30 Outdoor Activities For Kids
Have you ever wondered, “Where can I find outdoor activities for kids near me?”
Well, you need only look to your back garden or local park! There’s so much fun you can have outdoors and it doesn’t have to break the bank!
We’ve rustled up 30 outdoor activity ideas for kids to help you enjoy the summer sun. Just slap on some sun cream and spend the day learning, playing and having fun!
Not what you’re after right now? You can subscribe to our newsletter to get weekly crafting inspiration sent to your inbox!
30 Outdoor Activities For Kids
1 Splatter an outdoor water pistol painting!
Water pistol painting is a great way to get creative outdoors! It can get a little messy but as long as you’re wearing scruffy clothes and have plenty of splatter-space, then you’re good to go! You’ll be amazed at the amazing designs you can make!
2 Write a letter to grandparents…
Learning to write a letter is a great skill for kids to learn. Why not sit together in the sun and compose a letter to their grandparents? You can brainstorm all the things you want to tell Granny and Grandad, then draft a special message together. You could even pop some pressed flower petals in the envelope.
3 Make daisy chains!
Daisy chains are a great go-to craft for outdoors. They’re pretty and lots of fun to wear in your hair!
No daisies nearby? Cut up strips of paper and decorate with daisy drawings to make a pretty floral paper chain.
4 Look at a local map and plan a short walk.
Grab a compass and a map of your local area. Get to know your local area and teach your child how to read a map! Planning a route and navigating the way is a great way to help your child learn to read maps and introduce them to directional language.
5 Try playground games in the garden or your local park.
Why not play some classic playground games? You’ll never go wrong with a good game of tig, hide and seek, or “What’s the time Mr Wolf?”!
6 When the sun is shining, why not try shadow tracing?
Line up a row of toys with a piece of paper at their base. Trace the shadows that they cast and see the amazing outlines you can make!
7 Reuse and recycle with junk modelling.
Overflowing recycling bin? Make something amazing! Just grab some scissors, paints, glue and glitter. You’ll be amazed by what little ones can imagine and create!
8 Need shelter from the summer sun? Build a fort!
Use sheets, picnic blankets and chairs to make a cool garden hideaway.
9 Forage and find with a wildlife scavenger hunt…
Write out a list of plants and creepy crawlies for your child, then set off on an adventurous scavenger hunt to find each one!
10 Shake a leg at an outdoor disco!
Crank the music up high and shake it all out to your favourite summer playlist!
11 Spritz a sweet nature perfume…
Find sweet smelling flowers and plants with your child. Pick some of your favourite scents and crush them together with a little water to make your very own nature perfume.
12 Make chalk paint and create pretty pictures on the pavement!
Make the world your canvas with chalk paints! These super simple paints are great for decorating the pavement, plus they wash away with water!
13 Go on a wildlife walk, then make a nature themed clay impression.
This soft, squishy clay is easy to make at home and dries in the shape of anything pressed into it. Take a leaf from the garden and press it in. You’ll have a magical memento to remember summer by!
14 Take your costume crate outside and enjoy imaginative play!
Kids love dressing up, so pretend the garden is a special setting and play with different characters and circumstances. Your imagination is the limit!
15 Make a beautiful leaf tracing…
Find a leaf in your garden or park. Place the leaf beneath a piece of paper and rub a crayon over it. See how the crayon picks up the structure of the leaf? Discuss with your child how the structure of the leaf helps it to catch sunlight, which the plant can then turn into food.
16 Good old fashioned cloud spotting!
On a clear day look up at the skies and watch the clouds go sailing by! What shapes can you spot? Do the shapes change into anything new? Can you make a story out of the clouds you have seen?
17 Social distancing games!
There’s plenty of games that can be enjoyed whilst social distancing. If your child and their friends want to play together but have to socially distance then why not play a game that doesn’t need close proximity? You could try Simon Says or Musical Statues.
18 Make your own kind of music with nature instruments!
Drum and strum a melody using only things you can find in the garden! See what melodies you can make by rubbing, tapping and clapping things in your garden.
19 Teddy bear picnic and teddy bear toast!
Enjoy a teddy bear picnic with tasty toast! Gather your bears, picnic blankets and bear toast and have a bear-y good lunch time!
20 Make rhymes outside with nature poems!
Nature has always been an inspiration for poets! Why not try to write your own pastoral poems by sitting in the garden and observing the world around you? Encourage your child to use their senses to engage with the world around them, then write it down to make an amazing poem.
21 Make a bottle bubble blower for big bubble trains!
Make a huge train of bubbles with a bottle bubble blower! Just grab a few household items and make a bubble-tastic craft for hours of fun.
22 Become a bug photographer.
Find mini-beasts and zoom in close! See how the mini-beasts become big! Study the photos, what can you see close up that you couldn’t see from far away?
Need some top tips? Check out our interview with a bug photographer.
23 Try a fun challenge, like learning the longest word in English!
Well, the longest word in the Oxford dictionary is 45 letters long… it’s (deep breath) Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
How do you say it? Like this (we think)…
nyoo·muh·now·uhl·truh·mai·kruh·sko·puhk·si·luh·kow·vol·kei·now·kow·nuh·ow·suhs
It’s a bit of a mouthful!
24 Be the coolest artist ever with ice cube painting.
This super cool sensory activity is also great for discussing how water changes states, from liquid to solid, when in freezing temperatures and back again in warmer temperatures.
25 Score a strike with plastic bottle bowling.
Recycle materials to make a mini bowling alley! Set up inside and then get scoring some serious strikes!
26 Slurp a fruity freakshake.
Throw summer fruits into a blender to make a delicious summer shake that you can slurp in the sun.
27 Make a bug hotel!
Find an old shoe box and fill it with leaves and twigs. Place it in a shady patch of the garden and check back every so often. Soon, you will have plenty of mini-beast visitors!
28 Perform a play!
Set the scene, rehearse lines and stage a show-stopping garden show!
29 Have a jumble sale.
This is a great way to declutter rooms! Ask your kids to sort through all their old toys, then set up a jumble sale outside your house or find a local car boot. They can use the money they earn as savings, a charitable donation or put it towards buying a brand new treat!
30 Make a time capsule!
Summer is a great time to make memories. Keep those memories safe by making a time capsule! Fill an old shoe box full of mementos from summer this year, then bury it in the garden. You can dig it up in a few years to see what has changed, what you have forgotten and what you have remembered and how you have grown!
In need of more activities to keep your kids busy? Try a toucanBox!
If you need to relax with a refreshing drink in the shade after all these fun activities we have a fun facts for kids section with information pages not only interesting and educational but also quite surprising in some cases. Did you know that an octopus eats its own arm when it is bored? Or that giraffe tongues are actually dark blue and not pink?
SHARE YOUR CREATIONS WITH US
We’d love to see your creations, so why not share them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #toucanBox. Our favourite snaps could feature in the next issue of toucanBox Magazine!
Not tried toucanBox yet?
Want craft projects, with all the materials you'll need, delivered straight to your door? Sign up today and save 50% on your first box!
Not ready to commit? Subscribe to our fun-filled weekly newsletter, jam packed with craft ideas, recipes, fun activities and more!
