Your own sculpture park – using natural materials to stack and balance

What to try 

• When visiting a park, beach or wooded area, look out for natural items to build with.  
• Take an empty bag with you and collect items that look interesting from around the area, or gather everything into a pile in an open space.  
• When you have a selection of items, find somewhere safe and flat to sit. 
• Empty your bag and start work on building a natural tower. Your toddler will be more likely to join in if they see you building too. 
• Encourage your toddler to stack the items, checking for balance and noticing what works – and what doesn’t!
• Items from nature offer more challenges than blocks as they are often irregular shapes and sizes, so building with them helps your toddler to develop new skills – and patience.  

Make sure items your toddler picks up are safe.