Outdoor activity ideas and inspiration

From mid-March to the end of May 2020, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust (HHLT) posted a simple outdoor activity idea and nature riddle for kids every weekday. Some days we also posted other resources, like downloadable chapters of the Junior Ranger Activity Book.

Created to support parents who found themselves homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic, these activity ideas are a great jumping off point for any outdoor adventure. Click here for a list with links to all 50 activity ideas.

Nature riddle

Now that the snow has vanished from my yard, I see that something has gnawed the bark from some of my small trees. Whom do I blame? Click here for the answer and for more about this small animal.

Egg carton collections

Egg cartons are great for collections! This simple activity is fun and encourages kids to think about categories and sorting.

Give your child an egg carton and encourage him/her to go outside and collect natural objects. This is enough, but if you want to go deeper you can choose one of the options below.

1. Come up with pairs of opposite adjectives (small/big, light/dark, fat/skinny, etc.). Have your child fill one half of the egg carton with natural objects corresponding to the first adjective and the other half with natural objects corresponding to the second adjective. Then have someone guess the adjectives. You could have a sibling guess, or grandma on video chat, or you could write the pairs of adjectives on scraps of paper and have your child choose a pair out of a hat so you can guess.
2. The other option is to have your child create her/his own sorted collection, with half of the egg carton filled with objects in one category and the other half of the egg carton filled with objects in another category. You might be surprised by their creative explanations!