Spring Learning Activities for Active Kids
Spring Learning: Embrace the Wiggles!
The first hints of spring have arrived here in the Northeast - the snowdrops are poking through and the snow has melted! Though it will likely come back at least one more time. And if your kids are anything like mine all this change has them filled with excitement to the point that they can’t sit still for lessons! At first, I tried to fight it—setting visual timers and promising free play after schoolwork. That worked for a whole day.
Then I realized something: why fight nature when we can learn from it? Of course they want to be out doing things. So do I if I’m being honest. I find it hard to resist the temptation to postpone lessons and start my garden on these newly sunny days.
So I did what any good parent does. Instead of battling the spring wiggles, we’ve fully embraced them. Lessons now happen in the sunshine (or drizzle), blending movement with discovery. Here are some of our favorite spring-themed, active learning activities, for when you need something to help tire them out while learning - plus some beautiful books to welcome the season!
Check out the full list of books at our amazon store here! please note I earn a small commission from these purchases which I use to purchase even more books for our shelves from book stores here in upstate NY.
Math in Motion
We’re always looking for small ways to build more math into our day and there are so many opportunities outdoors as we prepare for spring. Here are three ways we’re sneaking math into activities the kids want to be doing:
🌱 Counting Sticks & Fairy Houses – Collect sticks and group them into sets of five or ten before using them to construct fairy houses. Extend the activity by estimating, measuring, or creating symmetrical designs.
🌸 Chalk Lily Pad Hop – Write numbers, sight words, or math problems on sidewalk chalk lily pads. Kids can hop between them to count, solve problems, or spell words.
🐦 Bird Feeder Fractions – Make simple bird feeders with pinecones, peanut butter, and seeds. Have kids measure the ingredients and discuss fractions (e.g., “We need ½ cup of seeds!”).
Language & Literacy in Nature
Aside from all the great options you have for spring reading, there are some great ways to work on literacy while moving.
🌼 Spring Poetry Walk – Take a walk and jot down sensory observations (What do you hear? See? Smell?). Then, turn them into simple spring poems. Or find an outdoor story prompt (a feather, a budding flower, a trail of footprints) and have your child help write and illustrate a short story about what might have happened.
🌦 Rhyming Puddle Jump – Each puddle that the kids jump in they have to think of a rhyme for the word that you say. Make this a race to see who can come up with the most rhymes the fastest for each puddle.
🪺 Nature Story Leaps – Have your child use twigs, stones, leaves or anything they can find to build letters. Then, as you tell a story have them leap to the letter at the start of the word you emphasize in the story. This is one of my daughters absolute favorites as our stories get quite silly using the limited letters. She also enjoys when she tells the story and has to correct my mistakes from leaping to the wrong letter.
Science in the Springtime
I don’t know why, but finding a science curriculum that we like is the hardest. I’m always trying to think of new ways to encourage my kids to keep asking questions and to then turn those questions into experiments (and a trip to the library!). I try hard to never just give my kids the answer, it’s a skill I’m working on. So here are their most recent questions and what we did:
🌧 Rain Gauge Science – Does it rain more here or in Texas? —> Set up a homemade rain gauge to measure rainfall. Track data for a week and graph the results.
🐞 Bug Safari – Where do the ants go in winter? —> Grab a magnifying glass and search for worms, ants, and beetles. Discuss their habitats, life cycles, and roles in the ecosystem
🌻 Plant Growth Experiment – When will the flowers grow? —> Plant the same seeds in different conditions (sun vs. shade, dry vs. moist soil) and track their growth over time.
Weather & Spring-Themed Books We Love
These books bring the magic of spring to life, making them perfect read-alouds for outdoor learning days!
🌧 The Rain Came Down by David Shannon – A fun look at how rain changes a community’s day.
🌦 Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre – A poetic and scientific exploration of rain.
🌱 And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano – A beautifully illustrated book about waiting for spring.
🐛 Busy Spring: Nature Wakes Up – A great introduction to the science of spring.
🪱 Worm Weather by Jean Taft – A short, engaging book about how worms love the rain.
❄️🌸 Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak – A gentle transition from winter to spring.
💧 One Little Raindrop (Life Cycles) by Lesley Sims – A simple introduction to the water cycle.
🌸 Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson – A heartwarming story of seasonal change.
🌿 Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner – A look at what happens in a garden above and below ground.
🎶 Singing in the Rain by Tim Hopgood – A lyrical read-aloud perfect for welcoming spring showers.
Final Thoughts: Lean Into the Season!
Instead of forcing learning to fit into rigid boxes, embrace the natural rhythms of the seasons. If your kids are itching to run outside, take the lessons with you! Spring is full of hands-on, curiosity-driven learning opportunities—you just have to step outside.
What are your favorite ways to learn in the springtime? Let’s swap ideas in the comments! 🌱✨