Backyard Summer Camp: Nature Camp

Into the backyard we go for our own take on our own DIY Backyard Summer Camp with our theme this week being nature camp. I am not a nature fan, but I put on a happy face and take my kids outside all the time, and I have always done that, from the time my oldest was a baby.

Backyard Summer Camp: Nature Camp

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Let’s have some fun in the backyard, and rediscover nature. Or maybe you are going to be exploring nature in your backyard for the first time because your “normal” life is busy, or you have moved and have a new yard to explore like us.

I don’t believe that we should have our kids scheduled for every minute of every day. My kids don’t expect me to entertain them. I’m pretty sure that the only time they tell me that they are bored and expect me to entertain them is because I am doing something very exciting, like cleaning a toilet. Yes, apparently that is my kids’ idea of a fun time.

Nature Camp Activities

I do like the idea of fun activities that we can do together periodically throughout the week with a theme.

Let’s grow some seeds! – Start the week off planting some seeds. When you plan fast-growing seeds in a container that has a lid. You can also pick up seed starter kits if you don’t have anything else you can use.

Backyard Summer Camp: Bundle

Play Tic Tac Toe – We made a fun little tic tac toe set with rocks, sticks, and something. Anything works for this. The patio, a tree stump, or the grass. All you need are rocks, sticks, and paint.

Scavenger Hunt – Let’s head outside and look at nature. Check out the items as you find them. To add something more to it, either take pictures or draw pictures of them in their natural space.

Clay Nature Impressions – Buy some clay, because I don’t have time to make some right now, and sometimes I just want to take the easy way.

Find some pieces of nature that you like, a rock, a flower, a stick, whatever. And use them to create impressions of them by pressing them into the clay. Once the clay dries, paint your clay impressions.

Backyard Summer Camp: Nature Theme

Nature Bookmarks – Collect small leaves, flower petals and grab your laminator. Lay the leaves and flower petals out in a single layer, in your sheet.

Make Mud Pies – Fun in the dirt, or fun in the kitchen to make a treat to enjoy, you decide. Maybe both, but not at the same time.

Make a fairy garden – There are so many ways you can create a cute fairy garden in your yard. You can use small clay pots, turn them upside down and paint them to look like houses, create a little stone path, and add some flowers. You can even buy a fairy garden set.

Enjoy being out in nature. Let your kids explore. Let them get dirty. I have so many memories of making mud pies and soups and everything else with my sister. I’d love to know how many spoons my grandmother went through as we played outside.