Outdoor Fun Ideas for Kids

These activities are separated by season, but just because an activity is listed in one season, doesn’t mean you can’t do it any time. There are enough ideas to have fun trying a new one every week for over a year!

Spring

Seasons Search: Go out and find 10 things that you will only see during the spring.

Go to a stream during a spring rain and listen for calling critters. How many different animals do you hear? Can you identify any?

Plant bulbs, seeds or trees.

Take part in a maple syrup activity and learn about where maple syrup comes from and how it is processed.

Take one shovel full of soil from your garden and examine it. How many worms do you find?

What other insects do you see? Why are they important?

Plant a moonflower. They wake up when you are getting ready to go to bed!

Use a camera to photograph the same area of your yard at the same time each day to see what comes up and what changes. Make a flip book with the photographs so you can watch a flower bloom, or a plant come up through the ground. This could also be done in the fall to see the changing leaves.

Build It! Build a toad abode, bat house or birdhouse and place it outside. Check on it daily and keep a journal about what you see. You can illustrate your journal.

Summer

Seasons Search: Go out and find 10 things that you will only see during the summer.

Make compost or talk about how worms “make” soil.

On a hot summer day, play outside in the rain in your bathing suit!

If the grass is slippery, slide on it. If there’s a muddy spot, play in the mud!

Pick dandelions, clover or Queen Anne’s Lace bouquets. You can display them in a vase.

(Local park staff can let you know which invasive alien plants can be picked from your back yard or vacant neighborhood lots or roadsides without harm to the environment.) Shake and blow dandelion seed heads.

Go for a creek walk in old gym shoes or boots. It’s like one continuous puddle!

Go outside on a windy day with bubble blowers, paper airplanes, simple kites, etc.

Make some Solar S’mores! Line an old pizza box with some foil and make it into an “oven” to melt your marshmallows and chocolate. Talk about the Sun and alternative/renewable energy sources. Have a camp out in your back yard. Use a tape recorder to record and identify all the sounds you hear through the night.

Have a star party and plan a picnic under the stars. Spend time on a blanket with some star shaped snacks talking together and “wondering” about the universe.

Find a great grassy area to lie down on and watch the clouds. What do they look like? You can even bring a lunch and a blanket!

Sit in the grass and make a necklace out of clover for someone special. Just tie them together with a knot.

Fall

Seasons Search: Go out and find 10 things that you will only see during the fall.

In the fall, pick 3-5 trees to observe in your backyard. Every week, observe changes in size and color of the leaves. How are the trees different? What trees keep their leaves the longest?

Plant bulbs, seeds or trees.

Winter

Seasons Search: Go out and find 10 things that you will only see during the winter.

Make a snowman kit (eyes, nose, scarf, etc.) ahead of time so it is ready for the first snow.

Catch snowflakes on a black cloth (coat, sweater, napkin) and inspect them with a magnifier. Build a fort or an igloo.

Go sled riding.

Build a ski jump or snow ramp.

Throw snowballs!

Be the first to make footprints in newly fallen snow.

Make a snow angel. Stay there for a few minutes to listen to the quiet that comes during and after a snowfall. Look at the sky. Does it seem more blue? More clear?

Look for cardinals in the trees. The red males stand out, but can you find the lighter females?

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Download the entire “Grow Outside Guide to Outdoor Play” to print out at home or have as a reference.

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