Want to make some fun crafts with your kids in the garden or out in nature? Here are some ideas for outdoors crafts and crafts to do with nature.
While we plant flowers and vegetables and read gardening books, we also like to be creative in the garden and around our outdoor living areas.
We make garden wish flags, bean pole teepees, stepping stones, weatherproof garlands, and other garden crafts and decorations.
These are some of our favorite garden crafts for kids and families. Some of them are from Jean’s book The Artful Year, and some are from our blog!
Getting preschoolers engaged with gardening and nature is easy with some simple fun craft projects. Gardens provide an endless source of inspiration for creative activities that develop fine motor skills encourage exploration and imagination, and connect kids to the natural world.
In this article, we will explore 25 garden craft ideas perfect for preschool-aged children 3-5 years old. These garden crafts use common household items and natural materials found outdoors so you can easily do them at home or at preschool.
Top 25 Garden Crafts for Preschoolers
1. Make Garden Wish Flags
Decorate small fabric flags or pennants with fabric markers and hang them in the garden to send hopes and wishes on the breeze.
2. Paint and Decorate Flowerpots
Let kids paint terra cotta pots with acrylic paints Add details like faces or designs with permanent markers Use to plant flowers or herbs.
3. Make Bean Pole Tipis
Construct a teepee-shaped trellis from bamboo poles and grow beans up it for a fun fort.
4. Create Nature Suncatchers
Press leaves and flowers between two pieces of clear contact paper to make beautiful hanging suncatchers.
5. Paint and Decorate Rocks
Collect rocks and paint animals, faces or designs on them with acrylic craft paints. Use as garden decor or hide for rock hunts.
6. Make Beaded Wands
Thread pony beads onto pipe cleaners and curl into bubble wands. Dip into homemade bubble solution for gorgeous bubbles.
7. Build Mini Scarecrows
Use sticks, rags, straw hats and old clothes to make mini garden scarecrows.
8. Create Melted Bead Sun Catchers
Iron pony beads between two pieces of wax paper to fuse beads into a suncatcher. Add ribbon for hanging.
9. Make Paper Pinwheels
Glue colorful paper onto a pinwheel template. Add a stick and beads or buttons for spinning in the breeze.
10. Paint Stepping Stones
Paint flat rocks or cement stepping stones with acrylic craft paints and seal. Make a garden path!
11. Build Bird Feeders
Spread peanut butter onto pine cones, roll in birdseed and hang with ribbon for easy DIY bird feeders.
12. Make Garden Wind Chimes
Use shells, beads, bells and sticks to create musical wind chimes to hang in trees.
13. Press Flowers
Pick colorful flowers and press inside a large book. Once dried, use for cards, framed art or scrapbooks.
14. Create Garden Signs
Paint and decorate wood rounds with garden names, plant labels or encouraging messages.
15. Make Nature Prints
Print with leaves, sticks or vegetables dipped in paint to make beautiful nature prints.
16. Draw with Sidewalk Chalk
Let kids draw garden designs like mazes, hopscotches or murals on sidewalks and driveways. Use washable sidewalk chalk.
17. Decorate Flower Pots
Use craft materials like buttons, pom poms, gems or googley eyes to decorate basic terra cotta flower pots.
18. Build Bug Houses
Stuff pinecones with peanut butter and roll in birdseed or fill toilet paper tubes with shredded paper for bug homes.
19. Create Nature Dioramas
Use shoeboxes to create garden scene dioramas with sticks, leaves, pebbles, pom poms and craft materials.
20. Make Paper Flowers
Cut or punch colorful paper into flower shapes. Glue onto pipe cleaners to make a bouquet.
21. Plant Seeds in Eggshells
Gently crack eggshells and plant grass or flower seeds inside. Watch them sprout!
22. Paint Garden Stones
Paint fun designs on smooth garden rocks and pebbles using acrylic craft paint and permanent markers.
23. Play with Flower Petal Colored Water
Add flower petals to water and let sit overnight. Strain and use as magical colored water for play and art.
24. Make Garden Collages
Collect leaves, petals and sticks to glue onto paper and make garden collage scenes.
