Topics for toddlers and pre-schoolers - Woodlands

As you may remember, I try to have a vague topic or theme each month, to keep activities fresh and give some direction to exploring.  Since we love woodlands, that's what our topic is for June.  Here are some of the things that we've been up to or are planning to do:

• lie in long grass and look at the sky
• forage for food - a bit early for wild raspberries, but Wood Sorrel and cleavers are out there, as well as nettles for soup.
• identify wild flowers - Bug chose to buy a wild flower ID book with her holiday spending money, which I think is awesome!
• visit woodlands - as well as our local deciduous and conifer woodlands, while we were on holiday we found our way to the Stackpole Estate, to Colby Woodland Gardens and to Lawrenny Quay (all National Trust properties in Pembrokeshire) so we've had a wide variety to explore.
• tree and leaf collages with pictures from magazines
• read woodland books
• make a bird box
• make a collection of interesting "finds" from the woods - seed pods, feathers, interesting sticks etc.
• wild weaving
• sing "Teddy Bear's picnic"
• press leaves and flowers
• have a picnic in the woods
• roll down a hill
• make trees from newspaper
• introduce woodland words such as names of woodland animals, deciduous, conifer etc.
• identify types of tree
• string print tree picture - use string dipped in paint to print branches of tree
• leaf and pine cone printing - a painting activity for outdoors I think!
• play a matching game with pictures of woodland animals and their young
• camp out in the garden
• make a giant spiderweb in the woods out of string between trees