18 Christmas nature activity ideas

18 fun and simple nature play Christmas activity ideas, games and crafts, that children of all ages can enjoy and explore The best bit is that all of them are made using found and recycled materials.

1. Christmas scavenger hunt

An easy to make Christmas themed scavenger hunt that you can use in the garden or take out and about with you on nature walks. Simply cut a Christmas themed shape (Like a tree or snowman) out of a piece of recycled cardboard. Then write a list of items for the children to find. For example you could challenge the children to find objects as red as Rudolf’s nose or as white as snow. Or to look out for Robins, holly, berries, Ivy and sticks that are shaped like reindeer antlers.

2. Christmas nature art

A great indoor or outdoor activity that encourages creativity and fine motor skills. Nature art is a fun and engaging actvity for children of all ages and abilities. All you need is some imagination and natural materials like leaves, sticks, stones, pine cones bark and grass ect. Click here to see more Christmas themed nature art ideas.

3. Christmas nature art frames

Nature art frames are really simple to make, fun to play with and create some wonderful images. You just need an old piece of cardboard a pen and some scissors. We hate to waste anything and recycling and reusing materials is one of many small things we can all do to help the environment. So instead of chucking used cardboard boxes we like to find ways to use them in crafts and activities.

All you need to do is draw a simple shape or picture like a Christmas tree or snowman. Your shape or picture should have at least 1- 2 easy to cut out sections that you can then look through. When you have cut out the see through sections of your frames, all you need to do is take them outside and hold them up against any of the interesting natural things you can see, like the sky, trees, flowers or grass for example.

The picture you see or create with the frames changes as you move the paper around. It was wonderful to see all the beautiful natural patterns, shapes and colours bringing our pictures to life. You can take photos like we did to capture some of your pictures and compare the differences in backgrounds.

4. Christmas themed nature characters

Nature characters are so simple and fun to make for children of all ages. They are also a great way to stimulate conversation and explore different textures, colours, shapes and patterns. Simply draw a Christmas themed character faces like an elf or Santa onto a piece of recycled cardboard and then cut it out. When you have cut out the faces you can take them on a woodland walk and place them by any interesting natural objects you find, to give your characters fun and interesting hair, faces or bodies. How about taking photos of all the characters you create so you turn them into artwork, cards or pictures.

You could also make Christmas animal versions of your nature faces and cover or decorate them with interesting natural objects to give them antlers, fur, feathers, spines, ears, legs or wings. You could use leaves, stones, grass, bark, twigs, fallen fruit, nuts and seeds and flowers. *But pretty please don’t pick any wild flowers, only collect ones you have grown yourself or fallen ones you find on the floor.

Reindeer work really well as you can give them stick, leaf, plant, pine cone or grass antlers. Or you could cut out a snowman shape and use a collection of natural materials together to give the snowman eyes, nose, mouth, scarf, buttons, arms and even a hat.

5. Christmas star stick

We love finding and collecting sticks when we are out and about on walks, You can easily find similar sized sticks to make a cute little Christmas star decoration to hang on a tree or wall. All you need is six similar length sticks (you can always break them to the right length) and six pieces of old string, ribbon, tread or wool to tie the sticks together with. First tie three sticks together to form a triangle shape, next weave the other three sticks through the triangle frame and tie them into an upside down triangle shape on top to form the shape of your star. You can leave your Christmas star plain or decorate it with pens, paints, collage, fabric or beads.

6. Christmas nature weaving board

A piece of recycled cardboard also makes a great base for a threading and weaving nature hunt board. All you need to do is ask the children to draw or paint simple pictures, shapes or faces onto some cardboard. (Or you could do it for them if they are too little). Then carefully poke a pencil through the cardboard at different points to make holes for the children to poke, thread and weave found natural materials through.

You could use leaves, long grass, plant stems, bark, fallen fruit, nuts, seeds and flowers*. *Pretty please don’t pick any wild flowers, only collect ones you have grown yourself or fallen ones you find on the floor. You could use a plain cardboard base or cut out Christmas shapes and paint the boards Christmas colours.

7. Natural Christmas wreaths

You can easily make natural wooden hoops using bendy branches (young hazel works well for this) . Carefully bend and then twist the ends of a branch together to form a hoop. Then twist and wrap additional branches round the hoop until it is study enough to weave natural materials onto.

You can use any natural material you find but the branches and leaves of ever green trees will last the longest. Some natural materials that work well include Ivy, Fir, Pine, Spruce, Magnolia and Cedar. You could also use pine cones, dried flowers or seed heads. Just be careful using holly with smaller children because of the spiky leaves and toxic berries.

8. Log and stick Reindeer

It is surprisingly easy to make a log reindeer. All you need to do is saw a thick branch (or thin log) into two short sections. One to form the reindeers head and one slightly bigger/longer one to form the body. You will also need four sturdy straight sticks for the legs, one straight stick for the neck, and two branches to form the antlers.

Drill two holes into the top of the head section to fit the branch antlers into. Then underneath drill a hold for the neck stick. In the top of the body section drill another hole to connect the neck onto. Then underneath drill four holes for the legs. Then simply stick everything together. Voila you now have your very own log reindeer!

9. Pine cone Christmas trees

These simple but sweet little Christmas trees are easy to make. All you need is a pine cone (How about going on a nature walk to find some). Some green paint and something to use as decorations like pom poms, hole punched coloured paper or leaf dots. Simply paint the pine cone green and then leave it to dry. Then you can add your decorations to the pine cone with a bit of glue. We also used a log slice as a little base for our Christmas tree.

