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Spring! The glorious time of year when you finally start to thaw, feel the warmth again, smell the blossoms, and hear insects emerging…Until you realize you live in the Midwestern United States. Where it is seventy-five degrees today, and fifty degrees tomorrow, either way, Spring will be here precisely two weeks from when I started this post! Wow! I actually didn’t realize it was going to be here that quickly. Keep reading to find out how to include Spring activities into your homeschool day.

That being said, I am so happy that I have gotten a head start on our Spring activities for our homeschool! In previous posts, I have talked about how I have become more relaxed in my approach to homeschooling. Year-round homeschooling has been really beneficial for us. You can read more about my personal schedule and how I plan my homeschooling year here. Nature studies revolving around Spring are so fun! I am happy I got an early start this year.

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Spring Activities

As I have stated in another post I do not enjoy science experiments. Besides, we enjoy science study best through nature play and just playing things by ear.

I avoid messes as best I can. With the spring weather coming to the midwest, we were able to get outdoors for a bit of fun this week. I have not done many sensory bins in the past, because hello, mess…however, I cannot believe it took me so long to create these fun spring activities for my sons and their cousins.

Where to Start for Spring Activities

First, you may want to start by making a list of what you want to study. I was able to pick up these adorable printable worksheets while they were on sale. (This is not a paid advertisement, I just genuinely love them.) Here is the order in which I plan to do our Spring nature study:

• Weather-including the water cycle, moon cycles, and a bit about rainbows.
• Birds
• Insects-entomology, ants, bees, worms, butterflies, and pollinators
• Flowers
• Amphibians

We will likely study more than just these, and some of them have subcategories I want to explore. However, you should follow your child’s lead or base the study on their interests, because there is no right or wrong way to do a Spring nature study.

Spring Activities: Weather Study

First, we started by learning a bit more about the water cycle. By using a mason jar, or another container with a lid, you can make your own water cycle! Here is how:

• First, fill a mason jar or container with soil,
• Next, layer it with rocks, and some vegetation.
• Then, mist the inside of the jar with water and secure the lid.

Thats it! Use this in your studies for the week or the month. Bring attention to the jar throughout the day as you see it making its cycles. Consider printing out, or making your own posters or cards with the different cycle processes on them. My son enjoyed putting them in order using a poster as a reference. Another idea is to take the lid off the jar after observing it for a week. Discuss why the lid is important and how it relates to our own atmosphere, and why the water cycle is so important for our earth.

I have been so happy to hear him talk about the water cycle in our everyday conversations. Once he was observing a water fountain and told me how it could relate to the water cycle with detailed observations. Imagine my delight when I realized how much he had been paying attention after all!

Recommended Books

Along with our countdown to the first day of Spring, we are also keeping track of the phases of the moon. Much of our Spring activities have revolved around Julia Rothman’s books on nature.

We have also renewed our interest in The Ultimate Book of Planet Earth. I highly recommend these books, as there are other subjects. ( While inserting the link for you, I see they have a new title The Ulitmate Book of Water!) Little hands may be a bit too eager for the pull tabs, but we have gotten a lot of use from them. I do not agree with the evolutionary teachings found on some pages, but we are able to use and enjoy them, we simply skip over those parts.

Sensory Bins

Rainbow Sensory Bin

This salt rainbow sensory bin was a big hit! Here’s how you can make your own:

• 2 TBS table salt
• food coloring of your choice
• Mix both ingredients in a ziplock bag and shake till you have the color consistency you want.

Rainbow salt can also be used with grated sidewalk chalk! Who knew?

• 2 TBS table salt
• Finely grated sidewalk chalk
• Mix the two ingredients together until you have the desired color and consistency.

I found the salt with food coloring was more coarse, while the chalk salt was fine and soft. Both worked great, and I did not prefer one over the other. While both were easy to make, the food coloring was quicker.

Spring Weather Sensory Bin

This sensory bin was a huge hit! I was shocked at how easy it was to make! Here’s how to do it yourself:

• 8 C Flour
• 1 C Vegetable/Canola Oil
• Mix ingredients with a fork (I started with a fork and used my hands the rest of the way) the recipe I was using said it would take 10 minutes to mix, however, it took me less than 2 minutes.

If you think your children will taste test this, bake the plain flour for a few minutes at low heat. You will likely have as much fun as your children with this dough. It is soft like white sand but will clump together and fall apart too. In addition, hiding things at the bottom of this bin can make the options endless.

Take Things Outdoors

As I stated before, I don’t enjoy messes or the clean-up that comes with them. However, taking these Spring activities outdoors means easy clean-up! By the time we were done playing all the bins had been combined together! This one became a beach. Colored pasta shells became sea shells, penne pasta became people swimming or lounging on the beach, and I thought the red macaroni looked like a sea monster coming in and out of the water! I was surprised at how imaginative the kids got with these bins! Bowtie pasta became a butterfly or a bowtie for Super Mario that was made from modeling clay. Paper puzzle pieces were hidden in the sand or pasta to make a rainbow, the options are endless!

