63 Fun Things to Do Outside With Kids

Shila said:  Whether it's a planned outdoor activity on a hot day or you're just watering your lawn anyway, invite your kids to come outside and run through the sprinklers!

Shila said:  Kids looking for an active (and creative!) outdoor activity can make their very own "American Ninja Warrior" obstacle course using any safe objects they can find. They can challenge themselves to hop through old tires, race around cones, walk the tight-wire across a broom - the opportunities for creativity are limitless!

Marcia Alvarez Delgado said:  You can enjoy an outdoor movie night with a projector.

Shila said:  If splashing in the slip and slide was one of your favorite backyard activities growing up, it’s an easy one to recreate for your own kids. You can purchase a plastic tarp from your local home improvement store and lay it sloped in your yard. Add some dish soap and turn on the sprinklers for a DIY slip and slide!

Shila said:  Encourage your children to discover the many odds and ends hiding in nature. From "a rock shaped like an oval" to "a bird's nest," choose from a variety of printables online or create your own for an engaging outdoor activity kids will love.

Shila said:  Fill up some water balloons and you know the rest! An alternative to water balloons can be to use soaked sponges. Try cutting sponges into strips about 1/2-1 inch wide and 3-4 inches long, then tying a few strips together around the middle longwise and fanning them out for a reusable “water bomb.”

Shila said:  An easy DIY sundial clock can be a "full day" outdoor activity and science experiment for kids! Learn to tell time using the sun and a few common household objects. From Scientific American

Shila said:  Kids love bubbles! Younger kids may need assistance, but it's an outdoor activity parents can always do while sitting on lawn chairs. ;) There are also outdoor bubble machines for purchase, as well as kid-friendly bubble guns.

Shila said:  Using any miniature toys you wish, create a shoebox-sized habitat outside and let your imagination go wild. Typically these are semi-permanent outdoor displays, so be sure to use toys that you don't mind staying dirty.

Shila said:  Bring easy arts and crafts outside with crayons, paper - and nature! Find any object with interesting texture, such a a leaf or a few blades of grass, and cover it with paper. Lightly rub your crayon over the paper to reveal the textured and traced effect of the objects.

Shila said:  Kids who love nature especially love to seek out and add bugs to a bug collector and/or observe them from a safe distance. Look under rocks or dig a bit under the soil to discover creepy crawlers!

Shila said:  Lay out a blanket under some shade, stare at the passing clouds and guess what they resemble. "Look! That one looks like ___!"

Shila said:  Soak some suds in a bucket and get to washing your bikes (or the family car). Turn the kids' chores into fun things to do outside!

Shila said:  On a hot day, strap on the bathing suits and use water colors or DIY finger paint to paint yourselves and each other. Hose off and repeat!

Shila said:  Do you have any leftover paint chip sample cards from the home improvement store? Challenge your kids to a scavenger hunt using only those colors. What exactly can you find in nature that matches "Charcoal Gray" or "Midnight Blue?"

Shila said:  Playing with water on a hot day is the height of outdoor fun! In addition to squirting each other with water toys, kids can also set up target practice with random stacked objects, such a plastic cups.

Shila said:  One of the best ways to encourage outdoor time with kids is to play with sidewalk chalk! Buy some or make your own and use it to trace your shadow, make Picasso art, draw hopscotch, write inspirational messages to neighbors, etc.

Kelly R. said:  On a clear night, take a look up at the stars! SkyView Lite, a free app, lets you point your phone to the sky and identify the stars, constellations, galaxies, satellites and planets that are present. You can even use it in daylight. Download it at the App Store and Google Play.

Shila said:  Encourage your kids to go camping in your backyard - even during the day just for fun! Have them create their own packing list, attempt to pitch their own tent, make camping food, hang out in sleeping bags, etc.

Jaclyn Keifer said:  Our kiddos all enjoy frisbee and it’s so nice to play something without rules and without a winner or loser and ALL ages can play. So simple yet such a lovely way to spend time with your family and possibly neighbors in the cul-de-sac

Shila said:  Using natural ingredients that you can often find in your backyard (or your pantry), kids can make and apply their own face paint. No ingredients? Just use mud! From Mommypotamus

Shila said:  Depending on the season and the climate you live in, turn your thumb green! Gardening is a great outdoor activity for all ages. Some flower seed packets are relatively low cost and fast growing, too. Use a flower pot or reserve a small section in your backyard.

Shila said:  Whether it be for the holidays, to celebrate a particular cause, or for the love of art - wrapping yarn around bare tree branches can be a creative way to spend time outdoors. You'll need plenty of yarn, of course, and an optional glue gun. From HGTV

Shila said:  Go for a neighborhood walk as a family, or encourage your kids (if age appropriate) to go on their own walk around the block for some "free range" time.

Shila said:  Send your kids out to have their own picnic - blanket, basket, picnic foods and all.

Kelly R. said:  Pay your kids a penny per weed to help pull them from the garden or the yard! This is an especially fun activity for toddlers or preschoolers.

Shila said:  If the temperature where you live can get extremely hot and sunny, try and crack an egg on your driveway. Does it begin to cook?

Shila said:  Freeze a plastic tupperware dish full of water overnight mixed together with some small treasures. Take this block of ice outdoors to your kids to slowly chip away at it. Treasures in this "glacier" can include smaller plastic toys or even coins!

Lisa R said:  Kids can make designs on leaves by layering strips of grass, twigs or cut paper on top of the leaves and leaving them out in the sun. You can even use a stencil or a photo printed on transparency paper. It works best if you put a sheet of glass (or place the whole thing in a picture frame) on top your arrangement to keep it flat. Turn it into a science lesson by experimenting with different types of leaves and asking your kids why they think it works.

