At the time of this post, it is March 2020 and many people are finding themselves at home with the kids. If you’re looking for some fun ideas for outdoor activities for kids at home, you’ve come to the right place. Here are some fun things to do outside with kids at home.
Fun Things to do Outside with Kids at Home
Spring of 2020 will always be remembered as the year school was canceled for an extended period and families were in the position of entertaining the kids 24/7.
If you’re finding yourself there and you’re looking for fun outdoor activities for kids, here are some great ideas for you.
Get outside, get some fresh air, and run off some energy! Finding fun things to do outside with kids at home is easy. It’ll be good for you AND for them!
Take a nature hike scavenger hunt
Take the kids on a nature hike around the yard, the neighborhood, a nearby wooded area, or your local park.
Use this free Scavenger Hunt printable to make a game out of it.
It’ll be fun to see what you can find, you’ll get in some exercise and maybe learn something along the way.
Related: 16 Fun Activities for Kids That Will Really Burn Some Energy
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Find pinecones and make bird feeders
We actually did this the last time my Grands stayed with me. They enjoyed collecting pinecones from our yard and were thrilled to make something for the birds!
Collect some pinecones and shake out the dirt and bugs. Use a piece of pipe cleaner to make a hanger on the pinecone.
Put some peanut butter on a plate for the kids and let them use the back of a spoon to smear the peanut butter all over the pinecone. Roll it in birdseed. Then hang it up outside for the birds.
This one has been hanging for a few days. It survived the rain and the birds have been eating on it…
Sidewalk chalk
Use sidewalk chalk to make an obstacle course for jumping, running, riding bikes, or for hot wheels, toy trucks, or stuffed animal races.
Use chalk to trace each other’s bodies, for a game of hopscotch, to create beautiful artwork, make a pretty house number, play a game like tic-tac-toe, or have a bean bag toss.
Old-Fashioned games
Take the kids outdoors for some old-fashioned fun and games like we used to play.
Hide & Seek, Red Rover, Red Light Green Light, and many more ideas can be found here: Old-Fashioned Outdoor Games
Kick a ball
Keep it simple!
A good ball can hold loads of outdoor fun for kids! Dodge ball, Four Square, get your gloves and play catch, see who can kick it the furthest, play volleyball, tetherball, or soccer.
Burn off steam by chasing a ball around the yard!
Paint the fence (then clean the fence)
Give the kids a bucket of clean water and some large paintbrushes and let them paint the house, the fence, or something else. Then give them a car washing sponge, soapy water, and let them scrub the fence and a hose to wash off the soap.
They may get a little wet, so you might want to save this one for a warm day!
Make a car wash to wash bikes and riding toys
Use that same bucket of soapy water to create a car wash for their bikes and riding toys.
Teach them a sense of pride by keeping their things clean and shiny and keeping them busy at the same time!
Use their imagination
Let them loose in the yard with just a few toys and their imagination and watch them go to town.
Using their own resources, kids can come up with some great ideas! They will realize that they don’t always need tech items to entertain them, they are capable of entertaining themselves!
Dig in the sandbox or garden
Bring out the dump truck, shovels, scoops, old cups, spoons, and containers.
Let the kids dig. If you have a garden area or a pot, they could plant seeds or help get the garden area ready for planting.
Marble races
Gather up the marbles and have a race. You can use a Hot Wheels track, a board, or just the dirt and run it down a hill.
Keep score. Keep a record of which marble wins most often.
Cornhole or washers game
This is self-explanatory and you probably have one of these games in the basement or garage. If you don’t you can sew up a few bean bags and toss them in a shoebox.
Or use your imagination – throw dinosaurs into their storage bin… 😉
Blow bubbles
Use this super bubble-making recipe and blow some awesome bubbles in the yard! Chasing bubbles is one of our favorite fun things to do with kids outside.
Hide Easter eggs in the yard.
If it’s not the Easter season when you are reading this, don’t worry. It doesn’t matter.
Believe me when I say kids don’t care. Hiding and finding plastic Easter eggs is fun at any time of the year.
Have them fill the eggs with rocks, leaves, or any other fun surprise and take turns hiding and finding them.
Paint rocks
While you are out on your Scavenger Hunt (see above), pick up some smooth rocks.
If you’ve done any types of crafts before, you probably have some paint that could be used to paint rocks.
After they are dried, take turns hiding and finding them in the yard.
Kites
Go fly a kite. Making your own kite is easy with these instructions from Instructables.com.
Springtime is great for kite flying – there is usually a little wind and that makes for good flying conditions.
Build a fort
You know all those Amazon boxes you’ve been saving?
Grab those and some old blankets, towels, shower curtains, rugs, and anything else you can think of, and drag them outside. Let the kids go to town building their own “fort”.
They can make a garage for their cars, a house for their dolls, or a reading nook.
Build a birdhouse
Amazon has a bunch of birdhouse kits to build your own birdhouse. Think ahead and order the one you want a few days ahead.
If you’re a Prime member, you’ll have it pretty quickly.
Depending on the age of the children, you can help, watch, or do it for them. There are some you can then paint or decorate.
Hang them outside for the birds or use them to decorate a shelf in their room. Take the kids outside for some fresh air and let them run off a little of that energy!
What fun outdoor activities have you done with kids when you’re at home?
Pin these ideas for later.
Let me know your outdoor activity ideas for kids in the comments below. Thanks!
And remember to
Keep Passing Down the Love,
