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Simple Nature Study for Preschoolers: Explore Nature with Playdough Prints

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A nature study for preschoolers should be simple and hands-on. And look at my page How to Homeschool Preschool for more fun preschool tips and activities.

I have playdough which also makes for a great sensory experience. We’re doing a nature print playdough activity. You can either do this indoors or outdoors.

Besides, at this age, learning happens best through hands-on exploration and play.

Simple Nature Study for Preschoolers: Explore Nature with Playdough Prints

Too, preschoolers learn by touching, pressing and squishing so this nature print playdough invites kids to press leaves, flowers, sticks and other things they find into soft dough.

Add some of the books above while they’re playing so they can compare pictures to what they have in their hands.

Comparing the shape of petals, the depth of the print, and texture like bumpy bark makes nature study concrete.

NATURE STUDY INTRODUCTION BOOKS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

Next, look at some of these sweet books about nature study.

Before a child can jump into the skills needed for nature observation they need to understand what it is and how to do it.

10 Nature Study Books for Young Kids

Add these fun books to your home library or to introduce nature study to your little learners.

Then, look at more ways to do a fun nature study with preschoolers.

NATURE STUDY FOR PRESCHOOLERS ACTIVITIES

Simple Nature Study for Preschoolers: Explore Nature with Playdough Prints

Finally, look at how to do this nature print playdough activity.

NATURE PRINT PLAYDOUGH ACTIVITY

First, look at this list of supplies.

Supplies

  • Playdough (any color or homemade)
  • Variety of nature items like leaves, different sizes and shapes,flower petals, evergreens, seeds, nuts and cones, sticks and bark, rocks, shells and beach finds, feathers, hay and etc.
Simple Nature Study for Preschoolers: Explore Nature with Playdough Prints

Give each child a portion of playdough and a flat work surface or tray.

Arrange the nature items so they are easily accessible.

Simple Nature Study for Preschoolers: Explore Nature with Playdough Prints

Encourage children to press, roll, or lightly tap the items into the playdough to create imprints and textures.

Experiment with layering items, pressing with different amounts of pressure, or flipping items for varied patterns.

Simple Nature Study for Preschoolers: Explore Nature with Playdough Prints

Once finished, the playdough can be smoothed out and reused to create new prints.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

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We’re creating layers of the earth with playdough for an easy earth science activity. Also, look at my page Free Earth Science Lapbook & Unit Study Ideas.

Teaching abstract concepts is not always easy but a hands-on activity like using playdough sparks curiosity.

And while playdough is a fun medium, it’s not only for young learners. A visual is a great teaching tool to help elementary visual what our Earth looks like.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Besides, the Earth’s layers—inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust—can feel like invisible ideas when using a textbook.

Too, your younger learners will love the sensory experience, and your older learners can label the parts and compare Earth to other planets.

And whatever topics you’re covering this easy hands-on idea is a fun introductory activity to geology, or activity for a fun read aloud or to accompany a simple earth science lab.

EARTH SCIENCE BOOKS FOR KIDS

And use one of these books as a spine to your study for the day.

I always prefer living books when I can find them.

9 Books for Kids Who Love to Read About Earth Science Topics

Add these books to your learning day to learn about various earth science topics.

Then, look at more earth science activities.

EARTH SCIENCE ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

And also look at these playdough learning activities.

PLAYDOUGH LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

Finally, look at how to do layers of the earth playdough activity.

LAYERS OF THE EARTH PLAYDOUGH ACTIVITY

Supply List

  • Red playdough
  • Orange playdough
  • Yellow playdough
  • Brown playdough
  • Blue playdough
  • Green playdough
  • Playdough knife
Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Start by forming a small red ball of playdough. This will represent Earth’s inner core.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Roll out a piece of orange playdough into a flat circle. Wrap it around the red ball to create the outer core layer.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Roll out yellow playdough. Wrap this around the orange layer to form the mantle.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Roll out brown playdough next and wrap it around the yellow layer. This becomes the crust.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Roll out a layer of blue playdough and wrap it over the brown ball to create the ocean layer.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Use green playdough to shape simple continents. Press them gently onto the blue surface.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

Once your Earth is complete, use a playdough knife to cut the ball in half and reveal all the colorful layers inside.

Easy Earth Science: Create Layers Of The Earth With Playdough

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

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Crafting a winter scene forest playdough activity is simple and the perfect activity to brighten chilly days. Also, grab more ideas and a free lapbook for winter fun on my page Winter Season Unit Study.

And if you’re looking for cozy, screen-free activities that spark creativity and calm you won’t need too many supplies to keep your little ones entertained and play learn.

For example, kids press the white playdough onto the surface to form snowbanks, icy patches, or forest clearings.

