The signs of Spring are slowly beginning to show themselves where I live and we are ecstatic! Enjoying the outdoors and investigating the signs of spring is the perfect “unstructured nature play” activity to do as a family.

Celebrating Spring as a family will bring joy into your home, help develop your children’s observational skills, foster your children’s love for learning and appreciating nature. Let go as the parent and be joyous with your children outside!

The following is a list of questions to use to help get your children into noticing Spring:

• What does the rain/wind smell, taste and sound like?
• How do the clouds look differently than they did in the wintertime?
• Do you notice any new baby critters that were not outside a couple of days ago?
• Are any plants starting to bulb/develop/grow?
• What species of birds are starting to build their nests?
• How is nighttime different now that it is spring? Do you hear different animals outside? Do you notice different sounds/smells/sights?

You could even print out a calender to mark together when you notice the signs of spring. We love to go on  nature scavenger hunts where we look for different sights, smells or noises outside. Have fun welcoming Spring!