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How to encourage outdoor learning with living things.

by The Empowered Educator 2 Comments

how to attract insects to your garden

Inviting living things into garden and play areas provides playful opportunities for children to become active learners as they investigate and see firsthand, lifecycles and the food cycle in action while also learning to respect and care for the environment around them!

Living critters likes bees, insects, worms, lizards, birds and more are an important part of the outdoor learning space for children  so it's important to embrace the possibilities!

So how do we as parents, carers and educators initiate practices that encourage bugs and
native birds into our backyard for children to investigate and learn from?

Does it need to be expensive or time consuming? Definitely not!!With some simple materials and a little creative inspiration you can easily begin attracting bugs, insects and other living creatures into your outdoor spaces.

Not sure how to start or the type of projects and experiences you could plan for the children in your care? I've created a list of easy project ideas below to help get you motivated!

Active Learning with Living Things - Project Ideas for Children

  • Take photos of special animal friends that might visit frequently. Label & display.
  • Help older children to research on the internet to find basic information and pictures.
  • Provide prompts for conversation about what they saw and where.
  • Look at books and pick out bugs, animals and critters they might have seen or can look for.
  • Observe & discuss life and food cycles.
  • Go wandering outside with magnifying glasses.
  • Display photos and information about things the children have seen on walks or in the backyard.
  • Go on a birdwatching excursion with notepads, pencils for sketching, camera & binoculars.
  • Incorporate familiar animals and bugs into craft, story and song time.
  • Build nesting boxes & bird feeders with scrap wood and tools.
  • Collect a bug or insect and make a temporary habitat for them. Research care needs.
  • Go on a hunt for 'dirt creatures'.

How to Attract Living Things in your Outdoor Spaces

So you want to dive in and try out some of the projects and activities above but there isn't a butterfly, bee or bug in sight when you wander the outdoor areas? Don't worry, I've got ideas to help you begin attracting living things to your outdoor learning environments as well! Why not try incorporating one of the simple ideas or materials below? Make sure to involve the children as well!

  • Worm farms/Bug hotels.
  • Compost piles & mulch, groundcovers.
  • Native plants & fruit/nectar/seed planting.
  • Vegetable & flower gardens.
  • Ponds/water habitats.
  • Rocks, logs, leaf matter and boulders.
  • Tree hollows, nesting boxes.
  • Water sources.

It is so important that we, as adults, encourage children to explore their backyard environment through play and hands on investigation. If you would like to get started with a project straight away but need some help with the steps I have you covered with this collection of easy ideas from around the internet. Click the links under the photos to find out more about how to start the project. Let's explore!

If you need some 'done for you' support to help incorporate sustainability into your planning you will find a huge collection of resources for eco friendly fun in my Empowered Ed shop here.

Make Your Own Bug Hotels - Ideas & Inspiration

I love bug hotels and they can be big or small, made by younger or older children and form the basis for an interesting and ongoing group activity over time. So many possibilities and so many easy ways to make one - best of all they are a great way to upcycle and recycle materials! Take a look at the clever ideas below and get ready to make your first bug hotel!

Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
  • How to Build a Bug Hotel – The Gingerbread House
  • Make your own Bug Hotel – Mother Natured
  • Bug Hotel – Fireflies and Mudflies
  • DIY insect hotel for Kids – Little Bins for Little Hands
  • Bug Bottle Hotel – Red Ted Art
  • Step by Step Backyard Bug Hotel - CBC Parents/Small Potatoes

Ideas to Attract Butterflies into your Backyard

What child isn't enchanted when they see a butterfly go past? There is so much more to the butterfly than just the hungy caterpiller lifecycle to explore though! You will be amazed at how setting up a few butterfly friendly environments increase butterfly numbers in your play areas. Try some of the ideas below then have fun investigating with the children!

Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
  • Plants to Attract Butterflies – The Flying Couponer
  • Make a DIY butterfly feeder – Baby Budgeting
  • Raising Butterflies – Muddy Boots and Diamonds
  • See a Butterfly emerge from chrysalis video! - Kristen Hewitt

How to House, Look After & Use Worms

Worms are one of the easiest living things to bring into your learning space and they offer so many valuable learning opportunities including what to feed them, what they need to thrive, building a habit, composting and using worm juice along with sensory exploration. We had so much fun making our worm towers but I've also included some other ideas below for you to try as well!

Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
  • Build your own Wormery – Preschool Powol Packets
  • Composting With Worms – Share it Science
  • Worm Tower- The Empowered Educator
  • Build a Worm Bucket - Playdough to Plato

Simple Projects to attract Birds, Bees, Snails & Butterflies

There are so many small living things that we can attract to the garden. I love these ideas. What could you try tomorrow with the materials you already have on hand?

Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
Encourage outdoor learning with living things using these simple project and play ideas for educators, teachers and parents!
  • How to make a Mason Bee Habitat– Natural Beach Living
  • Turn an orange into a bird feeder – Kids Chaos
  • Make your own birdbath - The Empowered Educator
  • Make your own Snail Habitat – Preschool Powol Packets
  • Make Bird's Nest Helpers – Playdough to Plato
  • Make a Bee Bath – Garden Therapy
  • Make a Lizard Lounge for Geckos & Skinks – Stuff NZ

I hope this post has inspired you to try a few new ideas and projects that will help you to attract living things into your outdoor play spaces - they really do provide so many wonderful learning moments! If you want more simple tips and ideas like the ones in this post to try, you will find them in the Empowered Ed shop under the sustainability category here.

How to Encourage Outdoor Learning with Living Things

A Little About Me

Jodie Clarke is an early childhood professional supporting educators who want and need to stay passionate about the work they do! She has 30 years hands-on experience in the early childhood and human services sectors across many different roles.


Jodie is mum to 3 in Australia and has already helped thousands of educators with their work through her popular blog posts, activity ideas, online training and e-books.

Filed Under: outdoor fun, outdoor play, outside play, sustainability Tagged With: ecofriendly, gardening with kids, outdoor learning

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Comments

  1. Caroline_boles says

    26/07/2019 at 6:05 pm

    I love this newsletter, it has come at a time where we are developing our outside area. We don’t particularly want to do the same things outside as we do inside so we want to divide our small garden into risky play areas, creative and enquiring spaces. We are all so excited!

    Reply
  2. Jungmee says

    06/09/2019 at 11:29 am

    That is Awesome ideas!

    Reply

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Jodie
Hi, I'm Jode, Mum to twins and a teen, and an early childhood educator.
I love to share ideas & resources for play based learning
Find out more about me here...

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