Our Favorite Nature Traditions Through the Year
Every season brings something different to look forward to.
While I love planning camping trips and exploring new places, some of my family’s favorite adventures happen the same way every single year. They don’t require reservations, a packed car, or a destination on the map. They’re simply the little traditions that remind me to slow down and notice what’s changing around us.
Over the years, these simple traditions have become more than just ways to spend an afternoon. They’ve become the rhythm of our family’s year. We’ve found that when we pay attention to the changing seasons, there’s always something waiting to be discovered.
Long before my kids remember where we traveled, I hope they’ll remember these simple moments that welcomed each new season.
Spring – Wonder
Spring always feels like an invitation to start exploring again.
After months of gray skies and bare trees, the first signs of life seem almost impossible to miss—if you’re paying attention. Every year, my kids are the first to notice something new, and before long we’re outside searching for all the familiar signs that winter is finally letting go.
One of the first things we look for is the little patches of chives that pop up in our yard. They always seem to beat everything else to spring, and without fail, my daughter picks a handful to snack on while we’re outside. It’s a simple tradition, but one we’ve come to expect every year.
As the evenings grow warmer, we listen for the unmistakable chorus of spring peepers. Their tiny voices somehow fill the entire woods, and hearing that first chorus always feels like the official beginning of spring. Sometimes we carefully catch a few in a bucket just long enough to admire these tiny frogs up close before returning them to the woods where they belong.
As spring continues, we start keeping an eye out for honeysuckle vines. There’s always excitement when someone spots the first blooms. We carefully pull the tiny green stem from the flower and taste the drop of sweet nectar hidden inside. It’s one of those little traditions that feels almost like discovering a secret nature has been waiting to share with us.
Not long after, we’re walking the edge of our pond searching for tiny clusters of bullfrog eggs. Week after week, we come back to watch them transform into tadpoles, grow little legs, and eventually disappear into the grass as tiny frogs. It’s one of those reminders that nature is always changing, even when it happens slowly.
We also make time for a visit to a local tulip farm each spring. Standing among thousands of blooms in every color imaginable never gets old. It’s one of those places that reminds us just how creative God’s creation can be, and every year the kids seem to find a new favorite color or variety.
Spring has taught us that adventure often begins with paying attention to the smallest signs of new life. A patch of chives, the sound of tiny frogs, or a field of blooming tulips may seem ordinary on their own, but together they’ve become some of our family’s most treasured traditions.
Summer – Abundance
Summer has a way of stretching time.
The days feel longer, bedtime comes later, and somehow everyone ends up barefoot more often than not. We spend more time outside than in, often staying until the last bit of daylight has disappeared.
One of our favorite places to spend a summer afternoon is the creek. Armed with little nets and buckets, my kids search beneath rocks for crayfish, celebrating every discovery as if it were treasure. It never seems to matter how many we’ve caught before; finding one more is just as exciting as the first.
When the sun finally begins to set, we’re usually still outside. Fireflies start blinking across the yard, and bedtime quietly gets pushed back “just a few more minutes.” Those few minutes almost always turn into chasing tiny lights through the grass until the stars begin to fill the sky.
Summer is also camping season, and my kids and I take full advantage of it. We spend as many weekends as we can pitching a tent, exploring new trails, swimming in lakes, and ending our days around a campfire. But even when we’re home, adventure doesn’t stop.
Some afternoons, the kids hop on their bikes and scooters, and we ride down to the farm on our road. Other days, we’re in the garden checking to see what’s ready to harvest. There’s something incredibly satisfying about watching tiny seeds become tomatoes, herbs, flowers, and vegetables that eventually make their way to our dinner table.
Every summer, we also raise butterflies from caterpillars. Day by day, we watch them eat, grow, and disappear into their chrysalises. The morning a butterfly finally emerges never loses its excitement. Watching one gently climb onto a finger before taking its first flight reminds us that some of the most incredible adventures happen when we’re willing to slow down and simply watch nature work.
Summer also means filling baskets—and sometimes stained fingers—with whatever fruit is in season. As one fruit finishes, another begins. Strawberries give way to blueberries, blueberries to raspberries and blackberries, until late summer baskets are filled with peaches, nectarines, cherries, and plums. Every few weeks, there’s something new to anticipate.
One of my favorite summer traditions is visiting a nearby lavender farm. We wander through rows of purple blooms, carefully cutting bundles to bring home. Long after summer has ended, dried sprigs of lavender still fill our home with their sweet fragrance. Every time I catch that familiar scent in the middle of winter, I’m reminded of warm July afternoons, buzzing bees, and sunshine. Somehow, it has a way of making us dream about summer all over again.
Before summer fades into fall, we always make time for a visit to our local sunflower maze. Walking through rows of towering blooms reminds us that nature has one more spectacular show before the seasons begin to change.
Summer has taught us that adventure doesn’t always need a plan. Sometimes it looks like an evening that lasts longer than expected, a muddy pair of shoes after exploring the creek, or a bowl of freshly picked berries shared around the kitchen table. These are the days that seem ordinary while we’re living them, but I have a feeling they’ll become some of the memories my kids treasure most.
Autumn – Gratitude
By the time autumn arrives, our rhythm naturally begins to change.
