Pretty Poundings Pick fresh flowers and leaves with your child. Have him lay the leaves or flowers on a wooden board, and cover them with a piece of plain white or natural cotton muslin fabric. Help him pound the fabric/flowers/leaves with a hammer to create a print on the fabric.

Sticky Paper Pictures Cut pre-glued contact paper into a shape, and staple what will be the sticky side up to a sheet of construction paper, leaving the protective backing on. Go for a walk and ask your child to help you gather items to stick onto the picture: leaves, small sticks, flowers, grass, etc. At home, help her peel off the backing paper covering the sticky paper, and show her how to press things on to create a masterpiece!

Collection Counting Give your child some baskets, bags, or boxes to hold collections: shells, rocks, leaves, toy animals, toy people, or anything of interest to him. From time to time, encourage him to lay out his collections, and help him count them.

Mini-Museum Gather six or so small or large empty milk cartons. Cut the tops off the cartons and glue or staple them together so the openings are all facing the same way. Let your child create a "museum" by filling the spaces with a collection of items: rocks, leaves, flowers, or whatever she chooses. She might choose a collection of all the same thing like rocks, or a collection of related items like those that are beautiful, hard, soft, etc. She might display a permanent collection, or a temporary exhibit that changes from time to time.

Nature Walk Rubbings Gather a few yards of thin white fabric or paper, and crayons, chalk, or pencils. Go for a walk with your child and look for natural things with texture or a textured pattern. Help him to place the fabric or paper over the item, and rub with the writing tools to make an impression magically appear. Collect more rubbings on the fabric or paper as you go. In the end, you'll have a mural that tells the story of your walk!