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

Besides, winter is full of textures and sensations, crunchy snow, pine needles, smooth stones, and sparkling ice. All of this makes for a winter sensory experience full of hours of fun and learning.

Kids can sprinkle glitter to mimic frost, press evergreen sprigs into white playdough snow and create animal tracks with toy figurines.

A winter forest playdough setup has no rules. Kids can make snowy hills, frozen ponds, wandering foxes, or mystical woodland creatures.

BOOKS ABOUT WINTER FOR LITTLE ONES

Next, make it a full day of learning about the cold and snow through these books I’ve rounded up.

I prefer living books and have added them to the list.

10 Winter Books For Preschool

Here is the precious list of winter books that will have your child investigating, using their imagination, laughing,creating, and making winter memories with you.

Then, look at more winter activities.

MORE WINTER ACTIVITIES

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

Finally, look at how to make a winter forest playdough tray.

WINTER FOREST PLAYDOUGH TRAY

Supply List

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

Prep the Tray: Fill each section of a divided tray with a different nature element like pine needles, pinecones, sticks, rocks, and wood slices.

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

Add Playdough: Roll balls of white and light blue playdough and place them in the center or in their own small section. These colors help create a snowy, wintery scene.

Include Woodland Animals: Arrange small woodland animal figurines in one of the tray sections so kids can easily grab them for storytelling and scene building.

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

Invite Kids to Play: Set the tray out so children can build their winter forest world.

PLAY IDEAS FOR THE WINTER SCENE TRAY

Kids can stand twigs upright in the playdough to make trees, use pine needles like brush or fallen winter grass, and combine rocks and pinecones to build tiny dens.

One favorite part of this activity is pressing the woodland animals into the dough to create footprints. Kids can explore how different animals leave different tracks.

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

As they play, they design scenes, move animals between habitats, and build their own winter stories again and again.

BENEFITS

Fine Motor Skills: Rolling dough, pressing sticks, and arranging small objects strengthen hand muscles.

Sensory Exploration: Kids feel different textures like smooth stones, prickly pine needles, bumpy pinecones, and squishy dough, which helps build sensory awareness.

Creativity & Imagination: Open-ended materials encourage storytelling and world-building as kids design their own winter forest.

How To Craft A Winter Scene: Forest Playdough Ideas

STEM Concepts: Kids explore balance (standing sticks upright), cause and effect (pressing objects into dough), and spatial awareness.

Nature Connection: Natural elements spark curiosity about real winter forests, animal habitats, and seasonal changes.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

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I have some fun coral reef activities and play dough invitation to play. Also, grab more ideas on my Coral Reef page and Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook.

June 9th is all about celebrating Coral Triangle Day.

It’s a day to promote ocean conservation and protection, especially in the Coral Triangle.

To mark it, I have fun coral reef activities and a play dough invitation to play.

Additionally, the Coral Triangle includes the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and the Solomon Islands.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

While coral reefs everywhere are important, the coral triangle gains a lot of attention for its diversity within its waters.

Let’s dive into an ocean of learning about the beauty and diversity of coral reefs and the Coral Triangle.

I have books, hands-on activities, facts, and more.

Summer is the perfect time to learn more about the oceans that surround us and the unique coral reefs in them.

Coral Reef Activities Facts

  • The Coral Triangle is also known as the Amazon of the Seas.
  • Here, in the triangle, live 6 out of the world’s 7 species of marine turtles.
  • It is one of the eight major coral reef zones throughout the world, and it is recognized as a very important place of marine biodiversity and a major priority for conservation.
  • Over 600 different species of reef-building coral make their home in the triangle.
  • 76% of all the world’s coral species are found in the Coral Triangle. The area boasts the highest coral diversity in the world.
  • Researchers believe that the Coral Triangle may be where all Coral Reefs once began.
  • The most endangered species in the area are Yellowfin, Tuna Skipjack, and Bigeye Tuna.

Also, look at some of these fun coral reef books and resources.

Coral Reef Unit Study Resources

Add some of these coral reef unit study resources to your unit study.

Also, look at these hands on ideas to study about the ocean and coral reef.

More Coral Reef Activities and Resources

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Moreover, look at my huge Ocean Unit Study and Sea Turtle Unit Study.

Coral Reef Activities Play Dough Invitation

You will need:

  • 1 cup Flour
  • ½ cup table salt
  • 1 cup of Water
  • 1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil (or vegetable oil)
  • 1 tsp. Cream of tartar
  • Food coloring
  • Optional-essential oils

Also, you will need:

  • Small bowls, cups, or a divided tray
  • Shells
  • Plastic ocean creatures
  • Beads
  • Toothpicks
  • Aquarium pebbles
  • Chenille stems

First, combine flour, salt, water, coconut oil, and cream of tartar in a medium pot over medium-high heat.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Stir constantly until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and is no longer sticky.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Quickly remove from heat and put the dough onto a smooth surface.