The long, carefree days of summer give way to a season of slowing down. Homeschool routines settle back into place and our days become a little more structured. But that doesn’t mean adventure disappears. We simply begin finding it in different places.
No fall feels complete without a trip to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. We fill bags with apples to can our homemade applesauce, search for the perfect pumpkin, and spend an afternoon carving jack-o’-lanterns together. Every year, after Halloween has passed, we roll our well-loved pumpkins down the hill toward the creek, figuring the wildlife might enjoy them more than the trash can ever would.
This summer, those pumpkins surprised us.
A few forgotten seeds must have taken root, because now little pumpkin vines are growing along the edge of the creek. It felt like one of those unexpected gifts nature occasionally gives back—proof that even traditions can grow in ways you never planned. The kids were thrilled to discover that one of our traditions had quietly continued without us.
As the leaves begin to change, we spend as much time hiking as we can, simply admiring the brilliant reds, oranges, and golds that transform familiar trails into something entirely new. It’s amazing how the same path can feel completely different from one season to the next.
One of our favorite local traditions is visiting Ott’s Exotic Plants. Every fall, they build what can only be described as a mountain of mums. My kids love climbing to the top, surrounded by thousands of blooms in every shade of autumn. We never leave without wandering the nursery afterward, dreaming about what we might plant in our own yard someday.
Inspired by Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, we gather leaves, seed pods, grasses, and whatever treasures we find on our walks to create our own leaf people and woodland creatures. It’s become one of those simple traditions that reminds us beauty doesn’t have to last forever to be worth appreciating.
As the weeds begin to die back, another favorite place finally becomes accessible again. All summer long, poison ivy claims the path to our teepee fort, so we leave it alone. But every fall, we make the walk back into the woods to see how our little fort weathered another season. Sometimes a few branches have fallen. Sometimes it needs rebuilding. Every year, it feels a little like visiting an old friend.
Autumn reminds me that slowing down doesn’t mean adventure has ended. In many ways, it’s the season that teaches us to notice beauty the most. The changing leaves, the familiar trails, and even an old fort tucked away in the woods all remind us that every season has something worth returning to.
Winter – Contentment
Winter invites us to slow down.
The garden has gone to sleep, the leaves have fallen, and many days encourage us to stay tucked inside a little longer. Rather than fighting the slower pace, we’ve learned to embrace it. Winter has become our season of gratitude, cozy traditions, and finding beauty in quieter moments.
As the temperatures drop, our kitchen comes alive. We bake…and bake…and bake some more. Fresh bread, cookies, muffins, cinnamon rolls—if the oven is on, chances are we’re gathered around the kitchen waiting for something delicious to come out. Some of my favorite conversations with my kids happen while measuring flour, kneading dough, or sneaking chocolate chips when no one is looking.
As Thanksgiving approaches, we make “Grateful Turkeys,” filling each colorful feather with something we’re thankful for. It’s a simple tradition, but one that gently reminds us to notice the blessings that can so easily be overlooked in the busyness of life.
One of our favorite days each winter is visiting a local tree farm to choose and cut down our Christmas tree. There’s something special about wandering through rows of evergreens until everyone agrees, “That’s the one.” We bring it home, decorate it together, and enjoy its familiar scent filling our house for the weeks that follow.
Of course, no Christmas season would feel complete without decorating gingerbread houses. Ours are never magazine-worthy, but they’re always covered in far more candy than they probably need—and somehow that’s part of the fun.
When snow finally arrives, everything else waits. We bundle into layers, race down hills on sleds and snow tubes, build snowmen, and see whose snow fort can survive the longest. And if we’re lucky enough to have a stretch of truly cold weather, we carefully walk across our frozen creek, marveling at how a place so familiar can become something entirely different.
Winter also reminds us that we’re not the only ones trying to make it through the cold months. We make homemade bird treats using lard, seeds, and dried fruit, then hang them outside for our feathered visitors. We scatter piles of whole peanuts for the squirrels, who always seem to know exactly where to find them. Watching wildlife through the winter has become one more reminder that nature never really stops—it simply changes.
Before Christmas arrives, we end one of our favorite traditions with a little evening adventure. I map out neighborhoods known for their Christmas lights, we pick up candy cane milkshakes, pile into the car, and spend the evening slowly driving from display to display. It’s one of those traditions my kids begin asking about long before December arrives.
Winter has taught us that adventure doesn’t always look like hiking a mountain or exploring somewhere new. Sometimes it looks like flour dusting the kitchen counter, animal tracks in fresh snow, or a quiet drive beneath thousands of twinkling lights. It reminds us that even the stillest season has its own kind of magic.
None of these traditions are particularly elaborate.
They won’t show up in a travel brochure, and they certainly aren’t expensive.
But together they’ve shaped the way my kids experience the world.
Year after year, these little moments teach them to notice the first signs of spring, appreciate long summer evenings, celebrate the changing colors of fall, and find beauty even in the quiet of winter.
Adventure doesn’t have to begin with a vacation. Sometimes it begins by hearing the first spring peeper, watching a tomato finally ripen on the vine, finding the perfect climbing tree, or noticing fresh animal tracks after a snowfall. Nature gives us something new to discover in every season. All we have to do is step outside, pay attention, and return often enough for those little moments to become traditions of our own.
See you on the trail,
Hannah on Green Hill
Want to start planning your own adventure?
