Seed Collection I Spy Jars

This is a simple sensory activity suitable for toddlers and older children which encourages them to explore the natural world around them. I personally love Autumn and the changes it brings to the natural world around us. It is such a natural invitation to explore and discuss. One of my lasting memories of Autumn when I was younger was collecting conkers and throwing helicopter seeds. So I decided that we would go on a seed hunt trying to find as many different seeds as we could.

Set Up

This is a very simple set up. Find an area to collect the seeds; whether in your garden, local park or wood. The chosen area doesn’t actually require copious amounts of beautiful flowers to find a good selection of seeds. Some of our weeds had very interesting seeds. I included a pair of child friendly scissors to help with M’s scissor skills. These ones are great as they actually cut! I also used a garden basket that I had recently bought as my little ones love collecting bits and pieces when out and about. This one was nice and sturdy and the handle made it nice and easy for even F to hold. The glass jars were recycled ones from home. Obviously use your judgment as to whether you think glass jars are suitable for your little one and where you are doing this. My 21 month old daughter was fine. We were on grass the entire time and I was close by to supervise.

The girls were keen to get going. A variety of different seed types were collected and we discussed the different types and M after a while was able to tell me if it was a sticky seed etc. They were so keen to collect lots and when we found a particular bounty of seeds they were reluctant to move on until they had collected ‘enough’. They both enjoyed using the scissors although F’s was not really able to use them to cut she enjoyed trying. We were collecting seeds for well over an hour and they were so focused on their task the entire time. I was very impressed!

As we had spent so much time collecting seeds the second part of the activity had to be continued the next day. We looked at our seeds again; discussing the different colours, sizes and types. With M I discussed the size of the different seeds and tried to encourage her to pop the bigger seeds in the jar first. They both enjoyed choosing seeds to put in their jars and F had clear favorites of the acorn, conkers and rose hip seeds. The jars looked beautiful. The sensory jars are great to have inside and be turned around, to discuss what seeds, colour, sizes we can see. Such a simple sensory activity to encourage children and toddlers to explore nature and the natural world around us. These jars could also be a great sensory exploration activity for younger toddlers and older babies. I would suggest using a recycled or reusable plastic bottle instead.

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