Outdoor Family Fun Activities – Small children who need to move outside can have a hard time indoors. That’s why we’ve compiled an incredible list of 30 fun outdoor activities for kids that encourage movement, creative thinking, problem solving, coordination, and more!
These outdoor activities are not only fun for kids but also good for their physical and mental health. You can do these activities in your backyard, on a neighborhood walk, or on a nature trail—it’s up to you. Even if you only have a small outdoor space, you can find plenty of ways to enjoy time outside with the kids.
Outdoor Family Fun Activities
What are you waiting for? Now get out with the kids and spend some time playing and exploring all that nature has to offer.
Outdoor Kids Activities For Spring
Outdoor Activities from Messy Little Monster We’re big fans of enjoying nature with kids, so here are some of our favorite outdoor activities.
Squirt Gun Painting This squirt gun painting activity is a fun activity that kids will love. Each painting will be completely unique, and who doesn’t love the opportunity to use a spray gun?
Colors of Nature Scavenger Hunt Go for a walk (or out in your yard or garden) and encourage kids to match colors with this Colors Scavenger Hunt. It’s a great way to identify color while enjoying the fresh air.
Clay Kitchen Making clay pies is a classic children’s activity enjoyed for generations. You should try it with your kids too! Pull out some old pots, pans, and dishes to start a mud kitchen activity for your kids. They can make flower pots, stir flowers and leaves in water, and much more.
Summer Kids Activities To Get The Whole Family Moving
Nature Paint Brushes Create some art with nature paint brushes made of flowers, leaves, grasses, and anything else you can find. It will be fun to see all the textures and patterns you can create.
Bubble Snake Blowers How fun are these bubble snake blowers? This low-prep activity will keep your little ones entertained for hours. Blowing bubbles is fun for kids and adults alike – I enjoy it!
Sponge Water Bombs On hot summer days, these sponge water bombs are an easy and fun way to cool off. They only take a few minutes to make, and then you can have a family water fight.
Bug Hunt Kids who love all things creepy and crawly will have a lot of fun with this bug scavenger hunt. See how many people you can remove from the list! This is a wonderful springtime activity.
Outdoor Activities For Kids By Season • Run Wild My Child
Water Painting Do you have one of those easels with a chalk board on one side? Take it out, cover it with chalk, and let the little ones have a go at water painting. If you don’t have a chalkboard, you can let the kids paint with a little water on the fence, sidewalk, driveway, or porch. It’s an easy activity that allows them to get lots of fine motor training.
Sidewalk Chalk Paint Have your kids paint the sidewalk or sidewalk with whimsical designs! Not only does this sidewalk chalk paint look great, but you can fizz your chalk drawings if you add vinegar!
Don’t stop here! We’ve found tons of outdoor activities for kids that your kids will love. They will never get bored with this list of possibilities!
Wacky Walk Make walking around the neighborhood even more fun with this printable Wacky Walk from Play Party Plans, which offers tons of wacky ways to mix up your walk. You also need a deck of cards, or if you don’t want to take cards on your walk, you can choose one at random.
Exploring Denver With Kids: 25 Family Friendly Activities
Finding North If you have a compass, take a walk with the family and try this “Walking North Activity” by Go Science Kids. It’s more fun if you can find a path with lots of twists and turns.
Climbing a tree is simple enough, but while we often want to protect our children, there are benefits to allowing them to engage in dangerous play. This post on 15 Reasons to Climb Trees from Rhythms of Play explains benefits such as building strength, hand-eye coordination, and gross motor skills.
Backyard Chalk Twister If you have pavers, a concrete or asphalt driveway in your yard, you should try this fun Backyard Chalk Twister game from Dania Bania with the kids. It’s a great way to encourage movement and silliness!
Rock Maze Make playing with toy cars more fun by creating a rock maze. This activity from Pink Stripey Socks is easy to set up and will keep your boys or girls entertained outside for hours.
Perfect Outdoor Activities For The Whole Family
The printable nature journal encourages kids to get outdoors to scientifically explore their surroundings and record their observations. The printable version of Adventure in a Box offers 10 creative suggestions for kids.
Backyard Dinosaur World Collect rocks, sticks, twigs and dirt for this Backyard Dinosaur World from Glitter on a Dime, along with some toy dinos. Kids can use these materials to make their own version of Jurassic Park.
Sidewalk Chalk Outdoor Math Game Combine math and movement with the exciting Sidewalk Chalk Math Game from Look We Learn. Work on addition, subtraction, multiplication or division – whatever your kids need extra help with.
What lives in soil? What Lives in Your Yard Soil? Do some digging, grab a magnifying glass, and see what lives in the soil with this Go Science kids activity! You’ll be amazed at all the little creepy crawlies you’ve missed.
Fun Activities For Kids Outdoors
Shadow Art This rhythm art shadow art activity helps kids learn how shadows are formed. Kids follow their shadows and draw them for a fun and artistic steam activity.
Walking Chalk Obstacle Course Toot’s Mom Is Tread The Walking Chalk Obstacle Course is a low-prep gross movement activity that kids will enjoy. Toddlers and preschoolers will ask you to do this over and over again. Older kids can play too, or they can help set it up for their younger siblings!
Rock Balancing Try this rock balancing activity from the rock stacking art game Rhythms. It’s a meditative art form that doubles as a steam activity. This is a wonderful relaxing activity to do outdoors with kids.
Puffy Sidewalk Paint You’ve probably made puffy paint before, but have you tried puffy sidewalk paint? You only need a few ingredients to create this fun twist on a great idea for a kid’s classic.
Indoor & Outdoor Snow Day Activities For Kids
Time Telling Outdoor Clock Make your own outdoor clock using natural materials. Using a rock, stick, and Sharpie to write the clock, your child can set up an outdoor clock like this one from Sun Hats and Welly Boots in no time.
Outdoor Number Hunt Hide numbers around the yard and let your toddlers and preschoolers find them. This outdoor number scavenger hunt from Ladybird’s Adventures is a great way to practice number recognition.
Frozen Marine Sensory Bin Do you have marine animal toys? If so, make a frozen ocean sensory bucket like this one from Natural Beach Living for little ones to play with. They spend hours trying to find ways to melt the ice fast enough to retrieve the animals.
Journey Stick Craft Your kids collect a lot of souvenirs while they’re out in nature, but have you ever thought about collecting them all in one place? That’s what the Journey Stick is all about! Along the way, children can collect things like feathers, flowers, leaves, twigs or pinecones and attach or glue them to their travel stick along the way. Isn’t this idea of a growing family great?
Water Games You And Your Family Will Love To Play This Summer
Cloud Viewer Create your own cloud viewer to study different types of clouds during a weather unit or for fun. These little bins for little hands make cloud identification super easy. You may want to write the name of each different type on the back of the viewer to help you match the name to the picture until you remember.
Scooter Maze Here’s a fun way to get kids excited to play with scooters again: the Scooter Maze of School Time Snippets! Not only is it fun, but it also encourages movement and gross motor coordination.
Making Fairy Houses Fairy houses are a magical and wonderful way to spend a few hours outside with the kids. This activity by Red Ted Art shows different ways to make fairy houses from natural materials.
Wands of Nature Speaking of magic, these Wands of Nature are taught by smiling children and it looks like magic! Make them out of wood, leaves, flowers and other beautiful objects found outside.
Outdoor Games And Activities For Kids
In addition to this collection of fun and easy outdoor activities for kids, we’ve written a fun list of 60 outdoor activities that you can print. There is also a blank copy to add your own ideas.
Click the link below to download this printable list for free