Tree Observation Activities with Kids

Originally published 3/28/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Although I love walking in the forest, I truly enjoy walking through parks. There is something about walking along a path and seeing individual trees growing separate from one another as opposed to seeing the jumble of a forest that makes me better appreciate the beauty of trees. I think that sometimes people get caught up by the number of trees around them and just see ‘trees’ instead of learning to recognize the distinctive qualities of ‘maples,’ ‘ash,’ or ‘oaks.’

The following activities help children, and adults, notice and then recognize unique characteristics about trees than can then help them identify the trees in their area. You can do these activities with just you and one child or with a group of up to fifteen (break up larger groups).

Tree Silhouette Charades – Notice the overall shape of the trees. Although trees in a park may get lower branches cut off for the safety of human visitors, the shape of different species of trees is distinct. For this game, It looks around and uses his or her body to form the shape of a tree he or she can see. The other players try to figure out which tree It is representing and point to that tree. This works well in winter with bare trees as well as in the summer with trees that have a full canopy of leaves.

Two-Minute Sketches – Give each participant a stack of approximately ten blank index cards and a black marker. Stand someplace where everyone can see a variety of trees with unique shapes. Working quickly, participants sketch the general shape of as many trees as they can within two minutes. Because they don’t have much time, players won’t get bogged down with details.

When time’s up, the leader points to a tree and participants who drew that tree show off their pictures. If you have a competitive group, players can vote for the most realistic sketch for each tree. For a non-competitive activity, after pointing to a tree, ask the participants to describe the shape of the tree with words and then show off the sketches. Players can self-evaluate if their description matches their drawing.

Do you remember drawing ‘lollipop’ trees as a child? These quick activities make kids and adults aware of the distinctive shapes possessed by different species of trees. These activities can be a first step toward noting the individuality of trees and moving closer to learning how to identify trees. For more fun with trees, read Leaf Identification Games and Activities.