Activity sheets

Be inspired to get outdoors and get to know it as you never have before, using our educational activity sheets for primary aged children and their families.

We’ve created a suite of 24 activities to help your child(ren) develop essential learning skills whilst having fun outdoors exploring nature found at the river and beyond, at any time of year.

Each activity has been linked to its key learning skill – literacy & phonics, maths, art & craft, digital skills (computer-based and photography).

**Please follow current government guidance regarding Covid-19 restrictions to help protect the NHS and save lives. If current restrictions mean you can’t get to a river, we’d still recommend taking a walk in the fresh air every day and exploring your local patch – parks, footpaths through fields, quiet lanes… You may even find a hidden gem you didn’t know existed!

Before you go to the river

The River Eden at Lazonby

River safety

Top tips to keep your family safe by the river

Literacy skills

A letter made from natural materials

Living letters

Spell out your name using natural materials

Shelter for insects made from natural materials

Minibeast shelters

Give our creepy-crawlies a brand new home!

Bridge at Carlisle, Cumbria

River A-Z

Test your alphabet skills down by the river

Boy kneeling near the ground

Riverside micro trail

Hunt for some of Eden's smallest inhabitants

children looking at pictures of things found at the river

River sketch 'n' speak

Brush up on your 'river speak' and map a river

Child cupping their ear

Secret sounds

Ssshh! Can you hear nature's secret sounds?

Child cupping their ear

Sounds of the riverbank

Listen carefully, what can you hear?

Egg box containing natural leaves and berries

Texture trail

Discover the textures of natural things

Maths skills

Daisies showing through a foot cut out from cardboard

Flower footprints

No daisies will be harmed making these footprints!

Leaf count

How many different leaf shapes can you spot?

Leaf multiplication

Test your multiplication skills out and about

Tree trunk with cracks in it

Nature's angles

How many angles can you find in the great outdoors?

Red Admiral butterfly

Nature's shapes

Take a walk by the river and spot shapes found in nature

clay circle with a pattern of flower petals, leaves and berries

Perfect circles

Create designs with perfect symmetry

Children playing pooh sticks

Poohsticks

Maths fun whilst playing this well-loved game

Art and craft ideas

Flowers frozen in ice and hung from a tree branch

Ice art

Create something beautiful from water

a mud monster stuck to a tree

Mud monsters

Make a monster out of natural materials

A face made from a stone and other natural materials

Nature faces

Find natural materials to create a face

A collection of natural materials arranged by colour

Rainbow walk

Can you make a rainbow from natural things?

Memory catcher made from natural materials hung from a tree

River memory catcher

Make a lasting reminder of your visit

Photography skills

Girl taking a photograph

Photography tips

Help your family to take great photos

Illusion of a hand touching a cloud in the sky

Photo perspectives

Look at the river in a different way

Girls taking photograph of the reflection of trees in the river

River reflections

How many different reflections can you see?

River scavenger hunt

Can you be the first to find all the river features?

Science skills

Boy river dipping

Name that minibeast

Go river dipping in the summer and discover the minibeasts that live there