10. Christmas themed nature hunt board

Nature hunts are a great way to engage children to engage in the natural world around them, as well as exploring different textures, colours, shapes and patterns. You can collect as many natural objects as you can find around you like leaves, stones, grass, bark, fallen fruit and flowers. *Pretty please don’t pick any wild flowers, only collect ones you have grown yourself or fallen ones you find on the floor. Simply cut a Christmas themed shape (Like a tree or snowman) out of a piece of recycled cardboard. Then stretch over some elastic bands or glue on some pegs to attach your nature finds with. Children of all ages will enjoy playing with them and they can even paint them first. (Just beware of the choking hazard that elastic bands, pegs and other materials might pose to smaller children).

11. Stick elves and Santa

Making stick people is a fun and easy activity for children of ages where you can use any sticks and branches you find to create fun and interesting Christmas characters like Santa and his elves. You can easily bring the sticks and branches you find on walks to life by giving them faces and different expressions using just marker pens or paint.

Older children and adults could also remove the bark at one end of the stick or branch using an old vegetable peeler (Adult supervision required) or sand paper to create a smoother surface to paint and draw the faces onto. You could also give the figures hair and clothes using old wool, string, ribbon, strips of fabric or found natural materials like grass, leaves, bark, thin twigs, seed cases and flowers*.*But pretty please don’t pick any wild flowers, only collect ones you have grown yourself or fallen ones you find on the floor! You could either tie the materials on or use non toxic glue to stick and collage them onto the stick.

When you have finished making your Christmas characters and figures you can use them in pretend play and role play or as story props, puppets or decorations. You could even take them back out on nature walks, adventures and picnics, or use them as mascots the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

12. Mini Christmas wreaths

Its surprisingly easy to make mini Christmas wreaths using just a bead and a sprig of greenery like rosemary. Simply thread one end of the greenery through the bead and then loop the other end round and through the other side of the bead. We like using herbs like rosemary, mint or lavender for our wreaths as as they have an additional sensory element.

13. Christmas themed nature collages

Similar to the nature hunt idea where you collect as many natural objects as you can find around you like leaves, stones, grass, bark, fallen fruit and shells. Except this time you glue them to a piece of cardboard or paper to create a Christmas themed nature art collage to keep and enjoy.

If you cut your cardboard in to a simple ring shape you could even make a Christmas wreath using the natural materials you find around you. We made one using the rosemary and holly berries* we found in the garden. *Please be aware that berries can be toxic. It’s important to ensure all children are carefully supervised and you pre warn them not to eat any.

14. Christmas ice wreaths

Christmas ice wreaths are great fun for sensory and exploratory play. You can make them using any round recycled plastic pots or tubs with a smaller container placed in the middle. Just fill both containers water and any natural materials you can find.

You could go on a nature hunt outdoors, exploring and looking for materials like leaves, plants, sticks, nuts and berries to put into your wreath.. (Please be aware that berries can be toxic. It’s important to ensure all children are carefully supervised and you pre warn them not to eat any.)

You can also use ringed cake tins filled with water to make your wreath, we found a little Bundt cake tin worked perfectly for this. How about adding in some scented oils (taste and skin safe) like peppermint to add an extra sensory element. You could also drape a loop of string into the water to hang your decorations from when they are frozen. Simply pop the containers into the freezer and leave them overnight to freeze.

You should be able to remove the ice wreath from the container by leaving it to thaw for a minute or two, then turn over the containers and gently tapping the ice blocks out. The children can then have fun melting the ice with warm water or cracking and breaking the ice to release the natural treasures inside. Or you could even just hang them up outside as decorations

15. Christmas ice globes

You can use a balloon to make some beautiful ice globes. To make a plain ice globe simply stretch the neck of a balloon over a tap and hold it firmly in place whilst you semi fill the balloon with water. Tie the end up securely and freeze the water filled balloon overnight. When your water is fully froze you can cut and peel the balloon off to reveal a perfect little ice globe. You could also go on a nature hunt outdoors, exploring and looking for materials like leaves, herbs and berries to put in your globe.. (Please be aware that berries can be toxic. It’s important to ensure all children are carefully supervised and you pre warn them not to eat any.) Carefully push materials through the neck of the balloon before you fill it with water.

16. Wood slice snowmen

A great one for forest schools. You just need two wood slices (it helps if one is slightly smaller than the other. Glue them together to form the body and head of your snowmen. You can either draw, paint or stick on the eyes, buttons, nose and mouth for your snowman. We used a piece of scrap material for the scarf but a ribbon also works really well. Finally if you want you can give your snowman arms using sticks or add a little hat.

17. Christmas themed nature hunt game

How about creating your own Christmas themed nature hunt cards that challenge you to find objects of different colours, textures, shapes and sizes. For example you could challenge the children to find objects as red as Rudolf’s nose or as spiky as holly. These are brilliant for stimulating conversation and introducing children to new concepts and words. You can find out how to make your own Nature hunt word game here.

18. Christmas rock art

We also love finding painted pebbles and rocks when we are out and about, it’s wonderful to see the creativity and love that people put into them. You can easily find pebbles to decorate yourself by looking in your garden, on a nature walk or along the shore. All you need then is some paint or permanent markers to paint or draw colourful Christmas designs onto the pebbles. *Safety note please be aware of the choking hazard of pebbles with smaller children. Click here to find lots of cute Christmas rock art ideas.