NATURE QUEST: A gaming adventure for families
Nature is full of treasures, powers and
adventures just waiting to be explored.
The Children & Nature Network worked closely with educators and parents to develop a meaningful, practical and immersive outdoor curriculum designed for families, called Nature Quest.
Through a series of ten activities that include “Missions” and “Quests,” the curriculum combines different types of play and uses nature as a “game board” to engage families and build an understanding of environmental concepts. Nature Quest gives children tools for self-guided exploration and learning while empowering parents with a storyline to sustain play.
Nature Quest offers parents and caregivers a way to meet children where they are—bringing their love of online gaming into a real-world, nature-based playscape. You need very few supplies and it can be played anywhere, since nature is everywhere.
Play on!
“As a former outdoor educator, I was determined to break the indoor trend and get my son outdoors. But, I knew I needed to meet him where he was. I was confident I could harness his love of gaming to guide him into another playscape—nature.”
—Monica Lopez-Magee,
Senior Vice President, Cities and Community Engagement
Children & Nature Network
Toolkit Components
Nature Quest Overview
This short video and PDF provide an overview of Nature Quest activities. The video is a short introduction of what to expect, how to play and how best to maximize the time together in nature. The PDF provides a list of materials needed (very few) and an overview of gaming principles, quests and general information.
Nature Quest Activities
Nature Quest consists of ten separate activity cards, each with their own mission, quest and objectives. Download each activity separately or all of them together. Each activity can be played on its own. Very few materials are needed. You can download the PDF and save it to your phone for easy access anywhere in nature.
Nature Quest Supplemental Activity Cards
These supplemental activity cards provide ideas and sparks for creativity. They are not essential. They are simply add-ons to the activities themselves. You can download these when you are looking for additional inspiration in connection to the activities above.
- Treasure Chest supplement cards
- Fueling for Survival supplement cards
- Power Up supplement cards
- Home Base supplement cards
- Nature’s Brew supplement cards
- Head to Head Defense supplement cards
- Head to Head supplement cards 2
- Hidden Treasures supplement cards
- Nature Wise supplement cards
- People Power supplement cards 1
- People Power supplement cards 2
Nature Quest Educator’s Corner
Nature Quest is an environmental education curriculum. It was developed to help children gain skills and knowledge of specific science and environmental concepts. Here are tools and resources to help educators understand how the curriculum corresponds with lesson objectives and education standards.
More Resources
The Children & Nature Network is not responsible for the actions of specific groups, group leaders or individual participants. When taking part in any outdoor activity, be aware of changing conditions in terrain or weather. These and other variables may increase risk.
COVID-19: When undertaking any activity, follow health guidelines in your community. Consult CDC and your local/state health department and take recommended measures to mitigate risk.
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