25. Create Nature Bracelets and Necklaces
Thread colorful beads, bells, flowers and sticks with stretchy cording to create nature-inspired jewelry.
The garden is the perfect spot for open-ended creative play and exploration for young kids. Try out these fun garden crafts and activities to encourage your preschoolers to engage their senses, build fine motor control and connect with nature right in your own backyard. Get the whole family involved and let creativity blossom!
Garden Crafts for Kids
We use fabric markers or crayons to make these flags, and they hold our garden and gardening season wishes.
These DIY bubble wands made with pipe cleaners and beads are a fun kids’ craft project. Plus the finished bubble wands are beautiful and work great with our homemade bubble solution!.
We build a bamboo frame almost every year because we love growing pole beans up it. It’s also a fun place to play before the beans start to grow.
Putting up bird houses is the best way to get birds to come to your garden. It’s also a lot of fun to paint and decorate them. I love how the watercolors soak into the wood like a bright wood stain.
Melted bead suncatchers are easy to make from kids plastic pony beads. They are durable and a perfect addition to your garden. And check out my page all about suncatchers for even more ideas!.
You can put these fun and easy paper pinwheels in your garden or use them for a pop-up parade through the neighborhood (from Childhood 101).
Take a walk and pick up some rocks. When you get home, paint them and make these fun rock houses! You can put them in your garden to make a village, or you can leave them in your neighbor’s garden as a surprise.
Flower pounding is a great way for kids to learn about the art process. They can watch as the colors from the flowers move onto the canvas to make these pretty flower flags.
This is one of our favorite garden decorations! You can make beautiful garden decorations out of pipe cleaners, dowels, and beads that you will love looking at all spring and summer.
Nature Crafts for Kids
Take a break from the summer sun with these fun crafts that use nature. You can bring the garden inside!
This post actually has two nature-based art projects that show kids different ways to enjoy and work with nature. Try your hand at observational drawing of flowers and clay leaf printing.
When you “paint” hot rocks with crayons, the crayons melt when they touch the rock. This makes melted crayon rocks. A long time ago, this was our favorite thing to do. We’ve done it with shells, Easter eggs, and salt dough decorations.
Go for a nature walk and gather natural materials to use for this beautiful nature mobile. Painted air dry clay beads add the finishing touch!.
Nature’s colors (flowers and leaves) and sticky contact paper in the shape of a perfect circle are used in this flower suncatcher craft for kids. An easy summer craft and so beautiful!.
You can make a beautiful project with a cardboard box, contact paper, and things you find in nature. It could be a 3D nature suncatcher, a flower petal art box, or a flower house for fairies and fireflies.
These DIY flower crowns for kids are both lovely and simple to make. This is a great nature craft for spring or summer because it uses fresh flowers to make a stained-glass look.
Nature tables are great for all the cool things your kids might find on a nature walk. Put them in baskets on a kids’ table with a magnifying glass and nature guides to learn more. (From Meri Cherry).
We hope you try out these fun garden and nature activities with your family!
school project# floral garden#preschool#
What are some fun garden crafts for kids?
Make a few fun garden crafts for kids to get ready for the season of renewal. You’ll find loads of crafty projects, like planters and markers, perfect for the garden. But when it’s rainy and cold out, you can bring the bright colors of the garden inside with paper garden crafts like a carrot patch or a flower garden. Ready to get started?
What are the best plant crafts for kids?
Plant crafts for kids include seed planting and rock garden markers, perfect for learning and growing together. Let your little ones’ imaginations blossom with these engaging projects that bring the beauty of the garden into your home!
Can toddlers make garden crafts?
Even toddlers can help with pulling weeds, planting seeds, and other small tasks. And for even more fun, try a few of these garden crafts to make with kids. We’ve collected the cutest ideas from bloggers that include ideas for attracting your kids’ favorite critters, playing outside, and growing and caring for plants.
What are some gardening activities for preschoolers & kindergarteners?
Here are 36 gardening activities for your preschoolers and kindergarteners. 1. Plant Bean Seeds No childhood would be complete without planting bean seeds in class, hence why this activity is top of my list. Grow beans in a jar indoors with cotton wool or soil so kids can watch the process happening.