram too! We share all our activities over there first.
A few weeks back a lovely lady called Gem Paul shared her Nature Hunt cards that she had been busy doing with the children. I fell in love and knew instantly I wanted to do something similar with my children.
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As soon as they landed I set to work. My Mom works in a school and brought some cardboard boxes home as she knew I would use them for something. They were the perfect resource to start making the hears. I used some paper to create a template first. I folded it in half an drew half a heart shape on the one side before cutting it out to create a symmetrical shape.
I then used the template to create the heart boards. For Neve who is a fabulous reader I made up a couple of little poems which I wrote on the hearts using a fine tip sharpie pen. She loved reading them out loud when we were on our walk. (She came home from the walk and has been attempting to write her own rhyming poems too!)
For the boys who are building the control and dexterity in their hands - the smaller pegs would have been incredibly difficult to use. I used the larger pegs that I use to hang out my washing for their boards.
The good old glue gun came out to stick the pegs down. I wouldn't recommend using PVA as the glue isn't strong enough. Did you know you can get glue guns that are cordless? -
It took around 15 minutes from start to finish to prep. I popped them into a bag so that they were ready for our next outing. I love planning activities ahead of time like this. I did this for the Dough Portraits too.
Come the weekend - a venture was planned and the hearts were packed. It was the most beautiful Spring day. Birds singing happily, lovely spring sunshine and the twins running around like headless chickens throwing tantrums over all sorts. The boards came out and the children set to work.
Neve always impressed me with her eagle eyes! She found some really interesting items - seed pods, bark, variegated leaves to name a few. The boys found countless feathers. They celebrated one anothers finds too which was great!
Neve did have a peg that fell off but we just clipped it onto the cardboard and again it was fully functionable and she was able to continue adding her Nature finds.
One thing that we did speak about was the importance of not pulling leaves and flower heads off living plants and trees. Nature is incredibly important to wildlife and we should not interfere with that! We should only collect items that are already lying on the nature bed.
Lets take a look at the Nature Hunt Hearts in Action:
It gave us the perfect opportunity to explore textures, colours and shapes. The boys counted out the items they found on their boards and once Neve was home she got out some of her Nature books to try and identify some of the items we didn't already know.
It was a wonderful little activity. Low prep and low cost. It took just a few minutes to pop together but the boards were used throughout our Nature Walk. We brought the boards home. Neve wants to attach some string and hang them up in the garden, which I think is an excellent idea!
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Other posts to check out on Learning and Exploring Through Play:
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