Nature trail-tastic guide - Sustrans
Nature trail-tastic guide - Sustrans Nature trail-tastic guide - Sustrans
Nature trail-tastic page 1/2 When is a walk not a walk? When it’s a hunt! Get your kids more excited about trips outside with these great ideas to make walks more interesting. Most need no preparation and so can be pulled out of the hat when needed: perfect for when little legs start to tire and pleas of ‘are we there yet’ begin. Families Play 4 11 30mins 2hrs What you need • Colour swatches from a DIY store • pads and pencils to make lists • templates or pictures of shapes • textured materials (optional). Things to remember When heading out on adventures, wear appropriate clothing, especially if wet. Snacks, drinks, treats and extra layers are always wise and take a map if necessary. Imaginary hunt Make up an imaginary creature such as a pixie, fairy, elf or dragon. The challenge is to find everything that your creature might need to survive. • Where will it make its home? • What would it use to make its home? • What would it wear? • Where will it sleep? • What might it eat? • Which animals are its friends, which its foe? If you’re organised, come up with a list beforehand of what to look for. If not, the children can write down the things they can think of or simply just tell you them. Shape hunt Like the texture hunt described overleaf, this helps children to really observe their surroundings. Look around for everyday shapes found in nature. You can be very creative with this one. Can you find triangles in the trees or squares amongst the stones? Try looking for circles, ovals, spirals, rectangles, stars and pentagons. What other shapes are there which can’t be described? Look on the ground, in the sky and at animals and insects as well as plants and anything else you can see. For younger children you could provide templates or pictures of shapes to help them. Get more free range fun at www.sustrans.org.uk/freerangekids page 1/2
<strong>Nature</strong> <strong>trail</strong>-<strong>tastic</strong><br />
page 1/2<br />
When is a walk not a walk? When it’s a hunt! Get your kids more<br />
excited about trips outside with these great ideas to make walks<br />
more interesting. Most need no preparation and so can be pulled<br />
out of the hat when needed: perfect for when little legs start to<br />
tire and pleas of ‘are we there yet’ begin.<br />
Families<br />
Play 4 11 30mins 2hrs<br />
What you need<br />
• Colour swatches from a DIY store<br />
• pads and pencils to make lists<br />
• templates or pictures of shapes<br />
• textured materials (optional).<br />
Things to remember<br />
When heading out on adventures, wear<br />
appropriate clothing, especially if wet.<br />
Snacks, drinks, treats and extra layers are<br />
always wise and take a map if necessary.<br />
Imaginary hunt<br />
Make up an imaginary creature such as a pixie, fairy, elf<br />
or dragon. The challenge is to find everything that your<br />
creature might need to survive.<br />
• Where will it make its home?<br />
• What would it use to make its home?<br />
• What would it wear?<br />
• Where will it sleep?<br />
• What might it eat?<br />
• Which animals are its friends, which its foe?<br />
If you’re organised, come up with a list beforehand of<br />
what to look for. If not, the children can write down the<br />
things they can think of or simply just tell you them.<br />
Shape hunt<br />
Like the texture hunt described overleaf, this helps<br />
children to really observe their surroundings. Look<br />
around for everyday shapes found in nature. You can be<br />
very creative with this one. Can you find triangles in the<br />
trees or squares amongst the stones? Try looking for<br />
circles, ovals, spirals, rectangles, stars and pentagons.<br />
What other shapes are there which can’t be described?<br />
Look on the ground, in the sky and at animals and<br />
insects as well as plants and anything else you can see.<br />
For younger children you could provide templates or<br />
pictures of shapes to help them.<br />
Get more free range fun at www.sustrans.org.uk/freerangekids page 1/2
<strong>Nature</strong> <strong>trail</strong>-<strong>tastic</strong><br />
page 2/2<br />
Colour hunt<br />
Pick up a couple of bright, colour paint swatches<br />
from your local DIY superstore. Can you find a natural<br />
example of each shade?<br />
Make a map<br />
See if your child can make a map of where you walk,<br />
marking off important features like crossroads, ponds<br />
and landmarks. Can they use the map to help you all<br />
get back?<br />
Leave a natural <strong>trail</strong><br />
Use sticks, stones, leaves and any other ideas you can<br />
come up with to mark where you have been. Can you<br />
follow it in reverse to get home?<br />
win<br />
FREE<br />
books<br />
Texture hunt<br />
Has this helped you get active? Help us improve our resources by taking our quick survey. You could win two books<br />
full of free range fun: Cool Camping Kids and Make It Wild! Enter now at https://survey.sustrans.org.uk/freerangekids<br />
<strong>Sustrans</strong> is the charity that’s enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public<br />
transport for more of the journeys we make every day. It’s time we all began making<br />
smarter travel choices. Make your move. Support <strong>Sustrans</strong> today. www.sustrans.org.uk<br />
© <strong>Sustrans</strong> 2012. Registered Charity No. 326550 (England and Wales) SCO39263 (Scotland). While every effort has been made to<br />
ensure that the activities described on the activity sheets are safe, all activities are undertaken at your risk and <strong>Sustrans</strong> cannot<br />
be held responsible for accidents or injury resulting from your taking part. Imagery © <strong>Sustrans</strong>.<br />
What can you feel – something soft, smooth, rough,<br />
prickly, cold, warm, wet or slimy? Come up with a ticklist<br />
before leaving or make it up as you go along. With<br />
younger children, perhaps find some textured materials<br />
beforehand and get them to look for things that match.
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