Kids love exploring their creative sides outdoors, and the great outdoors offers many opportunities for that. From gardening to three-legged races and other outdoor games, your kids will remain active and content all summer long with these engaging activities!

Play sight word soccer for an outdoor learning activity that incorporates literacy and movement. Or create sun-print art using pine cones – an outdoor craft to develop fine motor skills while expanding science observation capabilities.

1. Go to the Park

Outdoor activities offer children many advantages. Not only can they help burn calories and ensure a restful night’s rest, but they can also boost creativity.

An obstacle course provides a fun outdoor activity while simultaneously developing coordination. Make it more challenging by writing out what each square should do when touched, such as jumping jacks or stomping like dinosaurs.

Nature art is another fun outdoor activity for children. Collect various leaves, sticks and flowers from around your yard and ask your children to create a journey stick from them; use this as a journal or to create art!

2. Build a Bird Feeder

Feeding local birds can be a rewarding family activity that provides great learning opportunities. Building a bird feeder is a cost-effective, eco-friendly solution to attract beautiful avian visitors to your backyard.

Leta of Attachment Mummy created this simple bird feeder so it is even simple enough for children to make on their own, with just a few supplies and seeds needed.

Create a colorful bird feeder using an empty tin can by painting and adding a stick for perching. Fill your container with black oil sunflower seeds – popular among bird species!

3. Go on a Leaf Hunt

Encourage kids to become creative while enjoying nature by leading them on a leaf or autumn hunt. This outdoor activity builds observation skills while teaching children about the changing seasons.

On a nature walk, encourage children to collect leaves of various colours, textures and shapes. Assist them with categorizing these leaves by encouraging fine motor skill development as they attach them to a journey stick – something they can bring home as a keepsake of their walking adventure!

4. Go on a Hike

Hiking is a fun outdoor activity for kids of any age or athletic ability, with hiking being proven to increase energy, decrease stress and enhance overall health benefits.

While on a hike, children can use binoculars to observe wildlife and sketch what they observe – an activity which promotes observational skills while sparking spontaneous discovery of knowledge.

Make nature bracelets by wrapping sticky-side-out tape around their wrists and then using crayons to draw nature rubbings of leaves, twigs or bark using crayons. On sunny days they could play animal charades to act out different animals or natural phenomena.

5. Build a Bug Hotel

Bug hotels make for an engaging craft project while simultaneously adding ecological benefits. They provide hiding spots for pollinating bees to pollinate flowers, as well as cozy places for helpful insects that protect against unwanted garden pests.

Build a frame to your desired dimensions and fill it with materials insects will love. Sticks, twigs, bark and bamboo are great materials to attract bees, wood-boring beetles, millipedes and other small creatures that enjoy feeding from sticks, twigs bark and bamboo. Secure each compartment using hot or white glue depending on what materials need gluing – use white glue for lightweight objects while hot glue should be reserved for heavier items – then let everything dry completely before hanging it on its display stand or display board!

6. Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts encourage kids to move around while searching for clues and finding prizes, while successfully completing one can give a sense of achievement and build self-confidence and self-esteem.

Sight animal tracks to discuss what might have made them. This outdoor activity also fosters sensory regulation by giving children the opportunity to touch rough bark and smell pungent flowers.

Create mud pies to engage children’s creativity and love of messy play while improving fine motor skills and teaching them conservation concepts. Make musical instruments out of natural materials like sticks and logs to promote rhythm and sound awareness and enhance rhythmical playback.

7. Go on a Three-Legged Race

Three-legged races provide children with an engaging way to improve balance and coordination, build confidence and promote teamwork.

Find an open area and set up a starting line and boundary lines with cones. Divide players into pairs, then tie their inside legs together using exercise bands (or regular bandanas, in an emergency).

Exploring natural caves with your kids can teach them about geology while sparking their sense of adventure and creating healthy eating habits. This outdoor activity is also an excellent way to promote healthier lifestyle choices.

8. Go on a Whip Cream Battle

Windy days provide the ideal opportunity to learn about weather patterns and its effects on kites, pinwheels and leaves. Use this NZ Outdoor Learning: Windy Day Activity Ideas resource to plan some enjoyable wind-themed activities for children.

Use a sheet to fly a kite (avoiding powerlines and trees). Create a bubble snake. Craft your own outdoor chalk art. Play capture the flag; have a blanket relay; paint with water guns; create a sidewalk science project; have a paper boat race; play capture the flag; have a blanket relay; play capture the flag again (play it over again!); use water guns for painting water guns on surfaces like cornhole or paint using cornhole pieces for cornhole. Create sidewalk science projects or organize paper boat races between races – they’re endless fun.

9. Go on a Windy Day Adventure

Kids of all ages enjoy discovering and exploring their natural environment, providing them with opportunities to develop imagination, foster social interactions and stimulate cognitive thinking. This activity builds children’s creativity while improving socialization skills and cognitive thinking ability.

Create animal charades using a list of animals and have your child act them out – this outdoor activity can teach children about animals and nature while encouraging physical movement!

Make a nature art station using leaves, twigs, flowers and other natural elements to stimulate creativity while teaching children about nature conservation. Fly a kite in open fields and parks to understand wind dynamics while simultaneously honing problem-solving abilities.

10. Go on a Bug Hunt

Playing outdoors not only offers fun for kids but can also teach them about nature. Go on a nature scavenger hunt in your garden or local green space with jars and magnifying glasses in hand to capture and observe insects and other small creatures.

Choose paint cards that mirror the hues seen outdoors and challenge children to find natural treasures such as leaves and twigs in these hues. This activity not only fosters competition among participants but also teaches children how to manage a list by checking off items when found.