Spring is certainly my favourite season. Flowers begin to bloom, animals awake from hibernation, baby animals greet the world, days get longer and temperatures get warmer. The spring season brings energy, creativity, colour and new growth.
For young children, spring offers boundless opportunities for exploration and discovery. Engaging in spring-themed activities not only stimulates their senses but also nurtures their curiosity and supports various areas of learning. Whether it's observing the life cycle of plants, embarking on outdoor adventures, or delving into sensory-rich home learning activities, there's no shortage of ways to immerse kids in the marvels of the season.
In this article, I've put together a collection of spring activities for kids, designed to ignite their passion for nature, encourage outdoor exploration, and foster creative expression. Let's dive into a world of blossoming possibilities and embark on an enriching journey through spring activities for kids.
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Fun and Engaging Spring Activities for Kids
Spring Activity 1: Butterfly Threading
The emergence of butterflies can be a sure sign that spring is on its way. Engaging children in the study of butterflies can be both educational and enjoyable. This activity provides them with opportunities to explore the wonders of nature while honing their fine motor skills.
- Thread beads onto two pipe cleaners
- Form a circle by twisting the ends of the pipe cleaner together. Make two circles here.
- Twist the circle in the centre to create two wings.
- Hold the two wings together, wrap another pipe cleaner around the centre to attach the two wings together, leaving the ends sticking up to create the antennae.
Spring Activity 2: Print a Butterfly
This simple printing technique encourages children to create wonderful butterfly patterns and explore the idea of symmetry.
- Tie an elastic band around the middle of a small sponge, creating two butterfly wings.
- Squirt different colours of paint onto one wing and squish and fold to create a symmetrical pattern on the other side.
- Press the sponge onto paper and lift off to reveal your butterfly print.
- Once dry, add details using pens and learn about the main body parts of a butterfly (head, thorax, abdomen, antennae, legs, wings)
Spring Activity 3: Butterfly Life Cycle
We had great fun using playdough to create a visual representation of a butterfly’s life cycle. This playdough activity hones fine motor skills as children roll and stretch the playdough and also allows children to learn about the four stages in the butterfly’s life cycle.
Spring Activity 4: Colourful Caterpillars
In this activity children need to use small muscles in their hands to untwist the pipe cleaner caterpillars to separate the two colours.
Then sort the pipe cleaners into the correct circles according to their colours. Count the number of caterpillars in each circle and find the longest/shortest caterpillars by their comparing lengths.
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar book and try these Hungry Caterpillar activities!
Spring Activity 5: Cut the Grass
Improving scissor skills involves mastering the coordination between both hands, each performing different tasks simultaneously. In this activity, the dominant hand operates the scissors, while the other hand holds the strips of grass steady before cutting.
This activity is particularly beneficial for children who are just beginning to develop their scissor skills. Using strips of card reduces the need for complex hand positioning and requires only a single snip. Moreover, children will delight in discovering hidden spring stickers or pictures concealed beneath the grass strips. This not only encourages counting but also provides an opportunity for meaningful discussions about the images revealed.
Try this Easter Egg Hunt version too!
Spring Activity 6: Muddy Fun at the Farm
My preschooler absolutely loved this activity! I set up two containers: one containing a mixture of 'mud' made from flour, water, and cocoa powder, and the other filled with water mixed with a small amount of dish soap. To enhance the experience, I included various cleaning tools like cloth, a sponge, and a toothbrush for my child to use and explore.
This engaging activity captured my daughter's interest, enthusiasm, and concentration as she was determined to ensure that the farm animals were sparkling clean! Throughout the activity, we had meaningful discussions about the names of farm animals and their offspring, sparking her curiosity and imagination. Together, we crafted different stories and narratives, adding an extra layer of fun and learning to the experience.
Spring Activity 7: Find the Bugs
After reading a story about bugs, I challenged my preschooler to find and identify the different bug toys hidden in the sensory tray. I used coloured rice, leaves, wooden logs and pebbles for my themed tray.
