How to encourage your child to learn about nature

Connecting with nature has benefits for children, including boosting their wellbeing and helping them to become more aware of their environment.

In Hamza Loves Animals, wildlife expert Hamza meets a whole host of exotic creatures in Africa, including lions, elephants and monkeys.

Watch our exclusive film with Hamza to get inspired with fun activities to try…

Watching CBeebies shows together

Watching CBeebies shows together like Hamza Loves Animals is a great way to start conversations and games with your child.

Just like in the film above, you could pause the show and chat about the different animals you've seen together and what your favourites were.

You can use moments from the series to encourage your child to be curious and to discover new things outdoors.

Three ideas to encourage your child to learn about nature

1. Copy an animal's movements

You and your child could pretend to be an animal in the wild, like the elephant seen in Hamza Loves Animals.

As an elephant, you could both swing your arms like a trunk.

Or you could pretend to move like a rhino who might both stomp, stretch, tip-toe and freeze.

As a giraffe, you could both stretch your arms above your head, as if it's a giraffe's long neck.

Repeating actions like this can help your child's coordination and motor skills.

2. Go on an outdoor adventure together

Children learn when they explore. Encourage your child to look around them and to be curious.

Help your child to name what they see while they’re out with you – for example, something as small as a puddle, a tree, or a bird could start a conversation about nature.

You could search for things that animals might look for in the wild, like a giraffe might look for leaves, or an elephant might look for a tree trunk to rub against.

You don't have to venture far from home to discover new and exciting sights, sounds and talking opportunities.

Here's a video of an adventure challenge to give you some more ideas.

3. Go on a picture scavenger hunt

You and your child could do a ‘picture scavenger hunt’, inspired by the Hamza Loves Animals series.

This could involve you putting together a list of things your child could find outdoors and taking simple photos of objects (e.g. a crunchy leaf, a bug, a snail, a branch), You could then encourage descriptive chatting based on the pictures you have.

Your child could use the photos (or drawings if you're feeling creative) to help your child find the objects.

A picture scavenger hunt can help to encourage speaking skills, as your child tries to name what they can see.

As well as pictures, you could also try a sound treasure hunt.

For more ideas for what you could do outside, here are 10 fun park activities to help with your child's communication skills.

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