Jaclyn Keifer said:  In its purest form, a mud kitchen is an outdoor setup for children to pretend to prepare and cook food using any combination of mud, sand and water. In addition to the mud itself, there will be a surface to work on, shelves or cupboard space, and a hob to cook on or oven to bake in. We DIYed one and it gets plenty of use with all of our kids. We keep it new by giving our kiddos our old kitchen ware (think muffin pans, Tupperware, ladles, etc) and they always find something fun to do!

Kristy Pepping said:  Playing a game of catch is a fun way to burn off some energy, work on those gross motor skills and bond with a friend or sibling.

Sunshine Girl said:  This portable hammock can be hung anywhere - between two trees; stakes of a fence; bars of a play structure; or even sturdy poles of a backyard deck. Find absurdity in hanging out in a hammock hung someplace unexpected.

Shila said:  Safely throwing rocks into a pond and challenging yourselves to skip them, too, is a relaxing and fun way to play outside with kids. Plop!

Shila said:  Let's play ball! Fill up some water balloons and serve up the pitch! Cool off in the backyard and get some silly exercise too. Backyard water fun bonus: lay a tarp down - or use a backyard water slide - to help you slide on base!

Kelly R. said:  Have your kids make and decorate their own kites as an easy craft, then pick a breezy day to fly them around the yard!

Kelly R. said:  On a nice day, it can be fun to enjoy sitting and reading in the backyard, and I find that my kids tend to enjoy reading for longer stretches of time this way. Just set them up with some age-appropriate books that they can read independently at your outdoor table or hammock, or spread a sheet or towel out on the grass. Don't forget the water and snacks!

Kelly R. said:  Craft a DIY bird feeder (you can probably repurpose recyclables you have around your house), hang it in your backyard and enjoy watching the birds visit as you spend time outside.

Shila said:  Take your sketchpad outdoors and get inspired. Kids can sketch any outdoor object, though a keepsake of your family home could be a nice framer!

Shila said:  During the peak of summer, these docile bugs appear to fly in slow motion around us - and it's so simple to catch them with just the palm of your hands. Put them in a jar for a bit and watch their bodies illuminate up close.

Amy S. said:  Sun prints (also known as cyanotypes) are a simple form of photography in which you arrange objects on specially treated paper, place in the sun for a few minutes, and then rinse in water to reveal beautiful prints. You can use any types of small objects, but it’s especially fun to use intricate natural objects (feathers, leaves, etc.) to create your design and capture the memories of a special day spent outdoors.

Amy S. said:  This requires a bit of effort, so if you’re not handy (or don’t know someone who is), this project is probably not for you. But the finished project is worth the investment and a great addition to outdoor play. The plexiglas easel surface allows two kids to work from either side and observe or play off what they are making. As long as you use washable materials, clean up is as simple as spraying with a hose and wiping down (which is sometimes as much fun for kids as the art making is). From Fix This Build That

Shila said:  Even if you have absolutely no chance at all of actually catching a fish, just the idea of it can be fun for kids. They can use long sticks, hot dogs, flies, etc., to fish while sitting at the dock of the bay - or by a big puddle or a plastic baby pool!

Alexandra F. said:  My preschooler and I just discovered the PictureThis app, and we are obsessed! Just take a picture of any plant, and it will tell you its name, give a brief description, answer frequently asked questions, and provide other helpful and interesting tips and factoids about it. We are having so much fun walking around our yard, neighborhood, park, etc and quickly learning about the plants around us. The basic plan is free and super easy to use, and according to reviews and our experience, extremely accurate.

Lisa R said:  If your yard is like mine and overrun with clover and dandelions, then you have everything you need to make flower jewelry. I like to braid the stems together, adding new stems as I go, like a French braid. When I was little, I would make slits in each stem and thread each stem through the next. If you're all thumbs, you can cheat and use floral wire. My kids are too little to make the crowns themselves, but they are happy to run around picking clover while I do the braiding. It is a handy activity for when I just want to sit or if I'm talking to another adult outside and want the kids to stay busy in the yard.

Jaclyn Keifer said:  Thanks to COVID, I started taking the kiddos to the local nature parks more and I stumbled upon a beautiful, easy, and affordable nature study that was a hit for all of my kids (ages 1-14).

Exploring Nature With Children is a complete, year-long curriculum designed to guide you, step by step, through an entire calendar year of nature study. Completely self-contained, this book has all the information you need to make nature study happen regularly for your family.

Kelly R. said:  Create your own mini golf course right in the backyard, with each family member designing their own hole! You can use things from around the house to make the obstacles.

Kelly R. said:  Classic active yard games like four square, kickball, dodgeball, tag and SPUD are fun for many different ages, and even more so when mom and dad play!

Shila said:  Rhythmic gymnastics is an Olympic sport. Tie a long streamer to the end of a stick or a ruler; whip it around to inspire backyard ribbon dancing.

Shila said:  Set up an outdoor spot for kids to paint. They can paint on a canvas, a cardboard box, paper, clothing, tie dye - anything! Save the creative mess for outdoor play. Another option - which can be especially great for toddler play - is to paint with just water on the driveway or on the fence. The water marks are bold enough to satisfy young tots until the sun dries it out.

Shila said:  Set up a lemonade stand or a small mercantile table with impressionable arts and crafts to sell. Even if they don't get many customers, kids can at least count on your purchase! ;) The encouragement and attention from onlookers is nice to receive, too, and an entrepreneurial mindset is a great life skill for kids to develop early on!