This activity is a great way to get kids excited about nature. Collecting and investigating natural materials will stimulate their senses and give them both an understanding of and an appreciation for the world around them.
Top tip!
Make sure the natural items you collect for your bottle don't have any insects on them. Their home is the real forest in the open air!Equipment needed
A large bottle
About the activity
For this activity, simply grab a clean, empty bottle (we suggest a 2L bottle) and head out into the great outdoors! Whilst it may be particularly exciting to explore a park or local woodland, kids can also make a forest in a bottle in the garden.
Take the youngsters outside in search of different “elements of the forest” to contain in their bottle. What kinds of natural materials can they find? Examples of things to include are leaves, twigs, grasses, small stones, soil, flowers, bits of tree bark and mosses.
You could also challenge the kids to fill their bottle in a way that mirrors the different layers of the forest. Start with a layer of soil, before adding grass and small stones, then tree bark, twigs, leaves and flowers.
Once they’ve finished, the kids can take their forest in bottle home. While the contents are still fresh, it can make a cool natural ornament for their bedroom!
