Shapes are all around us. Learning through adventure is a HUGE part of my philosophy of educating little ones. My book LITTLE WALKS BIG ADVENTURES is framed around taking ideas, interests, sparks and learning about them through activities and adventures. It has been a while since I shared a new Little Walk idea but this book just begs you to go on an adventure!

affiliate links are included in this post.

Read: Round

Round by Jennifer Ward illustrated by Lisa Congdon

This one is just about round shapes. It is original and STEM inspired. It is engaging and perfect for reading aloud. The text is simple which is perfect for the young, shape learning target audience. It encourages the reader to notice shapes all around them in the natural world. The illustrations are bright and bursting off the page. The big, bold shapes lend themselves to being viewed during a story time. This book begs to be read aloud to little ones and then taken outside on your own hunt for round things in nature.

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Go on a walk!

I believe in learning through adventure and learning with hands on experiences with real materials. After you’ve read ROUND by Jennifer Ward take your toddlers or preschoolers outside to hunt for round things in your natural environment.

DOWNLOAD WHAT IS ROUND HUNT

Walk around the block. Explore a local park or nature area. Go for a hike in the forest. This can be as big or small as you’d like.

You May Also Like: 5 Ways to Learn about Shapes Outside

My toddlers always loved having something to do on our walks. You can certainly verbally share the round items you find around you, but if you’d like you can also use the printable below.

Make as many copies as you need. Stick the printable on a clipboard (I have this stack of clipboards that are easy to stack and store). I like to use a piece of string or velcro to attach a pencil or crayon to each one.

You May Also Like: 12 Walk Ideas for Toddlers

Depending on the age of your kids, you can use the printable to:

• Check off the 6 items you find.
• Draw a picture of each round thing you find in nature.
• Write down a round item you find.

DOWNLOAD WHAT IS ROUND HUNT

More Simple Shape Ideas for Toddlers

• Playful Preschool Ideas for learning shapes, counting and more.
• Shapes Storytime with Shape Art Invitation for Toddlers

For 52 Walks Ideas with Kids Check Out My Book!

Lace up those shoes, put on some sunscreen, or zip up your coat. We are heading outside on a walk today.

My kids love being outside. It is their happy place. Mine too.

When I first started staying at home with them when they were just crawling and I wasn’t really sure how to fill our days I started with walks. First this was me pushing them in a stroller.

But soon they weren’t happy being suck in the stroller and we begging to get out.

That’s when we started really taking walks.

Little walks.

But there are only so many times I could follow them up and down the block as they toddled and stopped and started. The teacher in me…maybe the organized OCD tending person in me, needed a plan. A focus.

That’s where our themed walks were born. It gave us a focus. An objective. Soon we were walking outside to look more closely at everything from puddles and bugs to fire hydrants and bridges.

That’s when our little walks started feeling more like big adventures.

Often these walks were inspired by children’s books. The only thing we do as much as explore outside is read books and they are often the best inspiration for all kinds of other things.

Below are 12 fun children’s book inspired adventures. Simple. Quick (often). Toddler friendly (and up). Easy ideas to inspire learning and break up your day. Happy walking!

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13 Children’s Book Inspired Walks

Each walk below was inspired by a children’s book (or in some cases several or a whole stack). Find one that sounds fun to you or that follows a current interest in your house, click and off you go!

1. Toad Weather and Rainy Day Walks

TOAD WEATHER by Sandra Markle is all about seeing the adventure in a rainy day. The book is about a specific adventure in a particular city in Pennsylvania, but it embraces heading out to enjoy a rainy day and looking for the beauty and adventure in the wet weather. Read the story together (you can get a copy here) and then head outside for your own Rainy Day Walk.

2. Spinning Spider Webs and a Spider Web Hunt

This book will get your kids excited about spiders and is the perfect launch for a spider web hunt. You can go on a quick hunt in the backyard or go further to a park or garden. READ MORE

3. Pond Walk by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace Inspired Pond Walk

This was a favorite of ours when we lived in Mississippi. This darling book is practically a road map for talking your own pond walk. Grab a net and magnifying glass and head outside. READ MORE

4. The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies and a Fairy Hunt

Oh how I loved the fairy phase. You know how your kids’ hobbies and interest change and how sometimes you adore these phases and sometimes you’re a little less thrilled – this was one of my favorites. Our house felt so full of magic and imagination and this was a walk we did again and again. READ MORE

5. I’m Brave by Kate & Jim McMullan and Fire Station Walk

Fire trucks are endlessly fascinating to kids at this age and there are a whole bunch of firefighter and firetruck books that you could use as a launching point for this walk (and unit if you’re extra inspired!) READ MORE

6. Gruffalo Hunting

We adore this book. It’s a truly fantastic read aloud – but it’s also inspiration for a daring adventure outside. I love how Rainy Day Mum brought this book to life with her kids. READ MORE

7. Counting Books and a Counting Walk

This is probably the most simple and educational and most pinned walk idea that I did with my toddlers. It takes almost nothing to set up and yet my kids got so much early math skill building from our counting walks. READ MORE

8. Soup Day + Grocery Story Field Trip

This is another example of a book that pretty much lays out a field trip for you. In the story a little girl and her mom go to the store, buy ingredients, and then make soup. The recipe is included in the back of the book. I did this with my twins when they were about 3 years old and highly recommend it for a chilly day when getting out of the house and warm soup is exactly what’s called for. GET THE BOOK

9. I Read Signs by Tana Hoban Inspired Walk

When kids are just beginning to show an interesting in reading the things they often “read” first are signs like STOP that they see everywhere they go. This book by Tana Hoban encourages that early reading and can inspire you to search for your own environmental print. READ MORE

10. Four Senses Walk

Don’t want to just listen on a walk – let’s walk and explore more senses. I love this book by Aliki but any Five Senses book works as inspiration for this walk. Read about your senses and then head outside with one of these Scavenger Hunts that encourages kids to touch, smell, listen, and look all around their world. GET THE SCAVENGER HUNTS

11. Welcome to the Neighborwood Book Walk

If you have a little woods (or big one) nearby then this is the book for you. The textured and pop-up illustrations build excitement about the outdoors that makes you want to go see it for yourself. This post has a free printable and encourages kids to think about who lives in their woods. READ MORE

12. Flashlight Walk

I love doing flashlight walks right after daylight savings time makes our evenings darker. It’s my way of putting a positive spin on something I otherwise despise. It’s fun regardless, but I recommend this gorgeous Flashlight book so highly. Then grab some flashlights and head outside. READ MORE

13. The Listening Walk

Read Listen by Gabi Snyder and The Listening Walk by Paul Showers ad illustrated by Aliki. Both are beautiful and are a natural starting point for your own Listening Walk. READ MORE

Get 52 More
Little Walk Ideas Here

PS. Here’s one more. Finding Round in Nature – a book inspired walk idea for toddlers and preschoolers.