Nature Activity Books for Young Explorers

It’s so much fun to explore nature. You can just wander, observe, and learn so much.

But, sometimes you want some help guiding you and teaching you. I’ve found a few nature activity books that do just that and I wanted to tell you about them.

They’re fun. They’ll inspire you to get outside. And, you’ll learn a lot in the process.

Disclosure: The Nature Arts and Crafts ebook was provided to me free of charge, the other two books I purchased myself. They’re all books that I highly recommend! There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

We used all three of these nature activity books for summer learning. We explored our backyard and made some fun creations inspired by nature. These books all got two thumbs up from each of my girls (and me too).

I hope we get them out again and again!

A Little Bit of Dirt by Asia Citro

Get inspired to explore and create with A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature by Asia Citro. It’s got fun ideas for nature exploration, and creative ways to use nature finds.

You can make Texture Garden, play Rain Drums, or do some Pounding Art. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I love that the ideas appeal to all ages of kids, from toddlers and preschoolers to my own elementary aged kids.

We had tons of fun making our Acrylic Paint Sun Print t shirts. The instructions were clear and the project was easy for my girls to do. Plus, the results were stunning!

We have plans for several more projects in this book. It should be fun!

100 Backyard Activities by Colleen Kessler

Learn all you can about your own yard with this fun book, 100 Backyard Activities That are the Dirtiest, Coolest, Creepy-Crawliest Ever by Colleen Kessler. It’s packed full of ideas to help you learn all about the creatures and plants in your own backyard.

This book is better suited for your older kids in elementary or even middle school, but it can also work great with mixed age groups.

We decided to try some of the roly poly investigation activities because we have so many of those fun little bugs living around our yard. My girls made the Critter Choice Container and then performed the experiments. The were observing, recording, and having fun. They learned a lot!

There are just so many ideas in this book, that we’ll be getting it out year after year. It will be awhile before my kids grow out of this one!

Nature Arts and Crafts Printables by Penny Whitehouse

This fun ebook (and printable pack) of Nature Arts and Crafts by Penny Whitehouse, will inspire you to get out and get creative with nature. You’ll find over 30 printables to help you get creative from making patterns and finding symmetry to fun nature weaving ideas. You just need to print the page for the activity you’ll want to do.

This book is divided into two sections. The first will show you all the fun activities and the second section has all the printables.

We spent a fun afternoon creating with the Nature Dress Up printables. The printable includes the face, arms, and legs, and you get to use nature finds to make all the clothes, hair, and shoes for your sweet little nature kids. We had a lot of fun and my girls found some creative ways to make their clothes.

This fun book, cannot be found on Amazon like the other two, but you can find it here. It’s a great source for nature fun and you can use the printables over and over again since you’ll be printing them yourself.

Grab one of these nature activity books

All of these fun nature activity books inspired my girls and I to get out and explore nature. We had fun, learned a lot, and spent some time together. What could be better?

Which one of these books are you most excited to try?

If you enjoyed these nature activity books, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can save the photo below on Pinterest.

You may also enjoy one of these outdoor kids activities:

Parts of a Dandelion Nature Exploration

Bird Watching Journal

Forest Treasure Jars

How to Attract Fireflies at Inspiration Laboratories