When it cools enough to touch, knead it for a few minutes and add food coloring and essential oil mixing well.

This is the perfect time to mix in a fun beachy scented essential oil like coconut or pineapple.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Now that your playdough is ready to go you can begin building your coral reef Hands-on invitation to play.

Grab some small clear cups or use a divided tray to place all your items out in an inviting way.

Cut colorful pipe cleaners down into different lengths.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Put playdough in one bowl, beads and toothpicks in another, chenille stems, toys, shells, and any other little items you have each in their own bowl.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Encourage your child to build an ocean base with the playdough, press chenille stems into it, poke in toothpicks and stack pony beads on them, Add fish and other ocean toys.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Your child can build and rebuild unique coral reefs as they learn about their beauty and importance.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity

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You’ll love these 9 fun facts about Jello and a playdough activity. Be sure to also check out my Edible Skin Project and Free Homeschool Human Body Unit Study that uses Jello as well.

Too, February 13th through 19th is National Jello Week.

So, I decided to pull out a favorite recipe of homemade playdough.

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity

And to give it some color and a wonderful scent I’m using Jello.

Also, I’m giving list of ways you can use it in your homeschool for learning.

You probably already know that playdough is an amazing tool for building up fine motor skills and strengthening the hand.

Shaping, rolling, pinching, forming, and flattening are great prewriting exercises and they are just loads of fun for kids.

But that is just one aspect of the benefits of playdough.

Homemade playdough is so easy to make and has a much better smell and texture than store bought.

This yummy scented version made with Jello is nontoxic and totally taste safe for little ones but I would try to keep them from eating much of it.

9 Jello Facts You May Not Have Known

  1. There are 22 official JELLO Flavors.
  2. The powdered mixture is made up of about 90% sugar.
  3. Jello was served to immigrants at Ellis Island to welcome them with a yummy treat.
  4. Some of the weird and not surprisingly unpopular flavors that they have tried are- tomato, celery, chocolate, and coffee.
  5. Utah is the state that loves Jello the most. They consume more Jello than any other state.
  6. Jello is 136 years old this year.
  7. Strawberry is the most popular flavor.
  8. There is a Jell-o museum in LeRoy, New York.
  9. You can find a box of Jell-o in 3 out of 4 pantries in America.

Here are some great ways I have compiled to extend the playdough learning beyond exercising just their imagination and fine motor skills.

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity

Here are some great ways I have compiled to extend the playdough learning beyond exercising just their imagination and fine motor skills.

Math Jello Playdough Activities

  • Roll out small balls and have your child count them.

Use them as counters for addition and subtraction.

Practice for skip counting. Having a sensory activity for teaching often helps the information click in your child’s brain better.

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity
  • You can have your child make 2d shapes to learn their names and how many sides and points they have.

But also 3d shapes like cubes, spheres, and cones as well.

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity
  • Use a simple scale or balance to weigh different amounts of gelatin.
  • Roll out various snake shapes and measure with a ruler.

Literacy Craft Ideas Using Jello

  • Use playdough to roll out snake shapes and have your child use it to form upper- and lower-case letters for practice. Too, have them say they sound or tell you something that starts with that letter once they make it as well to reinforce what they are learning.
  • Roll out small balls and call out simple words for your child to spell, put out the matching number of playdough balls and have your child smash one flat with each letter they call out.
  • Use letter shaped beads or stamps to press out simple CVC words into rolled out dough for practice.
9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity

Science Ideas Using Jello Playdough

  • Let your child make the playdough with you and note how the ingredients transform and take on a different structure and states of matter when heat is applied.
  • Use playdough to create insects and labels like head, thorax, abdomen, wings, etc.
9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity
  • Make multiple colors of playdough and break it down into smaller pieces. Let your child explore color mixing by working the various colors together.
  • Press animals into playdough to create “fossils”.

More Playdough Activities

Finally, look how to make this playdough activity.

How to Make Jello Playdough

You will need:

  • 1 cup of all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup table salt
  • 1 packet Jello – any flavor
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan.

Place the pan over medium heat and stir often until mixture begins to pull away from the side of the pan, this usually only takes a few minutes.

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity

Flip dough out onto a lightly floured surface and allow it to cool until it is comfortable to the touch.

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity

Knead for a minute or two to continue mixing.

Once fully cooled your jello playdough is ready for all those fantastic ideas.

If you love this playdough activity, add cookie cutters, a rolling pin, and other items to extend the playdough activities and stretch your child’s imagination.

9 Fun Facts about Jello and Playdough Activity