I'm sure I saw this idea somewhere so I can't take credit for it, but I also have no clue where I saw it. In education, I heard the phrase "I borrowed the idea" many times, so I suppose it will fit this scenario.
One of my goals this year was to spend more time outside with the boys. We've visited a dozen of new playgrounds with many more on the list to explore, but something exciting happens when we're surrounded by trees, no playgrounds in sight, and the only thing we hear is leaves moving, birds chirping, or just silence instead of the laughter of other children.
Even though Rhett knows how to name his colors, this was a fun activity to find colors in nature. It enhanced vocabulary as we talked about different colors, textures, smells, and the plants. While I wouldn't recommend picking flowers or plants that are living, we found these items off the path.
It was simple to make and I'm sure you could make yours even more lovely.
Using an egg carton, cut it into an 8 hole piece. I used a crayon to fill each cup with a different color, but you could do this with paint where you could see the colors a little better.
This kept our hands busy and eyes open to observe the nature around us throughout our walk. I can't wait to take it with us on a different walk in a different season.