Create a DIY Nature Journal with free printable activities!
Lately, I’ve discovered some really amazing nature printables and worksheets this year for our nature journal activities!
Really super awesome stuff!
But you know how it is — you take a piece of paper outside for a scavenger hunt or garden activity and before you know it, it’s blowing around the yard with the kids chasing after it.
Or the pencil you have goes missing.
Or you don’t have enough time to finish the activity and then can’t find the darn sheet the next day.
Or you DO finish the activity but aren’t sure where to store them all so the kids can see what they’ve accomplished.
But I’ve found a fix!
Today’s project will solve all those issues — an easy DIY for your own Nature Journal!
DIY Nature Journal for Kids
This is a wonderful upcycled project that you can either do with the kids or make as a fun surprise for them to use as they explore the outdoors this Spring & Summer!
And it’s perfect for those long summer days or any at-home camps you might be thinking about this year. In addition to including links to all the free nature journal printables & worksheets (more than 70!), I’m also including affiliate links for the items we used to make our notebook.
I love that all you need for this project is a paper bag, some OUTSTANDING printables and fun tape if you want to jazz up your nature journal a little (kids always want to jazz things up :).
- 1 paper bag – if you want to add handles to your notebook, than you’ll need a second bag with handles
- Craft Scissors
- stapler
- colorful paper tape – such as washi tape or the Scotch decorative tape
- a pencil
- printables (you can get these below)
- blank paper or 9-Inch-by-12-Inch Tracing Paper
Making the Nature Journal:
First, cut the bottom off the paper bag. Then cut up one side so you’ll have one long open piece of brown paper.
Lay the open bag out on your table.
(If your bag includes a logo, make sure you have it logo-side up so the printables will cover it.)
You can see that the open paper bag is long enough to allow for three areas of 8.5″ x 11″ printables. This is perfect and I’ll show you how to include a fourth area once we fold the bag.
Tri-fold your bag so you have three distinct and equal areas (this just takes a little estimation and you’ll be able to see why in the following photos).
Ok, here’s the fun part — choose some great printables to include in your notebook!
And guess what — they are all FREE!
You want activities about gardening & plants? There here!
Looking for scavenger hunts the kids will love?
Got those too!
Hoping to find some hands-on science exploration?
Oh yea – totally got you covered!
Here’s a list of the printables & links to the awesome blogs & organizations! I keep adding to the list so now there are more than 70+ ideas:
Spring Scavenger Hunt — Edventures with Kids
Nature Scavenger Hunt –Babyccino Kids
Plant Life Cycle & Vocabulary — 123 Homeschool 4 Me
20 Summer Scavenger Hunts — Edventures with Kids
Spring Nature Hunt — Sunny Day Today Mama
Spring Senses Nature Walk — Go Explore Nature
Extraordinary Journal Page — Handbook of Nature Study
Bug Hunt Activity — Edventures with Kids
Rock Observation Chart — Handbook of Nature Study
Animal Tracks — New Hampshire Wildlife
I Spy Animal Clues — Sisbro Studios
How Fast Does Your Plant Grow? — Edventures with Kids
Botany Scavenger Hunt — Ellen McHenry’s Basement Shop
What’s that Bug? What’s that Bird? — Crafty Classroom
Animal Observation Journal — Edventures with Kids
10 Outdoor Printables (weather, moon, animals) — National Wildlife Federation
50 Outdoor Printables (animals & insects) — Nature Detectives at Woodland Trust
Once you have all your printables, arrange them into three groups for your custom nature journal. Choose topics that interest the kids — gardening, bugs, plants, animals, etc.
For example, I grouped all the tree & plant activities together so we could build on them.
Our second group included fun things like scavenger hunts & animal activities and the third group has learning worksheets (activities with a math or science focus).
Place each group in one of your tri-folded sections and staple them at the top.
Now we’ll make things look a little nicer and cover those staples.
You’re going to fold the top and both sides of the bag over about 1/2 inch and tape them on the inside of the notebook. I put also put tape on the outside of the right & left sections of the bag.
You can cut a small piece from the second bag to make a pencil loop for your nature journal — just fold the piece around the pencil and staple into place. I put ours on the bottom of the left side.
Once your pencil is secure, you can fold over the bottom of the bag and tape it too.
Then cut the handles off second paper bag and you will secure those with decorative craft tape — put one handle on the left side of the bag and then tape the second handle AFTER you fold the right side of the bag over.
Basically, the second handle is taped to the inside of the bag after you fold in that right section (you can see below).
This is what the notebook looks like when the right side is folded in — now the section on the right facing you includes your second handle and I also stapled some tracing paper/blank pages here so the kids could do nature rubbings. This is optional — you could also leave it open for them to draw pictures.
We also love to take along a kid-sized set of Binoculars
Fun With Nature: Take Along Guide
If you’d like a cover, here’s a free printable journal cover that you can include on the front of your nature journal. Or the kids can decorate it on their own too!
There you go — all set to head outside to learn, explore and track nature!
And if you’re heading out on a road trip soon, check out our DIY Road Trip ideas too!
More Free Printable Activities for Kids
40 Free Printable Road Trip Activities
Travel Journal Ideas for Kids {with free printables!}
More Recycled Crafts & Activities for Kids
Today is also our Discover & Explore linky — this week we are sharing Recycled Crafts & Activities!
Please read the following guidelines for sharing:
- Share family-friendly posts related to the weekly topic — kids activities, crafts, recipes, nature outings, printables, etc.
- By linking up, you are giving me permission to share your post including one photo in our weekly feature post and on social media channels.
- Visit 2-3 other posts that have linked up, find some new ideas & meet new friends!
- If you’d like, grab a button for your post — we love to share and want to find lots of great activities to highlight for you!
- Each of the host blogs will feature some of the outstanding posts the week following the linky!