Nature doesn't just stop at our eyes and ears, it's an opportunity to use our hands and fingertips too!
There's so much for a young child to gain from experiencing the textures of the world around them, including a love for the outdoors and great opportunities for language development.
Watch the film below from CBeebies show I Can Grow It to see how presenter Aaron unearths the secrets of their city garden with his team of helpers.
Three ways to make the most of family time in nature
Talk about textures
Remember to check whether a plant is safe for your child to touch. There are lots of handy guides online.
There are lots of textures to compare with your child, particularly when you get hands on with plants and trees.
A great place to start is talking about 'rough', like the bark of a tree, and 'smooth', like the surface of a leaf.
For younger children, this might just be about connecting words to sensations, but as they get older, they might be able to describe those textures themselves.
Tracing their fingertips over the top of a tiny leaf is also perfect practice for their fine motor skills.
Talk about emotions
In the film, Aaron and his helpers stop to think about how a flower might feel about them touching it.
Imagining how a plant or an animal might feel is the perfect opportunity to chat to your little one about emotions, they might already understand words like 'happy' or 'sad'.
And at around pre-school age, they might begin to notice the feelings of people around them. This is a huge part of building empathy.
As well as building their emotional vocabulary and empathy, chatting about emotions can also help them to recognise that opening up and sharing how they are feeling with their family is important.
Take bark rubbings
If you're feeling crafty, another way to engage your child with touch and texture is by taking rubbings. All you need is a piece of paper and a few crayons.
Tree bark is the perfect place to start, as it's strong enough for your child to lean up against and has loads of unique patterns to pick up using a crayon.
Your child could collage different patterns onto one page using different coloured crayons!
Holding a crayon and taking rubbings is a great way to strengthen your child's hand-eye coordination and mark making, which are vital skills for when they start school.
