Whether you’re six or sixty, a walk in the woods is one of the best things you can do. The fresh air is brilliant for both your physical and mental health, and it connects you to nature in a way that we sometimes don’t even realise we’re lacking when we live busy lives and spend lots of time in towns and cities.
Children have great fun stomping through undergrowth, climbing fallen trees and making up games using their imagination, prowling through the great outdoors while they pretend to be dinosaurs and hunters and outlaws. But, sometimes a simple walk in the woods doesn’t quite cut it. Instead, it needs to have a little more structure to it, especially if you’re out and about with little ones who are feeling fatigued. So, how about presenting your children with a nature trail checklist? A checklist will make a woodland walk interesting, helping you and your children to spot things you wouldn’t usually notice and encouraging those little legs to walk further without complaint.
Print off the list of things to find below, and get wrapped in your best quality outdoor clothes – it’s time for an adventure!
Can you find…
- a nibbled leaf
- an animal footprint in the mud
- a smooth pebble
- a soft feather
SPRING
- a lacy leaf skeleton
- a prickly pine needle
- a silky flower petal
- a dewy blade of grass
- a sticky leaf bud
- a yellow daffodil
- a glistening snail trail
Photo by Alex Blăjan on Unsplash
SUMMER
- a buzzing bumblebee
- a ladybird with four spots on her back
- a colony of busy ants
- a fuzzy caterpillar
- a long-legged grasshopper
- a butterfly dancing on the breeze
- a clump of stinging nettles
AUTUMN
- a silky spider’s web
- a shiny conker
- a spiky conker case
- a wisp of mist
- a leaf the colour of a pumpkin
- a wriggly worm
WINTER
- a frost-covered leaf
- a fallen pine cone
- a cluster of ruby-red berries
- a glossy holly leaf
Touch something that is…
- prickly
- silky
- sludgy
- scratchy
Can you hear…
- twittering birds
- cracking twigs
- rustling leaves
- running water
Point to something that is…
- brown
- green
- red
- yellow
Can you count…
- 3 mushrooms
- 5 twigs
- 2 fallen trees
- 1 stream
- 4 birds
As you can see, there are plenty of things on this list to find in the woods. However, some of them are best suited to particular times of the year, so consider printing it off in sections and taking it along on your woodland walks over the next twelve months – it’s a great way to make sure your family is getting enough time with nature and noticing the beauty of the world around them. And if you’d like some more scavenger hunt inspiration, check out the resources from the Woodland Trust – they have lots of fun activities to try with your little ones.
Other Posts of Interest:
- Outdoors and Happy: Why Getting Outdoors is Good for You
- Why a Trip to the Forest is Good for those with Sensory Processing Disorder
- Rainbow Forest Dean Making
In collaboration with Rachael Matthews
What a great idea. I think it’s so important for children to get outside, especially during the winter months. This is the perfect way to do it, my two love looking for things!
Nat.x