15 Nature Activities for Toddlers

Inside: Teach your preschoolers about the outdoors with these nature activities for toddlers. Perfect for the warmer spring and summer weather.

As we transition into the nicer weather of the spring and summer, sunshine calls for spending more time outside with the toddlers.

We spent months stuck inside during the rain and cold, so we have to take advantage of the outdoors while we can!

This makes now a great time for exploring nature with your preschoolers, and even bringing some of it into the classroom with you.

These 15 nature activities are great age-appropriate opportunities to teach about nature to your 2 and 3 year olds.

15 Nature Activities for Toddlers

1. Nature Necklaces – Use twigs and nature materials to thread beads onto a necklace.
2. DIY Paintbrushes – Have your toddlers gather nature materials from outside and rubber-band them onto sticks, creating your own paintbrushes that create unique textures. (Apple Green Cottage)
3. Picking Sunflower Seeds – Toddlers will use large plastic tweezers to pluck sunflower seeds out of sunflowers for fine motor practice.
4. Scavenger Hunt Walk – Create a visual list of things to be found in nature and go on a scavenger walk with your toddlers to look for each of the items. (Life with my Littles)
5. Bird Nest Sensory Bin – Fill your sensory bin with birdseed, twigs, and pretend birds for toddlers to arrange the materials into their own nests. (Fantastic Fun and Learning)
6. Dandelion Playdough – Have toddlers help gather dandelions from outside to use to naturally dye your playdough yellow. (Parenting Chaos)
7. Acorn Stampers – Gather acorns and other small nature materials from outside to use as stampers in playdough. (Danya Banya)
8. Tree Easel – For a fun outdoor art experience, pin paper to a tree to use as a nature easel when painting. (Teach Preschool)
9. Nature Crowns – Use construction paper to create paper crowns, gluing nature materials onto them as decoration. (Small Hands in the Big World)
10. Sensory Bag – Fill a ziplock bag with hair gel and various flowers, attaching it to the window for a sensory experience. (Hands On as We Grow)
11. Rock Tracing – Set out letter cards and small rocks for toddlers to trace the letters with them. (Where Imagination Grows)
12. Nature Collages – Toddlers will glue various pieces of flowers and plants onto paper to create a nature collage. (Where Imagination Grows)
13. Leaf Threading – Use a safe, large plastic needle and hole-punched fake flower petals for toddlers to practice threading. (Munchkins and Moms)
14. Exploring Seeds – Allow preschoolers to explore the seeds from the foods we eat hands-on to learn about how our food grows. (Preschool Tool Kit)
15. Garden Yoga – These yoga poses for kids are based around nature found in the garden, such as sprouts and rain. (Pink Oatmeal)

More outdoor activities:

44 Outdoor Learning Activities for Kids

Outdoor Activities for Small Areas

18 Art Activities for Outdoors