A selection of different tools were available for my daughter to practise scooping and grabbing. This allowed her to engage in hands-on exploration while honing her dexterity.
Spring Activity 8: Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Eggs
This activity is a fun and tactile way for children to recognise and name upper and lowercase letters. I cut out some ‘egg’ shapes using foam and wrote uppercase letters in the top section and lowercase letters at the bottom. I cut a jagged line across each egg and mixed up my pieces. The use of different colours made matching a little easier.
For young toddlers, present a small selection of letters at a time. Make this game even more exciting and get your children moving by hiding the letters around the room!
Spring Activity 9: Eggshell Smash!
Save your leftover eggshells for this fun, hands-on learning activity!
Clean and dry the eggshells, then write letters, numbers, shapes or colours on the egg shells using permanent markers. Challenge your child to identify the letters, words, or shapes on the eggshells. To add an extra element of fun, use a toy hammer or the back of a metal spoon to crack and smash the eggshell once the word or shape is correctly identified.
Spring Activity 10: Initial Letter Sound Spring Bingo
Bingo is a fun game for siblings to enjoy together. I made some simple Bingo boards by drawing pictures associated with Spring.
Players will take turns to draw a letter from the bag. The first player to shout out the beginning letter sound and match it with a picture on their Bingo board gains a counter. The first player to get a complete row wins the game. This is an engaging way for children to learn phonics and practise identifying beginning sounds.
Spring Activity 11: Subitising Flowers
To set up this quick activity, draw some flowers onto a piece of paper and make a colour key using the dots on the dice.
Here's how it works: Your child rolls the dice, identifies the number shown, and then refers to the colour key to find the corresponding colour. Once they've determined the colour, they can then proceed to colour in one of the flowers accordingly.
This engaging subitising activity helps children to recognise the numbers using groups of dots.
Spring Activity 12: Caterpillar Addition
Transform learning addition into a fun and engaging activity by incorporating colourful paints and pom poms with attached pegs. Here's how it works:
Have your child read the simple addition problem and then use two different coloured paints to create the body segments of a caterpillar. This hands-on, visual approach allows her to see and count the circles on each segment to find the total sum.
Spring Activity 13: A Button Bouquet!
Children find and match shape buttons and create a beautiful bouquet of button flowers! Buttons need to be placed according to colour and size with the correct orientation.
Spring Activity 14: Rain Cloud in a Jar
After reading a storybook about the water cycle we created our own ‘rain cloud in a jar’ by filling a jar with water before squirting shaving foam on top to create a cloud. We used pipettes to squirt different coloured droplets of water on top of the shaving foam cloud.
The coloured water began to seep through the shaving foam cloud into the water below like rain. As the coloured water saturates the ‘cloud’ it gets heavier and eventually seeps through the foam just like how real rain falls through the air.
Spring Activity 15: Floating Flowers
Draw, decorate some paper flowers. Fold the petals into the centre of the flower one at a time overlapping each other. Carefully place the folded flowers on the water surface and watch them unfold and bloom!
As the paper absorbs water it expands which in turn causes the flower to open. Children may enjoy experimenting with different types of paper, flower shapes and sizes. Different pictures, letters, numbers or words could be written inside each flower ready to be revealed for children to read.
Spring is a perfect time to explore these colourful and fun garden theme preschool activities!
Try these Spring Activities with your kids!
These spring activities for kids offer wonderful opportunities for children to embrace the beauty and excitement of the season. From exploring nature to engaging in creative crafts, these activities are designed to spark curiosity and inspire young minds. Springtime is truly a magical time of year, and these activities provide a perfect way for children to connect with nature and learn new skills while having fun.
Frequently Asked Questions about Spring
Teaching children about spring fosters wonder and love for nature while encouraging learning and curiosity. Some ideas include:
- Exploring seasonal changes like warmer weather, longer days, and plant growth.
Observing different flowers, trees, birds, and insect and learn about their life cycles.
- Discussing spring weather patterns, such as rain showers and warming temperatures.
- Introducing gardening by planting seeds and learning about plant growth.
Read on for more spring learning activities for kids.
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