Nature Experiments for Kids

Our beautiful earth offers countless nature experiments for kids to enjoy. Get outdoors with your family and breathe in the fresh air. Play with the dirt, rocks, and sand -- all the natural elements kids love to dig into!

Your children will quickly discover the outdoors is not only a fun place to play, but the place where animals make their homes and plants and trees grow. You'll all find out that there's a lot more to see and do outside than you thought!

Follow the links below to find nature experiments that will give your kids a whole new appreciation of the great outdoors.

Toad Shelter

Turn a broken flower pot or bowl into a backyard observatory for little croakers.

Whifflepoof Trail Game

Use a small log and nails to make a whifflepoof, then put your kids' tracking skills to the test.

Keep reading to learn how your family can create a simple flower pot shelter for your friendly neighborhood toads.

For more ideas on nature-related crafts and activities to do with kids, see:

Nature Crafts
Nature Craft Activities for Kids
Nature Craft Projects for Kids

Toad Shelter Activity for Kids

In this fun nature experiment, your kids will make a toad shelter for your friendly backyard amphibians. Toads don't really give us warts, like the old wives' tale suggests, but they do eat lots of insect pests.

Create a toad shelter and your kids will get to observe their amphibious ways!

What You'll Need:

Broken ceramic flower pot or bowl
Mosses and soft leaves
Plenty of moisture

How to Make a Toad Shelter:

Step 1: Use a broken pot or bowl turned with the curved side up as a toad shelter. Line the ground beneath the pot with moist moss and leaves.

Step 2: Make sure you put the pots near an area where there is plenty of water. Then wait for the toads to arrive. They'll eat lots of bugs and give you plenty to look at.

Ready for more outdoor fun? Teach your kids trail tracking skills with a crafty nature game on the next page.

For more ideas on nature-related crafts and activities to do with kids, see:

Nature Crafts
Nature Craft Activities for Kids
Nature Craft Projects for Kids

Whifflepoof Trail Game for Kids

This whifflepoof trail game for kids is a great nature experiment for teaching tracking skills. Try playing it with your kids during your next trip to the woods or the park.

What You'll Need:

Small log (about 4 inches in diameter, 18 inches long)
A few dozen large nails
Screw eye
Heavy twine

How to Play the Whifflepoof Trail Game: An adult or parent should assist kids with the nails and screws in this project.Step 1: Take a small log and drive a few dozen nails into it, leaving about two inches of each nail still sticking out, until the log bristles with nails. Step 2: Take a large screw eye and screw it into one end of the log. Tie a length of rope about four feet long to the screw eye.

Step 3: To play the game, have one person drag the whifflepoof through woods or an open field while the other players close their eyes.

The person dragging the whifflepoof should make as long a trail as possible in the area. When the trail is done, the rest of the players attempt to follow it.

For more ideas on nature-related crafts and activities to do with kids, see:

Nature Crafts
Nature Craft Activities for Kids
Nature Craft Projects for Kids

ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERS

Toad Shelter by contributing writers Maria Birmingham, Karen E. Bledsoe, and Kelly Milner Halls