Early years activity: Nature’s colours
This is a simple outdoor activity that encourages children to explore the natural world through colour, observation and creativity. Children can search for different colours in their surroundings, collect natural treasures and use them to create their own designs, supporting curiosity, language development and a growing appreciation of nature.
Nature’s colours learning aims
- Develop an awareness of colours found in the natural environment
- Encourage children to observe, explore and compare
- Introduce vocabulary such as bright, dark, light, smooth, rough, soft and shade
- Support children’s creativity and self-expression
- Develop thinking skills through collecting, sorting and arranging
- Encourage respect and care for the natural environment.
Resources you will need for this activity
- Colour cards or colour charts
- Baskets or containers for collecting
- Fallen leaves, twigs, petals, stones and other natural loose parts
- Large sheets of paper or cardboard
- Glue (optional, for creating a collage).
Nature’s colours activity outline
- Gather the children and explain that they are going to be colourful nature detectives today and find out how many different colours and shades they can find outside in nature
- Take the children outdoors and encourage them to look carefully at the natural world around them. Give each child a colour card or a simple colour chart and invite them to find natural objects that match each colour, such as green leaves, yellow flowers, brown twigs, red berries or grey stones
- Encourage children to collect fallen or loose natural materials, rather than picking living plants. Talk together about the colours, textures and shapes they discover. Ask questions such as, “Can you find something that is bright green?”, “Is this leaf the same colour as that one?” or “I wonder how many different shades of green we can find?”
- You could give children a challenge: “Can you find a colour you haven’t already spotted?”
- Once the children have collected their treasures, use them to create a Nature’s Colours collage or colour picture. Children can arrange and rearrange their natural materials, exploring their own ideas and designs.
Ideas to extend this activity
- Encourage children to take their colour hunt further by sorting their natural treasures into different shades and tones. Can they find three different greens, or discover the lightest and darkest colours?
- You could create a large collaborative nature colour palette, arranging the objects from light to dark. Encourage children to talk about their discoveries using words such as lighter, darker, brighter, similar and different.
NDNA products to help you with this activity
Loose parts – publication
Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be risk assessed, including for allergies or choking. Children must always have adequate supervision. Resources and materials must always be appropriate for children’s age and stage of development.
- Activity
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