Best garden activities for kids

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Two children with clay faces on tree trunk

Let’s lure our kids away from screens this summer and introduce them to the joys of play, adventure and learning in nature. From sowing wildflower seeds for pollinators, to making bug hotels, scavenger hunts and constructing a mini-pond, here are 12 awesome, wildlife-friendly ideas to keep kids of all ages happy during the summer holidays:

  1. Grow wildflower seeds in a wheelbarrow
  2. Build a wormery
  3. DIY grass people
  4. Grow your name in courgettes
  5. Make a butterfly feeder
  6. Sail a nature boat
  7. Set a bug trap
  8. Construct a bat box
  9. Go on a scavenger hunt
  10. Dig a mini-pond
  11. Build a bug hotel
  12. Make clay faces

As an additional challenge, try listing all the different types of birds you see throughout the holidays and make the kids responsible for checking and topping up your feeders with fresh bird seed each day.

No Husk No Grow No Waste Wild Bird Seed Mix

1. Grow wildflower seeds in a wheelbarrow

Child standing next to wheelbarrow full of wildflowers
Learn how to plant a mini wildflower meadow in an old wheelbarrow
Image: Kids of the Wild

Do you want to show your kids how to attract pollinators and help turn your outdoor space into a wildlife garden?” asks Lucy at Kids of the Wild. Here she shares her tutorial for creating a wildflower meadow in an old wheelbarrow or other fun container. She says you can grow wildflowers at virtually any time of year and kids will love watching their garden grow, as will the butterflies, moths, bees, and other pollinators who come to feast on it.

2. Build a wormery

Homemade wormery made out of plastic bottle
Building a wormery is a great way for kids to learn through play
Image: Little Hearts, Big Love

Making a wormery out of a plastic bottle is a great way to take a closer look and learn more about the worms,” says Louise over at Little Hearts, Big Love. Visit her post for a step-by-step guide to creating your own wormery by adding layers of sharp sand and soil to a clear plastic bottle. Add worms and food, wrap with card and leave in the dark. When you return, kids will be fascinated to see how the worms draw the food from the surface, mixing the layers as they go.

3. DIY grass people

Two grass people made out toilet roll tubes
Grass people are ideal for growing on a windowsill
Image: Whimsical Mumblings

For a great growing project to put on the windowsill, we highly recommend this activity which comes from Sarah at Whimsical Mumblings: grass people. All you need is a pair of old tights, a glass jar, grass seed, compost, paper and decorations. The result is a very funky creation with rapidly growing grass hair. “Don’t forget to give him a haircut now & then!” says Sarah.

4. Grow your name in courgettes

Carved courgettes with name 'Lily'
Kids love scratching their name in a baby courgette and watching it grow
Image: Growing Family

Kids will enjoy becoming a big name in vegetables with this fun activity courtesy of Catherine from Growing Family. Simply take a pointed instrument – not too pointy for small kids – and get them to gently scratch their name in the side of a courgette. Allow the courgette to grow and the name grows with it. Catherine says her children love it: “It’s not just the wow factor of the huge name at the end that they enjoy; it’s also the regular checking to see how big they’re getting and the comparing between each other.”

5. Make a butterfly feeder

Homemade butterfly feeder
A butterfly feeder is a quick and easy project kids will love
Image: Baby Budgeting

Take one paper plate, some string and a mushed up banana and you have all you need to make a fun butterfly feeder to hang in the garden. This thrifty idea comes to you from Becky Goddard-Hill, blogger at Baby Budgeting and author of ‘A Year of Nature Craft and Play’. She says her daughter came home from a Wildlife Trust event super keen to give this little project a go. To make things more interesting, they made one feeder from a plain paper plate and another from a brightly coloured one and will report back on which the butterflies find most attractive.

6. Sail a nature boat

Homemade nature boat
Like Pooh sticks but even more fun, kids love making rafts to sail down stream
Image: Thimble & Twig

An extension of the concept of Pooh sticks, this is a game to supervise carefully but it’s a challenge children will love. All you need is some string or garden twine, a stream and some sticks, twigs and leaves, says Jemma at Thimble & Twig. The challenge: to construct a mini raft from items found in nature, and sail it down the stream to see whose vessel proves the swiftest and most seaworthy.

7. Set a bug trap

Bug pitfall trap in ground
A pitfall bug trap is an excellent way to investigate your garden’s ecosystem
Image: Rainy Day Mum

Pitfall traps are the perfect activity to investigate the minibeasts around your home,” says Cerys of Rainy Day Mum. A fun project for kids which helps them to learn about creepy crawlies and the vital role they play in the ecology of the garden, all you need to build your own bug trap is a paper cup, a trowel, a tray on which to examine your catch and a local bug identification guide. Cerys provides full instructions as well as details on how to get the most out of the experiment with both younger and older children.

8. Construct a bat box

Man holding up homemade bat box
Learn how to make your own bat box, and watch these fascinating creatures close up
Image: Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton

Modern roofing methods are causing a decline in the availability of bat roosting sites, says Joel Ashton of YouTube channel, Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton. In this excellent video, he gives step by step instructions for building and siting your own bat box – a roosting and potential nesting box for these wonderful little mammals. If you’re handy with DIY projects this is a great one to involve your kids in.

9. Go on a scavenger hunt

Painted egg boxes
Celebrate the colours of nature with this novel take on a traditional scavenger hunt
Image copyright: Royal Horticultural Society

Kids will love exploring the colours of the natural environment with this fun garden scavenger hunt from the guys at the Royal Horticultural Society. Just take an old egg box, pre-paint the indentations with bright colours, then send your children into the garden or local park to fill the cells with matching items. A great way to talk about the flowers that grow in the garden, you can even paint the boxes different colours to match the seasons.

10. Dig a mini pond

Homemade wildlife pond container ground
Create a haven for aquatic plants and creatures with this mini wildlife pond
Image: Shutterstock

Bury a bucket or other watertight container in the ground to create an instant mini wildlife pond. This idea from the Wildlife Trusts ‘Wildlife Watch’ comes with complete instructions including how to build and plant your pond so that it thrives and, crucially, so that the wildlife that enters it can easily clamber back out again. A project that requires little other than a spade, a container and some old bricks, rocks, or pebbles, kids will enjoy rolling their sleeves up and getting stuck in.

11. Build a bug hotel

Insect hotel in garden
Head to the Eden Project website for full instructions on building a home for garden bugs
Image: The Eden Project

Why not try making your own insect home – or ‘hotel’ – out of junk, to give bugs somewhere to live? They’ll repay you when they help control pests and even pollinate your plants.” When it comes to recommending projects which lend nature a helping hand, they don’t come much more highly recommended than those coming from the Eden Project in Cornwall. All you need is “recycled stuff”, “natural materials”, and these excellent instructions!

12. Make clay faces

Child standing next to clay face on tree
Plastering clay faces to trees helps kids to bond with their natural environment
Image: Monkey and Mouse

One of our favourite garden activities for kids is making clay faces,” says Jenny at Monkey and Mouse. Using air-dry clay, they squish a circular shape onto trees in the garden or even the shed, moulding a face into the clay to give the denizens of the garden instant personalities. Jenny says, “the best part is searching around for items like twigs, leaves, acorns and other natural things to make the face and hair.”

With these excellent outdoor wildlife mini projects, the summer holiday promises plenty of opportunity for kids to get outdoors and into nature. Share your photos with us over on social media. We’d love to see your projects!

Lead image: Monkey and Mouse

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