Combining rainbow salt and flour and sand dough made a delicious-looking sugar cookie. Pretty sure it would have a bit on the salty side.

We were able to fit this in over the course of a week or two. These Spring activities were so easy and enjoyable that I plan more for next week! Next, we plan to study birds! Stay tuned for more fun Spring nature activities!

First, let me start out by saying this: I. Hate. Messes. There I said it. I understand the need for children to get their hands dirty, and I encourage this, outdoors, where they can be hosed off later. However, indoors, where the majority of our homeschooling takes place, I like to keep things a bit cleaner. This certainly includes science studies.

I am not that type of mom. You know, the fun mom. At least not when it comes to science experiments. The type of experiments I am talking about in this post are the ones that include things exploding or building…see I can’t even give you more examples because I haven’t done many experiments to even tell you what they include. Sorry, not sorry.

Now that we have gotten the confessions out of the way we can move on.

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself”

—Galileo

Science is Important

This is a no-brainer. Science should be a part of your homeschool studies. For example, here are a few reasons why you should study science:

• Fosters independent thinking
• Builds critical thinking skill
• Develops an understanding of the world around us
• Encourages asking questions, and finding the answers

The list could go on. I am sure I don’t need to tell you all the benefits of science study. However, you might need some reassurance that science doesn’t have to include messy experiments.

Think of it this way, the experience is more important than the experiments. I just made that up, does that make sense? We’re going with it, it’s a thing now.

When I stopped worrying about what we would do for science and planning out every detail, we were able to enjoy ourselves more. I stated in a previous post that I am learning to relax more in my homeschooling. Experiments do not allow me to relax.

What If My Child Loves Science Experiments?

Right there with you friend. My older son loves experiments. His brain works best by taking things apart, figuring out how to put them back together, and yes by making messes. Once, his iPad wasn’t charging anymore, so he tried making a new charger with a potato, fork, battery, and a few other items…there was a rotting potato in his room a month later, and his iPad was still dead.

Don’t get me wrong, he learned from this experiment, however, I was not involved. Between him and I, our brains just work differently. If I were to take something apart, it would get thrown away, and I would just buy a new one because that thing is not getting put back together. My son gets this interest from his father. So, if you are in the same boat, allow your child to find like-minded people or family members, that they can work with. When my husband is taking something apart, my son enjoys being right there with him. That works great for me, because my husband also cleans up after himself, bonus!

Keep Things Simple, It’s Not Rocket Science

Keeping things simple has been a struggle for me in the past. I am learning to relax more, but it has taken three and a half years of homeschooling to get here. When you are not relaxed it is harder to enjoy the experience.

I love having a plan. I love writing things down, and if it isn’t written down on the planner for the day, it isn’t happening. Sound familiar? I have really had to let go of this type of thinking.

I found when I let go of the specific plans for the day, we were able to enjoy the experience more.

Let Go of The Planner

Let it go. (I know, we’re all singing the song now, and if you weren’t before, you are now…you’re welcome.) But seriously, let go of the plans and schedules. You are just overwhelming yourself and your child if you are being too strict with things. (Did I just say that? I have come a long way.) And if you are not ready to completely let it go, then just be more relaxed. Maybe write down what you want to do, as a general idea. This is what I have been able to do, I still have some control, but I can be relaxed about it.

Consider only doing science studies occasionally. Maybe this is once a week, once a month, three months out of your year, half of the months out of your homeschool year, whatever works for you. This is our first year of homeschooling year-round, and I have found I have more than enough time to fit it all in. We only do it occasionally.

Use an Open and Go Style

Consider an open-and-go curriculum. We are currently using The Good And The Beautiful’s “Science for Little Hearts and Hands”. It is open-and-go, with low to no prep. I am using it for a third grader and a kindergartner, and it has been age appropriate for both. That alone would be sufficient, as it is quick, easy, informative, and fun. (These are my own opinions, and I am not making any money from these statements.) However, I have been able to build on it in various ways. We read library books about the subject, or related subjects, paint leaves to do leaf impressions, do leaf rubbings, and draw, just to name a few.

One lesson recently was about tree sap, and it just so happens that my in-laws make syrup from sap, so we may just plan a field trip to observe and help one day.

These are the experiences that my boys talk about more often than the experiments they have tried.

Go With the Flow

For example, you are on a nature walk, and your child looks up and sees a bird flying by and asks what it is. Observe as much as you can about the bird, and when you return home you can look up more about it. Do this every time you go out. Observe trees, flowers, leaves, and grasses. The options are endless. Draw or paint the things you see. Ask questions about the things you observe and find the answers.

Find books at the library on specific interests you develop in your nature study. Touch the items and discuss how they feel and smell (if you dare). Keep a simple nature journal. Even small children can draw a stick or a tree, then discuss it.

The options are endless, and there is no right or wrong way to experience science. You are not limited to nature studies, either. Most importantly, follow your child’s interests and you can’t go wrong!

In conclusion, remember

The experience is more important than the experiments.