Updated for 2025: Spring Sensory Celebration

This year, we’re reintroducing Exploring Nature with Your Senses: Hearing as part of our Spring Sensory Celebration! Throughout the season, we invite families to explore the outdoors using all five senses—starting with sound.

Nature is full of melodies, rhythms, and whispers waiting to be heard. Whether it’s the chirp of a bird, the rustle of the wind, or the splash of raindrops, each sound deepens our connection to the world around us. So, let’s slow down, listen closely, and experience the wonders of nature through sound.

Exploring Nature Through Hearing

Listening to nature can ease the stresses of daily life and help us feel more connected to the outdoors. From the calls of birds to the rustling of wind on a blustery day, the buzzing of cicadas, or the rush of water after a rainstorm—nature is alive with sound.

Even in urban settings, if you take a moment to pause, you’ll notice the subtle sounds of nature all around you. So, step outside with your children and explore the soundscape of the natural world together!

While wandering through nature, we use our senses to take in our surroundings. We smell flowers, touch tree bark, listen to bird calls, see details (like an ant trail on a tree), and even taste some of the natural objects we encounter (think berries or edible flowers). While investigating nature in this way comes naturally to most children, sometimes we forget to allow them the time and space they need to do it.

We share five different ways to explore each of the five senses with your children! So get outside as a family, slow down, and explore nature with your senses together!

Photo Credit: Ashley Schneider

Five ways to slow down and experience sounds in nature together:

1. Find five sounds. Find a comfy spot, or at least a spot free of sharp rocks and pokey plants, and lie down. Close your eyes and put a fist in the air. Now listen carefully to the nature around you and put a finger up each time you hear a new nature sound. Once all five figures are raised, sit up, wait for everyone else to finish, and then share what you heard.
    
2. Listen to bird calls. Listen to the birds around you as you sit for a picnic or hike a favorite trail. If you want, spend time trying to match the bird calls to the bird, or try to count the number of different birds you hear. There is no wrong way to listen to the sounds of birds, even if it is just listening to them and nothing more.
    
3. Hear your footsteps. As you walk through nature, listen to the sounds of your footsteps. Do you hear the crackle of dried fall leaves, the snapping of twigs, the splashing of water, or the crunch of snow? There is a different sound for every season or ground cover—and the sounds even change depending on your footwear.
    
4. Listen like an animal. Find a quiet place in nature where you won’t be disturbed. Close your eyes and pretend you are an animal listening for survival. Are you a prey animal (rabbit, squirrel, deer) listening for danger? Are you a predator animal (fox, wolf, owl) listening for movement? What do you hear? A human talking? A squirrel chattering? A dog barking? How would your animal react to those sounds? This is a great way to teach kids about how animals use sound in their daily lives.

5. What’s That Sound? For this game, gather some common nature objects—sticks, dried leaves, rocks, sand, water, acorns, pinecones, etc. Please place them in a box or behind your back where your children can’t see them.
   Can they guess what made the sound?

   Have your kids close their eyes (or wear a blindfold), then make a noise with one of the objects:

• Tap two rocks together
• Crinkle fall leaves
• Shake a few acorns in your hand
• Rub two pinecones together
  This game helps kids develop active listening skills and increases their awareness of the sounds around them.

Keep Exploring!

Want to engage even more senses? Check out our other posts on exploring nature through smell, taste, touch, and sight! 

📢 Join the Spring Sensory Celebration!
We’d love to see how your family is exploring nature through sound. Share your outdoor sound adventures using #SpringSensory and tag @WeAreOutGrown!

About OutGrown

OutGrown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to creating a world where every family can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outside. We work to remove barriers and provide opportunities for families with babies and young children to take their first steps into nature.

Since our grassroots start in 2013, OutGrown has grown into a thriving community of 280,000 families and over 300 volunteer Community Hub Leaders. Learn more about our programs at WeAreOutGrown.org.

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We hope you enjoyed this post from OutGrown. We work hard to provide families with valuable content, resources, and inspiration to make outdoor exploration more straightforward and accessible.

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