Growing plants is great fun and can lead to loads of teaching opportunities. For this activity students will plant a variety of species and measure their growth rate over time. The students will measure the height of each plant every week and record their findings on the table as well as drawing a picture of the plants. We suggest using 4 - 5 different types of plants, ideally ones with a clear difference in growth rate. How you carry this investigation out depends greatly on the space you have available. You may choose to use separate plant pots or maybe you have a veg patch available. It’s good to discuss the importance of the plants being in the same locations. Why is the sun important for plants? Why is water important? You can go into as much or little detail as needed in these discussions. It can be useful to set up a timetable of who is going to care for the plants each day. If you choose to use fruits or vegetables (highly recommended!) you can then go onto use these as another stimulus for activities. Suggested Plants: Tomato Spinach Baby Carrots Bush Beans Green Onions Summer Squash Beets Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Minibeast hunts are great fun and easy to do. Print out the sheet for your students to take into your outdoor space and mark off the minibeasts as they find them. It’s great if you can provide a magnifying glass so they can look at all the amazing details of each minibeast. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This fun and visual sorting / cut and stick activity for recycling is a great addition to your sustainability or humans and the environment topic. Students will look at the items and sort them into the four main recycling materials (plastic, paper / cardboard, glass, and metal). This resource works great both in small groups and individually. It’s great to encourage students to think about the kind of items they can recycle instead of throw into the trash. You may also be interested in our pollution bundle. Humans and The Environment: Pollution - HUGE BUNDLE Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This activity is all about students exploring different textures in the world around them. Don’t be afraid for students to get muddy for this activity! Explain to your class what the word ‘texture’ means and that they will be exploring all sorts of different textures in your outdoor space. Give them the table and go through each texture, giving them a chance to check they know the meaning of each one. Once they are ready, wearing clothes that can get a bit wet and muddy, get them to go outside and try to find each of the textures in the table, drawing or writing down their findings. Diff. 1 – Textures are already filled in on the table. Diff. 2 – To give students more of a challenge, they can fill in different textures they can think of before heading outside. For students who need more support, this activity can be done in small groups with adult support. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Exploring what hides in the depths of the trees is a great way to look at habitats, classification and living things as well improving observation skills and sparking their interest in science and the world around them. Get a large white cloth or tarpaulin and lay it out underneath a tree with branches you can reach. Shake the branches for several seconds. Students can now find and observe the different mini-beasts that have fallen from the tree. It’s great if you’re able to provide microscopes and magnifying glasses to take a closer look. The students can keep a simple record of what they’ve discovered on the record sheets. Extension activities: Older students could do some report writing on one of the mini-beasts they found. Equipment needed: Large white cloth / tarpaulin Record sheets Magnifying glasses (optional) Microscopes (optional) Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Energy is all around us, inside and out, as your class will find out with this fun and practical lesson. This activity is a great introduction or recap for your ‘forms of energy’ topic as students will go on a hunt to see how many different forms of energy they can spot. Teaching Structure: Get your students to run on the spot, do star jumps, push ups etc. (tire them out!). Explain that in order to do this they need energy, however energy can come in lots of different forms. There are lots of good videos on youtube that you can watch to help introduce this topic. Definitions sheet: Get the students to complete the definitions sheet (or use the pre-populated one) so they have a good understanding as to what the different forms of energy are. They can take this with them to help with the main activity. Record Sheet (differentiated): In pairs, get students to walk around (inside and out) for 15 – 20 minutes recording down the different forms of energy they can spot. Class discussion: Once the students have seen which kinds of energy they could spot, discuss their findings as a class or in small groups. This activity can be great in all sorts of weather! Don’t be afraid for them to waterproof up and head outside! Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

These 10 outdoor STEM activities are perfect as a stand-alone outdoor team building activity or as a team builder at the start or end of year. This pack contains 10 challenge cards that you can laminate and use time and time again. Each resource is easy to facilitate, with most challenges only needing a selection of natural resources. We recommend you allow at least 20 minutes for each challenge card, however depending on how you want to use them, students could spend hours on just on one challenge. We’ve seen them used really well when each team does 1 card per week, spending around 1 hour on each challenge. ** Recommended resources in your outdoor space:** A variety of different sized sticks Plants with a variety of different sized leaves (ferns etc.). A variety of different sized stones / bricks. Wooden benches / chairs etc. Logs A variety of thin / thick rope and string. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

The smell hunt is a great activity to get students exploring the wonderful smells nature has to offer. It’s perfect if you’re looking at our senses as part of the human body topic or descriptive writing and adjectives. Students will find and crush the leaves of plants or trees before letting their partner smell the leaves without letting them see them. Their partner must then see if they can find the same leaves based on what they smelt. For higher grade levels you can use small pots for them to collect and store the leaves in as well as completing the record sheet before swapping sheets with their partner. This resource contains optional differentiated activities sheets that can be used to support this activity and provide good curricular links. **Record sheet: **These sheets can be used for students to record the leaves they’ve collected and think of some adjectives to describe the different smells. Evaluation: These sheets get students to think of the science behind smells, diving deeper into how we smell the crushed leaves and why things have particular smells. The smell hunt is a great starter for our potion making resource. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

The sound map is a great way to get students listening to the sounds around them as they investigate this fascinating topic with good links to measuring, compass work and estimation. They will choose a spot in your outdoor area to sit then mark on the sounds they can hear in relation to them (with them being in the middle of the sheet) by drawing or writing on the activity sheet. Encourage students to think carefully about how far away they think the sounds are and mark them on the sheet accordingly. You can also look at bearings by getting students to mark on the estimated distances on their map. You can even give each child a compass so they can also mark on the bearings of each sound. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Bring the outdoors to Advent with this fun outdoor activity Advent calendar. Each day of Advent has a fun and easy outdoor activity to complete. This calendar can be used in class, at home, or as part of a club or group. It’s great fun and your children are sure to love exploring the outdoors each day. There are flaps included with this resource for you to stick over each activity. If you are not using the flaps, encourage your students not to peek at the other days! Merry Christmas! Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

