Nature Play for Girls: 14 New Ideas for a Beautiful Girlhood

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Nature play for girls is such an important part of a healthy and fun childhood. These nature play ideas will spark your girls’ creativity and keep them busy!

I have strong feelings about letting my kids play independently and entertaining themselves (without screens or requiring adult direction and intervention). Every kid should be able to find things to do outdoors.

However, here are 14 ideas to ignite your girls’ imaginations.

I hope you enjoy these nature play ideas for girls!

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Create a Fairy Garden

Of course, fairy gardens are a fun and whimsical way to engage girls in nature play.

Collect natural materials like twigs, leaves, stones, and moss to create a miniature fairy house and garden. You can also add miniature fairies, animals, and furniture to your fairy garden. My girls have collected little figurines from dollar stores and secondhand stores to put in their natural fairy gardens. You can also plant flowers or other greenery to make it a living garden!

Of course, you can build a fairy garden completely from natural items. You can also purchase kits or accessories to get started.

Fairy Garden Accessories

Fairy Garden House Kit

Build a Nature Fort

Use sticks, branches, and leaves to build a fort in your backyard or park. Let them bring old blankets and bedding to make it cozy inside. Easier than building a treehouse, this is a great activity for imaginative play and can also help girls develop problem-solving skills. They will probably want to stay here all day!

Go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt

Create a list of nature items to find, such as different types of leaves, flowers, rocks, or insects. Take your girls for a walk and see if they can find all the items on the list. Here is a free printable to get you started. We also like this fun scavenger hunt game.

The Original Outdoor Nature Scavenger Treasure Hunt Card Game for Kids and Families

Make a Nature Art Collage

Collect natural materials like leaves, flowers, feathers, and stones. Use these materials to create a nature collage on a piece of paper or cardboard. My daughters especially like doing this in the fall when there are so many pretty leaves.

Nature Art Collection

Paint with Nature

Use natural materials like leaves, flowers, and vegetables to make paint. Experiment with different colors and textures. Here is a fun recipe to make paint from dandelions!

Make Nature Jewelry

Do you remember making dandelion bracelets when you were a kid? It was one of the best parts of summer- my sisters and I would adorn our arms and necks with yellow bracelets.

You can also make crowns of twigs and greenery and flowers. Play dress up- the outdoor way!

Play Nature Bingo

Create a nature bingo card with different nature items on it. Take your girls for a walk and see if they can find all the items on the bingo card. I am not very good about playing games like this, but my kids would be happy playing this with a group of friends.

Here is a fun nature Melissa and Doug bingo game to purchase.

Melissa & Doug Let’s Explore Seek & Find Bingo Play Set

Build a Bug Hotel

When I was a girl, our deck was invaded by 100s of snails each summer morning. My mother thought they were disgusting, because you couldn’t cross the surface without crunching one to death. My sister and I thought they were great fun. We used a turtle sandbox to make a very extensive home for our “pet” snails.

Bug hotels provide shelter for insects like ladybugs, beetles, and bees. You can make a bug hotel out of recycled materials like wood, twigs, and branches.

Building bug hotels is a great way to learn about the different types of insects (and snails) and what makes them each unique.

Plant an Herb Garden

Herb gardens are a fun and educational way to teach girls about gardening. Plant different types of herbs, such as basil, mint, and rosemary.

My daughter loves to garden. She has her own garden box to tend to each year. She learns a lot by picking out seeds and plants, caring for them through the growing season and learning how to cook and preserve her harvest. She has successes and failures, which are both beneficial to learning.

Herb Grow Kit

Go Stargazing

Look up at the stars and try to identify constellations. In our family, our children are often asleep before the stars come out. We do a lot more star gazing in the cold months when the days are shorter.

If you need a quick starter guide to the Constellations, you could try this book.

Constellations for Kids: An Easy Guide to Discovering the Stars

Go on a Bird Watching Hike

Go on a hike and listen for the sounds of birds. Use a bird guide to identify the birds you see. Starting to notice the migration patterns of birds in your area can be interesting as you start to pay attention through the seasons.

To get started studying birds, there are many great resources to get started. We have enjoyed these.

A Field Guide to Backyard Birds of North America

Sibley Backyard Birding Bingo: A Game for Bird Lovers

Collect and Press Flowers

I feel like every big book I open; an old, pressed flower falls out of it. Collect flowers from your yard or neighborhood. Press the flowers with a flower press or between sheets of paper in a heavy book. There are also some very cute projects, like bookmarks and light catchers that you can do with pressed flowers (maybe a future post!).

Large Flower Press Kit

Play in a Creek

Find a stream or creek and use rocks and sticks to build a dam. Watch as the water backs up behind the dam. Try to make a bridge or rock path across. This is the best water play for kids. Don’t think that creek play is just a summer activity. Warm clothes let you play in any weather and there is something magical about running water in the winter!

Make A Muddy Kitchen

Find a muddy area and make mudpies and other pretend treats. Decorate your mudpies with sticks, leaves, and flowers. Moms, let your girls be messy!