Families: get ready for World Wildlife Day! On 3rd March each year, we celebrate UN World Wildlife Day, an important event that is all about protecting nature’s flora and fauna. At nursery age, little ones are naturally curious and eager to learn more about the world around them. World Wildlife Day is therefore the perfect opportunity to inspire a greater love for nature and wildlife in our young. Exploring the wonders of plants, trees, and the animal kingdom teaches them more about the world and also helps children develop key skills like language, creativity, and empathy. Whether through outdoor play or wildlife-themed activities, engaging with nature’s wildlife can therefore create valuable early learning experiences. With that in mind, today’s post outlines some simple activities that children, including those under five*, can take part in to celebrate World Wildlife Day. We also highlight some of the benefits of nature to children towards the end of the post.
Wildlife-Themed Activities for Nursery Children
Getting outdoors is the best way to see wildlife, especially if your family lives near a park or the countryside. Rambles, picnics, and simple walks are all obvious options and, of course, wildlife sanctuaries are a good choice if you have one nearby. That said, while such outdoor options are amongst the best ways for children to connect with nature, sometimes they’re simply not possible. However, when that’s the case, there are plenty of other possibilities including bringing the wonders of wildlife into your nursery, home, or garden. Here are some engaging, age-appropriate activities that will allow children to take part in World Wildlife Day whatever their circumstances:
Animal Mask Craft
Encourage little ones, under supervision, to make their favourite animal masks using paper plates, paint, and string. Children will love the finished result! What’s more, they are sure to take on the characters of animals once they wear their creations, for example, with a roar from behind a tiger mask. Not only does this activity spark creativity, but it also allows children to role-play, learn about different creatures, and immerse themselves in different imaginary scenarios.
Wildlife Art
Most children naturally take to drawing, so encouraging them to draw wild animals, plants and birds will be a popular suggestion, especially around the time of World Wildlife Day. For example, they could try drawing British mammals like rabbits and squirrels, jungle animals like elephants and tigers, or sea creatures like dolphins and whales. To make it easier, perhaps give them some visual reference to inspire them. They could choose from a variety of media, be it pencils, crayons, paints, or collages — or something entirely different. Playdough or salt dough models are also an option. Children naturally love to create and, once complete, perhaps display their pieces to encourage future progress.
Wildlife Spotting
Wildlife is all around us, even in cities like London. From pigeons, robins, bats and urban foxes to ladybirds, millipedes and ants, there are lots of creatures to see if you know where to look. To help with such activities, check out our free, downloadable wildlife reference sheets. We have one for birds, another for mammals, one for minibeasts and a lovely one for butterflies. They’re all totally free – simply download and print.
Wildlife Story Time
Reading books about wildlife will introduce children to new animals and habitats. Great options for younger under-fives include ‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell and ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’ by Bill Martin Jr. (author) and Eric Carle (illustrator). Also, of course, children and families have the option to tell each other made-up stories. They’re a great way to encourage creative thinking and can be approached in a number of different ways. For example, a parent could tell a story first to give the child an idea of how to approach storytelling, or one family member could start the story and then another could make up the next part and so on. In this way, the story would evolve in surprising and unpredictable ways!
Bird Feeder Fun
Try making some simple bird feeders with your children. There are lots of easy ways to make them as outlined in our dedicated guide, bird feeder ideas for children. Hanging these outside allows children to observe birds up close and learn to recognise different species. What’s more, children will adore it when birds come to visit their creations. That said, teach children to be patient; birds can take a while before they begin to trust anything new.
Animal Yoga
Turn movement into learning by encouraging children to mimic animal movements. For example, they can hop like a frog, prowl like a cat, bounce like a kangaroo, or try to slither like a snake. Such activities will be fun and help them develop strength, coordination, and body awareness.
Nature Scavenger Hunts
Create a simple scavenger hunt using pictures, words, or our free nature hunt sheets to encourage children to find different natural objects like leaves, feathers, and pine cones. This activity builds children’s observation skills, gives them deep insights into nature, and instils in them a better appreciation for the environment. Currently, free reference sheets are available for an autumn nature hunt, a winter nature hunt, and a leaves scavenger hunt. Also check out our Exploring Spring with Under-5s activity idea, which is a similar concept (new reference sheet to follow later this year).
