Nature Gift for Kids – Discovery Kit

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. That means that if you go through one of our affiliate links to make a purchase (each is marked below with two asterisks**), we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! All opinions and reviews here on Grow Adventures are independent and reflective of our own personal use and belief in the quality and usefulness of the products and services we recommend. Please read our disclosure for more information.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to get started with hiking with your kids, check out this blog post. If you want some recommendations on how to motivate and entertain your kids while hiking, check out these ideas here.

Encourage your little explorer to venture out with his or her own outdoor adventure kit

We love the outdoors and don’t need very much motivation to get us going. I, like many adults, spend most of our day behind a computer screen, so a walk outside is a welcome escape. 

But ever since having kids, it’s been a bit more of a struggle, not just because we have to prepare more (especially when they were babies/toddlers), but also because the kids didn’t have any motivation to leave the toys they are with to go for a walk. 

So how did we make it more fun?

We saw that once our kids did get out, they loved looking at interesting things and bugs. So we decided to tell them that we were going on treasure or bug hunts instead of just “hiking” – that definitely piqued their interest. And now ever more so with their own little discovery kits.

 Here are some items we recommend to include in your nature kit for your curious little one. The four basics we suggest are:

1. Binoculars for kids**. These are a high quality set, not the standard cheaper ones they normally make for kids that don’t really work.
2. Kid-friendly magnifying glass**. Don’t worry about your kids dropping this magnifying glass (ours has survived many drops!) – It’s sturdy, colorful and has a wide easy grip for toddlers (and a free carabiner to clip it to their pant loop or backpack).
3. Bring along a little bag/bucket for little treasures and make a DIY critter habitat out of an old plastic water bottle with holes. Or check out this cute little critter habitat with handle and door**.
4. Check out this American Red Cross Crank light – set of 2** (no batteries required!) that is sturdy enough for kids and also can serve you on your camping trip to charge up your cellphone!

Or if you want a ready-made full nature kit, try this set that includes a compass, bug kit with insect tongs and butterfly net, and hand crank flashlight**.

What is an essential part of your child’s nature discovery kit? Share with us in the comments below. We love hearing from you!