Five Ways to Discover Spring with Your Kids

In most of the United States, spring has now officially sprung! The days are growing longer, the weather is much improving, and the great outdoors beckons. It’s a wonderful time to get outside and help your little ones learn to appreciate and enjoy nature (and your company). There are lots of fun ways to connect with your youngsters in celebration of this most beautiful and joyous season: here are just a few fun possibilities for you and your family this season.

Read a Good Book About Spring

Reading daily with young children is so, so important, and luckily there are a lot of fun children’s’ books for kids of all ages that celebrate and acknowledge the beauty of spring. And Then It’s Spring, Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms, and Spring is Here are just a few of the great titles that help young readers discover all that’s beautiful and special about spring. If the weather’s just right, you might even consider packing a blanket and going off to read with your kids outside! Young readers will engage with stories that discuss flowers, birds, and nature even more so when they’re sitting out enjoying it!

Take a Nature Walk

Learning about the great outdoors in a classroom is one thing, but it’s quite a different experience when young children get to go out and fully embrace nature as part of their daily life. Make nature walks an important activity for you and your family: plan hikes on the weekends or pack picnics to take to nearby parks. You can even take short walks around your neighborhood in the evening, and make a special point of appreciating the plants and animals that you encounter as you walk. Walks are healthy and therapeutic for everyone in the family (not just the kids); they reduce stress and help one stay present and in the moment. And with gorgeous springtime weather to enjoy and a host of interesting plants and animals to discover, your kids are sure to love them. So get out!

Craft Home-Made Bird Feeders

If your children are creative learners, they can engage with nature and the season by making do-it-yourself, one-of-a-kind bird feeders at home. And you can help: simply tie a short piece of yarn to the top of a pine cone. Coat the pine cone in a fairly small amount of peanut butter and then roll it in a dish or tray of birdseed. The birdseed will adhere to the peanut butter – then you and your little one can hang the bird feeder outside from a tree and wait for nature to take its course. Kids will love learning about the local birds near your home and will take pride in “hosting” them with the bird feeders they’ve crafted themselves. It’s a rewarding craft that’s fun for kids, easy for you, and helps everyone engage with and enjoy the fauna of the season.

Go Bird-Watching

If you’ve already made a bird feeder with your young kids and it’s piqued their ornithological interests, take things a step further: go bird-watching! Bird-watching is a fun and engaging family activity: it flexes a child’s ability to demonstrate patience, persistence, and focus, and will help them develop an even deeper appreciation for nature in all its splendor. And what’s more, it’s an easy way to get everyone off the couch and out from behind computer or phone screens (a win-win from the kids AND for Mom and Dad).

Take on a Springtime Craft Project

If building bird feeders got your kids’ creative juices flowing, help them engage with even more crafts this season. Use kid-safe scissors and some craft paper to create origami flowers! Kids will love experimenting with a wide array of shapes that lend themselves beautifully to making unique and original florals. And when they’re done, these crafts can make fun, springtime décor for your home. Or try crafting a paper plate turtle: help kids cut pieces of green craft paper for the legs and head of the turtle, and paste to the edges of a paper plate. Then let your young kids go to town decorating the plate “shells” of their turtles.

Whether it’s through artistic pursuits, physical engagement with nature through hikes or bird-watching, or by simply reading together about the season, kids can grow to love this gorgeous time of year. At Right Steps Education, we know how important it is to help kids foster a love of the seasons and a passion for learning about and engaging with nature. Come talk to our talented, dedicated teachers about the ways we’re helping little ones develop a love of spring this season.