Sensory Nature Play
Fill a tray with natural materials like leaves, pine cones, wheat ears, and sand, and let age-appropriate children explore the different textures. You could even play a game where they close their eyes and try to guess what they’re touching. This hands-on experience aids sensory development and fine motor skills while also encouraging children to appreciate the finer details of natural things.
Wildlife-Themed Songs and Rhymes
Another simple way for under-fives to celebrate World Wildlife Day is to sing songs and rhymes about animals. Examples include 5 Little Ducks Go Swimming One Day, Incy Wincy Spider, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Old MacDonald Had a Farm. This activity helps reinforce language development and introduces children to different wildlife in a fun and engaging way.
Simple Science with Plants
Engage children with easy science experiments, like planting seeds and watching them grow or observing how water moves through a flower’s stem using food colouring. Such activities are fascinating for children and help them understand basic biological concepts in an interactive way.
The Benefits of Connecting Young Children with Nature
Spending time in nature or learning about wildlife isn’t just fun—it has incredible benefits for early childhood development. To harness such benefits, families can incorporate nature-based learning into children’s routines in a variety of ways. Examples include organising outdoor exploration sessions, setting up small wildlife observation areas, and using nature-themed storytelling to engage the young learners. Connecting children with nature:
- Encourages curiosity and creativity. For example, observing bugs, leaves, or birds encourages children to ask questions and think creatively about the world around them.
- Supports language development. For example, talking about animals, their sounds, and habitats helps build new vocabulary and boosts communication skills.
- Enhances emotional well-being. For example, research shows that spending time in nature reduces stress and promotes calmness, even in young children.
- Teaches empathy and responsibility. For example, caring for plants, feeding birds, or learning about endangered animals helps children understand their needs more deeply and encourages greater kindness towards living things.
- Benefits children academically. For example, in studies, even just a view of green outdoor space has been shown to boost academic performance.
These are just a few of the many benefits that spending time in and around nature has for children. Learn more about the importance of nature and its many benefits to children here.
Make Wildlife a Natural Part of Children’s Lives
Incorporating wildlife into children’s activities doesn’t have to be limited to one day. Encouraging youngsters to notice the birds in the garden, look for insects on nature walks, or watch the changing seasons can gift them a lifelong love of nature. Parents and families can make wildlife observation a regular habit, perhaps by keeping a simple nature sketchbook where children can draw or glue in pictures of what they see, or by creating a wildlife corner at home with books, nature finds, and small child-safe plants. Even setting up a bird-watching station near a window can turn everyday moments into exciting learning opportunities. By celebrating World Wildlife Day, we can inspire the next generation of nature lovers—one little explorer at a time!
Children Love Nature at Little Cedars Nursery, Streatham
At Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham, we love helping children connect more deeply with nature — we understand how important it is to their learning and development. As well as having natural, open, spaces nearby, children also get to enjoy and learn from the nursery’s plant and vegetable area. There, they can nurture plants as well as harvest their own nursery-grown vegetables. They love seeing the fruits (and vegetables!) of their labour and it gives them an enormous feeling of achievement. In addition, such nature-based nursery activities teach children valuable lessons about empathy, responsibility, cause and effect, how their efforts can be rewarded, where food comes from, and the circle of life. It’s all just one small part of the wider early years education that children receive at Little Cedars Nursery.
If you are considering a possible nursery place for your baby or child at Little Cedars Day Nursery, Streatham, please get in touch:
Little Cedars Nursery is a wonderful nursery in Streatham, London SW16. The high-quality setting supports free childcare for eligible children under five and babies as young as 9 months. It is rated as a Good Provider by Ofsted. As well as serving Streatham families, the setting may also be a convenient choice for families from Tooting, Furzedown, Balham, Norbury and Colliers Wood.
* Children, especially the young, should be supervised appropriately by a responsible adult. Also, check out our safety tips for outdoor play.