For this activity students will head outside and explore the natural colors around them. They will use natural objects to color the Christmas themed pictures by rubbing them onto the paper. Encourage students to experiment with different items. It can be more effective if the students crush the natural items before doing the rubbing. This is a lovely activity for the end of term and can make a great Christmas themed display for your classroom. You could also make their rubbings into Christmas cards to send home. Check out our Christmas Literacy Challenge here. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

16 visual ecosystem vocabulary cards that are perfect for your topic word wall complete with a title. They are a great way to help your children learn the key terms needed for this exciting topic. We have found them especially helpful for children with English as an additional language. Each card contains the key word, definition, and visual aid. Contents 17 X Key Vocabulary Cards Display Title 2 Blank Cards Vocabulary Included Ecosystem Adaptation Biodegrade Canopy Carnivore Community Coniferous Consumers Deciduous Dormant Food chain Food web Habitat Herbivore Nutrients Omnivore Predator Prey Territory Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This resource contains two differentiated cut and stick sheets to teach day and night comparisons as part of your science topic. Students will cut out the pictures and stick them into the correct category. ** Activity Sheet 1**: Students will sort the pictures into ‘day’ and night’ and stick them in the table. Activity Sheet 2: Students will sort the pictures into ‘day’, ‘night’, and ‘both’ in the Venn Diagram. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Get outside everyday for a month with this fun outdoor activity calendar. This resource contains 30 different easy activity ideas to do outside. It’s a fantastic way to encourage outdoor learning that both you and your children are sure to love. It contains activities covering many different topics from science to art. Enjoy your month outdoors! Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

For this activity your class are on a mission to save the weeds. They will adopt a weed and spend some time studying it carefully and thinking about all the good things about their weed. They will then write a letter to the caretaker or gardener persuading them to spare their weed from being poisoned or removed. This activity is great if you’re looking at persuasive writing, however it also has good links to plants and habitats as your class will research the benefits that their chosen plant has on local wildlife. Teaching structure: Instructions: Share the instructions with your class. Weed ID: Get your class to find a weed to adopt and complete an ID sheet for it. Research: Students will research their weed (internet, books, and observation), finding out how it can benefit the local wildlife. Persuasive writing plan: Students will begin to plan their letter. Letter template: Students can use a template to help them structure their letter if needed. Resources needed: Activity pack Internet access / books Magnifying glasses Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This activity gets students thinking about the changes that happen between day and night. They will walk around your outdoor space drawing or writing things they can see in the day time. They will then think about what would be different at night. Is there anything they won’t be able to see? What new things do they think they’ll be able to see. They can complete the next section just through discussion, or find a time to go outside at night to complete the section. This could be done as a home learning project or on an overnight camp. This activity is great to get your little ones thinking about the different animals and their behaviors as well as beginning to understand how the earth moves around the sun. It’s also an excellent way to at develop their observation and comparison skills. Check out our ‘Day and Night’ cut and stick worksheet. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

20 visual solar system vocabulary cards that are perfect for your topic word wall complete with a title. They are a great way to help your children learn the key terms needed for this exciting topic. We have found them especially helpful for children with English as an additional language. Each card contains the key word, definition, and visual aid. Contents 24 X Key Vocabulary Cards Display Title Vocabulary Included Asteroid Asteroid Belt Atmosphere Comet Crater Dwarf Planet Galaxy Gas Giant Gravity Lunar Eclipse Meteor Meteorite Orbit Planet Revolution Rotation Solar Eclipse Solar System Star Terrestrial Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This activity gets students walking around your outdoor space putting themselves in the shoes of a chosen animal. They’ll think about what that animal might be able to see, hear and feel. It’s a great introduction to diary writing that can be used as a stand alone activity or the lead up to a big write. It also links in nicely with your habitats topic. Teaching Structure: Explain to the students that they are going to go outside and find an animal. It could be anything from a tiny insect to a big bird. Tell them that they’re going to imagine they are their chosen animal and think about what that animal might see, hear, and feel. At this point it could be useful to choose one animal to go through together. Get them to go off and complete the differentiated sheets. After 15 - 20 minutes get them to come back and share what they’ve done with each other. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This outdoor STEM activity gets students thinking and questioning what properties make something either float or sink. They will be faced with the challenge to get a stone to float using only natural materials, string, and tape. Equipment: Stones (roughly the size of a golf ball - the bigger the stone the more the challenge) Tape String Bowl / tub of water Teaching Structure: Get students to think of examples of items that both float and sink. Encourage them to start thinking about what it is that makes them float or sink. Explain that their mission is to make a stone float using only natural materials before the end of the lesson. Put students into groups of 2 or 3 and get them to complete the mind map sheet. Once they’ve discussed their ideas, set them off on their challenge. We find 15 - 20 minutes is enough time for this part of the lesson. It’s a good idea to limit the amount of string and tape they can use. The less string and tape used the more the challenge. Once students have successfully made their stone float or the time has run out get them to complete the evaluation sheet or simply discuss the questions on the task cards. The task cards can be placed at different points in your outdoor space. Finally, get students to share their thoughts and ideas as a whole class. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This session is best done in autumn when there is a significant difference between the trees. It’s also important to ensure that there are coniferous / evergreen trees in the area where you’re doing this activity. Once the students have completed the sheet we suggest they are laminated to make them last. It can make a fantastic display! Equipment needed: Resource sheets Internet access / tree identification sheets or books Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!