Spring Nature Study- Activities and Resources

Springtime offers so many amazing learning opportunities to explore with our children. In this post I share some of my favorite spring nature study activities and resources.

Spring Nature Study Activities

Hunt For Signs of Spring

Take a walk around your neighborhood or in a nearby park and look for signs of spring. If your kids like to draw or take photos, bring pencils and sketchbooks or a camera.

Take a Wildflower Scavenger Hunt

Research about the different types of wildflowers in your area, then hunt your neighborhood or a park to see how many different species you can find!

Dissect a Flower

Pick a flower from your yard and encourage your child to gently take it apart and explore its different parts.

Learn About Plant Anatomy

Learn about the different parts of a plant. Here are some good resources to check out:

-Homeschool Pop- Plant Parts and Functions

-SciShow Kids- Look Inside a Flower

-Ducksters- Biology for Kids- Plants

Go on a Mini Beast Hunt

Hunt for insects and other creepy crawlies in your yard or at the park. If your kids like to sketch or take photos, bring pencils and a sketchbook or a camera.

Learn About Insect Metamorphisis

Metamorphosis is the series of changes an insect goes through in its growth from egg to adult.

There are two different types of insect metamorphosis: complete and incomplete. Insects that undergo incomplete metamorphosis go through 3 life stages: egg, nymph, and adult. Typically, the nymph looks like a miniature version of the adult and grows larger by shedding its exoskeleton and forming a new one, a process known as molting.

Insects that undergo complete metamorphosis go through 4 life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Many larvae do not resemble the adult version of the insect. Fly larva look like tiny white worms. Caterpillars are butterfly larva. Larva typically have large appetites and spend most of their time eating. The pupa stage is mainly inactive- like butterflies in the chrysalis stage.

Common insects that undergo incomplete metamorphosis include dragonflies, damselflies, grasshoppers, cicadas, and cockroaches. Common insects that undergo complete metamorphosis include beetles, bees, ants, butterflies, and moths.

Here are a few videos about insect metamorphosis to check out:

-edZOOcating: Insect Metamorphisis Complete Metamorphosis and Incomplete Metamorphosis

-SciShow Kids: How a Caterpillar Becomes a Butterfly

And you can grab a free butterfly lifecycle coloring sheet here.

Go Bird Watching

Many birds are busy migrating home and building nests in the spring, making it a great time of year for bird watching. Grab a bird guide or a good bird ID app and head outside to watch for birds. My favorite bird identification resource is the Merlin Bird ID app. It's free, easy to use and allows you to ID birds by physical description, photo, or song.

Collect Different Types of Seeds

Take a nature walk and collect or photograph different types of seeds. After your walk sort through the seeds you collected and discuss the differences and similarities.

Learn about the parts of a seed and then choose one to dissect. See if you can identify all its parts.

Learn About the Dandelion Lifecycle

Dandelions go through several life stages. They start out as seeds and then grow into a plants. The plants grows flower buds that bloom into yellow flowers. Next the yellow flowers close and transform into poofy seed heads. The seeds blow away like tiny parachutes and the cycle starts again.

Go on a hunt for dandelion plants in each life stage and use it as an opportunity to talk about plant lifecycles.

For more dandelion themed educational activities, check out my Dandelion Investigation post.

Observe Tadpoles and Frogs in a Pond

Find a pond or stream with tadpoles to observe. Visit often and watch as they grow into mature frogs. Use this as an opportunity to talk about the amphibian lifecycle.

Below are a couple good resources about the amphibian lifecycle to check out:

-National Geographic Kids: The Frog Lifecycle!

-Nature North: From Egg to Frog in 7 Weeks

Look at Pond Water Under a Microscope

Collect some water from a pond and check it out under a microscope. If you look closely you might be able to see some microscopic organisms swimming around.

Plant a Garden

Choose a few vegetables or flowers to plant in your yard and encourage your kids to help care for them and watch them as they grow.

Go Foraging

Go foraging for edible spring plants. Some common ones in the U.S. include dewberries, blackberries, cleavers, dandelions, wild garlic, wild onion, chickweed, purple dead nettle, henbit dead nettle, plantain, and fiddleheads.

As always, when it comes to foraging, don't eat it if you aren't 100% sure about the ID. If you are newer to foraging, look around for foraging classes in your area. It's a good idea to learn some identification tips specific to your location from someone experienced.

Start a Compost Bin

Start a backyard compost bin or heap and use it as an opportunity to learn about decomposition and the nutrient cycle.

I have instructions for setting up a simple compost bin here.

Raise Caterpillars or Ladybugs

What better way is there to learn about insect lifecycles than to actually watch an insect metamorphise? Insect Lore sells caterpillar and ladybug larva kits. They send you the larva and everything you need to watch them grow and metamorphise.

Spring Nature Study Resources

Printables

-Butterfly Lifecycle Coloring Sheet

-Plant Journaling Sheet

-All About Birds Printable Learning Pack

-All About Insects Printable Learning Pack

-Learning in the Garden Printable Unit Study

-Tree Frog STEAM Unit Study from Wild Earth Lab

Books

-Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification

-Reptiles and Amphibians: A Fully Illustrated and Easy-to-use Guide

-National Geographic Pocket Guide: Wildflowers of North America