At Little Cedars Nursery, Streatham, one of the activities we do with children around this time of year is to explore the season of spring. Spring is a wonderful antidote to the cold, winter months as new shoots begin to sprout from the soil, flowers start to reappear, birds begin to return from warmer climes and there are early indications of warmer weather ahead. Paying attention to such things when spring arrives can teach children a great deal about the world around them, nature, and the impact of the various seasons. It’s also a free, fascinating, and educational activity that parents/guardians can do with children. Families can, for example, explore the signs of spring in the garden, out on walks, in local parks, and in the countryside. With that in mind, today’s article looks at the type of things children and families can look out for during the season of spring.
As every child knows, young lambs are an absolute delight. They’re incredibly cute and the way they play, group together with fellow lambs, and happily jump into the air is simply adorable! Although timing varies from farm to farm, most newborn lambs arrive during early spring — typically in March — with others arriving in April, particularly if they’re in UK areas further north where it can be colder. At Little Cedars Nursery, we try to ensure children get to meet some spring lambs or calves each year and it’s always a huge hit with the children.
Another huge hit with children in spring is the appearance of frogspawn in ponds. Children will love watching the little eggs change over time, their contents growing from tiny black dots into creatures that have obvious legs, tails and heads. And, once they emerge from the eggs, the tadpoles continue to delight little ones as they gradually develop into tiny frogs. It’s a wonderfully magical thing for children to witness in spring and is also hugely educational.
Snowdrops are one of the very first plants to reappear when spring arrives. They’re pretty little plants with slender green leaves and flowers that, as their name suggests, resemble delicate drops of snow. Young children will love that! Look out for them in gardens, parks, forests and hedgerows. Each plant generally forms a ‘bunch’ of around ten stems and they reappear every year. Warn children to look but not touch, though, as they are poisonous if eaten.
Another of the earliest plants to appear in the year is daffodils. Their shoots begin to appear through the soil in February and, once spring arrives in March, their flowers will brighten up any garden, lawn, forest or flower bed right into May. Once daffodils are in bloom, you also know other plants will soon follow. So, they’re a great sign of the changing season for children to look out for, and a signal that gloomy winter is now over and summer is not far away.
Bumblebees are amongst the cutest of garden visitors and many children will naturally love them, particularly once they’ve realised how adorable they are with their velvety bodies, sweet faces and attractive markings. They’re also peaceful little creatures, many of whom don’t even have a sting, who simply want to go about their business of collecting nectar from flowers. Bumblebees start to reappear in the spring — because flowers are also reappearing after being dormant over the winter months. They then become more and more populous as the months become warmer and can be seen right into autumn.
The return of many of the UK’s favourite birds is another wonderful sign that spring has arrived and winter is over. While some birds, including robins, may stay during winter, others will have migrated to warmer places, perhaps thousands of miles away. Once they return to the UK, children will be able to watch out for them and listen out for more birdsong. Early mornings and sunsets are great times to hear them, particularly when the weather is calm, meaning their sounds travel more clearly. For example, tiny wrens have an incredible and very melodic set of sounds. Robins are also beautiful to listen to. Thrushes sometimes sing at the tops of trees at dusk too, and that’s also wonderful to hear. Encourage children to watch and listen out for other birds too, for example, blackbirds, starlings, doves, blue tits, great tits and occasionally more rarely-seen birds like goldcrests.
Buds on trees and bushes can also be an interesting natural phenomenon for children to look out for in spring. Many are quite beautiful if you take the time to have a close look. Young children are indeed fascinated by several types of tree buds in early spring and perhaps the most attractive one to them is pussy willow. For them, the soft, fur-like buds of the pussy willow are an instant hit and something that really draws their attention. They really do feel furry and it’s almost as if they’re little creatures or kittens paws — quite a magical thing for any child to look out for in spring!
Catkins are also fascinating. Their little dangling fronds almost look like yellow caterpillars, so this is another type of spring occurrence to draw children’s attention to. From such attention, they can be taught lessons about pollen, seeds, nectar and the circle of life.