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Home » Science Experiments for Kids » Science in the Forest

Science in the Forest

Modified: Nov 14, 2023 · Published: Mar 5, 2014 by Emma Vanstone · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

Autumn is a brilliant time of year for outdoor science activities in the forest. Find out why leaves change colour in autumn, create rafts and dens with sticks, collect treasures such as pinecones, conkers and acorns and learn to identify trees and plants.

Create a wildlife journal and record the animals and plants you see each time you visit. Make your own scavenger hunt, or try our autumn treasure hunt!

Image of a beautiful pine forest with blue skies

Science in the Forest – Games

Who’s behind you?

One favourite game in the forest is to creep up to each other and see if we can be so quiet the other person doesn’t hear. We’ve learned that leaves and sticks make a lot of noise when you stand on them!

What can you hear?

The idea of this game is to stand still and listen very carefully to hear how many different sounds you can hear. Are they nature sounds, man-made or a mixture of both?

Science investigations about trees

Which tree?

Identify trees from their leaves with this brilliant spotter sheet from The Woodland Trust.

How tall is a tree?

Find out how tall a tree is without climbing it!

Image of a girl bending over in the woods to find out how tall a tree is - if you can see the top of the tree you are as far away from the tree as it is high

How old is a tree?

Can you find out how old a tree is?

tree rings used them to find out how old a tree is

Label a tree

Label an oak tree with Look We’re Learning, or create a felt oak tree and acorn with Mama’s Happy Hive.

Oxygen and trees

Find out which trees produce the most oxygen with Steamsational.

Activities with leaves and pine cones

Leaves and water

Find out how water travels through a leaf with Buggy and Buddy.

Why do pine cones open and close?

Collect pinecones to make a pine cone weather station. Did you know pinecones close up in wet weather to protect the seeds inside?

pinecone weather station - pinecones sat on a windowsill

Estimating jars

Collect leaves, pinecones or sticks to make estimating jars.

Dissect a flower

Dissect a flower or plant to learn about the different parts.

labelled flower diagram made with real flower parts

Plant life cycles

Use paper plates to make a flowering plant life cycle spinner.

Activities for kids with sticks

Where is it from?

This twig spotter sheet from The Woodland Trust is brilliant! How many different trees can you find?

Bird feeders

Made with Happy has some gorgeous bird feeders made from craft sticks!

This toilet roll bird feeder from Fireflies and Mudpies is lovely.

Pooh Sticks

I’m sure you know how to play pooh sticks already, but if not, the idea is to drop a stick into a stream, usually before a bridge and see whose stick emerges first.

We added some leaves to our pooh sticks so they were easier to recognise. We found smaller sticks worked better as they were less likely to get stuck.

decorated pooh sticks

Rafts and boats

Make a beautiful twig boat and test it to see if it sinks or floats.

Potions

Make a potion. Which shape and size stick makes the best stirrer?

Potion made from autumn leaves and sticks

Stick Man Crafts

Create your very own Stick Man!

stickman craft made with a real Stickman shaped twig

Next on our list is to find a catapult-shaped stick and try different materials as the sling, and then set up an investigation to find out which material is the springiest!

Great animal and plant spotter sheets

The Wildlife Trust has some brilliant animal and plant spotter sheets you might find useful.

Can you think of any more ideas for science in the forest?

collage of woodland science ideas for science in the forest. Includes pinecones for a pinecone weather station, a frame with natural materials attached, rings on a tree and a child holding acorns

Last Updated on November 14, 2023 by Emma Vanstone

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Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Blue Desk

    March 07, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    I love when you can bring things from all around you and turn them into learning experiences. I can’t wait for the Spring weather, so we can go out and play. Thank You for sharing.

    Reply
  2. Coombe Mill - Fiona

    March 09, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    Learning through play – such a fun hands on experiment, this is a great way for children to learn. I’ll be interested to find out how the catapult experiment goes! Thanks for linking up and sharing your fun with Country Kids.

    Reply

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