We love making nature crafts for kids as they’re a great way to get outside for a nature walk or in your backyard and a super cheap way to find craft materials as well.
This activity was inspired by time outdoors with my daughter, while we were outside she kept wanting to pick flowers and leaves to show me and to make things with (I had a lot of leaf ‘ice creams’) which got me thinking about other ways we could use her new found treasures.
Using our free tree template seemed the obvious answer, making a great starting place for a nature inspired craft activity.
RELATED: Nature Crafts and Activities for Kids
What You'll Find on This Page
Tree Nature Craft
Of course when you’re making this craft I’m not by any means suggesting that you encourage your kids to go out into your garden and pull up all the flowers and rip all the leaves off the trees, in fact that’s probably the last thing I’d recommend!
As a kid I loved making flower ‘perfumes’, making daisy chains and little posies of flowers and I think it’s important that kids are able to get hands on with nature but as with everything, in a way which is respectful to the environment it comes from.
This would make a great nature craft for preschoolers but as it kept my daughter who is in infants school happy I can also confirm that it’s a good one for older kids too, either in classroom use or as an after school activity.
And actually? Even though I’m way beyond school age myself I’m happy to confirm I enjoyed this one too, it was really calming!
Like this craft? Make sure that you bookmark this page or pin an image so that you can return to it later plus keep reading for more crafts and activities inspired by nature.
Tree Craft Materials
To make this easy nature craft you will need our free tree template – print off as many copies as you’d like. You’ll also find some ideas there for other tree crafts that you might like to try with your child.
You’ll also need:
- double sided sellotape
- scissors (to cut the tape)
- and of course some natural materials. Look for different textures such as flower petals, twigs and leaves
How Do You Choose Flowers and Plants for Nature Crafts?
My kids are welcome to pick the daisies and dandelions which grow in our lawn and the ivy which overflows on our fence but other than that I ask that they check with me first.
As well as keeping my garden looking nice (and ultimately, I do still want it to be nice for them to play in) this means I can be certain that they’re not going to touch anything with thorns or that might be dangerous to them.
If you’re worried that your child will go and pull up your prize peonies to decorate with just go round the garden with them and you can choose leaves, petals and flowers together.
How To Make This Into a Four Seasons Craft
We created this craft during the summer but could easily do it as a four seasons craft for kids by printing off four copies of the tree and adding different things for each season.
Add flowers and leaves for spring, green leaves for summer and look for oranges, yellows and browns for autumn. For winter you can either look for older leaves, evergreens or leave it blank maybe adding some snow using white or blue paint.
How to Make Your Nature Craft
Of course you don’t need to stick your flowers onto your paper, you could just use it as a background where your child can move and re-decorate the tree. If you do want to stick things down then I recommend that you use double sided sellotape which is what I’ve used.
Put a strip of the tape along some of the branches and once you have pealed away the top layer you can stick your leaves and flowers onto this.
Glue can be less than awesome for materials which aren’t totally flat and there’s nothing fun about your child being upset if things fall of their tree if they’ve laid it all out perfectly!
Nature Crafts For Kids:
Love encouraging your children to get hands on with nature? We’ve got loads more inspiration for crafts ideas you can try out. Why not go on a walk in the woods and then try out this paint rolling activity with pinecones that you find? You could try this with acorns too.
These frozen flowers are really popular and it’s easy to see why as they look gorgeous! Perfect for a bit of nature inspired sensory play.
If your kids enjoyed this activity why not check out our nature butterfly craft too which is also made using one of our free templates.
