Nature activity for kids: Wild world colour palette

There are lots of wonderful reasons why encouraging children to connect with nature is beneficial. Regular positive interactions with nature help children to:

• Develop a caring attitude towards the environment,
• Feel connected to the larger universe of living things. This helps children to grow in empathy and self-esteem as they learn to respect and care for the world around them, and
• Take in the details; In today’s busy world, where rushing by often means that the details of life are missed, this ability to pause, focus and pay close attention, are particularly important.

Fresh new writer and illustrator duo, Doodles & Scribbles, have created a range of beautiful, nature-themed books and activity boxes, that are designed to encourage children to pause and notice nature, wherever they may live. Such an important activity, that we are sharing one of their suggestions for reconnecting with nature on the site today.

Author, Lucy Reynolds, and illustrator, Jenna Herman, are both mums to very little boys, and have been constantly delighted by their engagement with nature, and the natural world around them. They want to encourage other little explorers everywhere to share this focus and through their latest book, Hedgehogs Don’t Live in the City!, they show how curiosity and inquisitiveness can lead to wondrous journeys of discovery:

“A whistle and purr make Grace stop in her tracks,
Every time the leaves stir:
‘Listen! What was that?’.”

The book has been published with input from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, and support from Ben Fogle, who comments,

‘Hedgehogs are precious and rare – this book celebrates the wonder of nature, and what we can all do together to preserve this incredible species’.

This is a charming book, as is its sister title, Parrots Don’t Live in the City!, and we are lucky to be able to share a really fun nature themed activity to accompany these titles – perfect for your next foray into a park, playground or wild space.

Simply download ‘Nature’s Colour Palette’ here, and then take your little one out and about – all they need to do is to find an item from the natural world to match each colour on the palette.

It’s lovely to collect these in an old egg carton – one compartment for each colour. Then take your finds home, create a beautiful rainbow, and explore all the things you’ve found together. You’ll be amazed what you find – even in a tiny patch of grass or hedgerow you’ll find an array of wonderful colours if you pause to notice. And if you repeat this activity through the seasons, you’ll notice how the palette changes through the year. A simple and lovely way to get little children out and about, spotting, collecting, and asking questions about the natural world around them.

If you are looking for more nature-based activities, do take a look at some of the other content on the site, including:

• A simple painting activity for toddlers,
• Easy sensory bags, to really allow your babies to get stuck into nature too,
• An amazing list of 10 ways your family can connect with the outdoors in the summer, and
• What about a couple of foraging recipes for the kids to get stuck into; how about Chickweed Sandwiches, or Wild Cherry Pie?

If you like this activity, do subscribe to the site’s email newsletter, and we will ssend you new stuff every single week. We’ll try not to annoy you doing so, of course!

Thanks for coming, and see you soon.

Helen

Please note:

• Hedgehogs Don’t Live in the City! and Parrots Don’t Live in the City! are available in Waterstones stores and the best independent bookshops up and down the country
• They are also available with accompanying Gift Activity Sets and beautiful prints directly from www.doodlesandscribbles.co.uk
• RRP: £7.99 or both books available as a bundle for £13.99 from www.doodlesandscribbles.co.uk

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!

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