The best way for preschoolers to learn about nature is to experience it, so take your students on a nature walk. Take along binoculars, a magnifying glass, bags and a camera. Take your time, giving students an opportunity to observe and discuss what they see around them. Encourage students to use as many senses as they can: Ask them what they see, smell, hear and feel as they explore. Let each student collect a few artifacts from the walk to be added to a class field guide.
Let nature inspire student artwork. Take students outside with paper, crayons and markers. Ask them to draw what they see around them. Alternatively, ask students to pick up leaves, sticks, acorns, grass and flowers; this may be done during a nature walk. Help students use these materials to make a collage. Take pictures of the collages, and make new ones each season; talk about how the collages change as the seasons change.
Plant flowers, trees and vegetables to provide students with an opportunity to watch them grow. Depending on the space available, plant flowers and herbs in pots in your classroom or plant trees and a small garden outside. Talk about how plants turn water and sunlight into food. Observe how the plants change and grow each day. Let students take turns watering the plants and placing them in the sunlight, if applicable. If growing vegetables or herbs, let students eat the food once ripened.
Turn your classroom into an observatory. Place bird feeders outside the windows of your classroom or let students place bird seed on the ground. Let students observe the seeds, corn and other foods placed in the feeder. Spend time each day watching the animals that visit your feeders and keep a log of what you see. Ask students to describe the size and colors of the birds they see, then look them up in a nature guide. Set out corn cobs and nuts for squirrels and chipmunks. If you have a large space outside your classroom, plant flowers to attract butterflies and other insects or set up a bird bath.