Outdoor activities for kids of all ages
Looking for outdoor activity ideas for kids to help them spend more time outdoors? We’re here to help! We’ve done the hard work for you and found all the fun outdoor activities you’ll ever need for kids. This article will give you a wealth of easy outdoor play ideas that foster curiosity, exploration, co-operation and help build your kids imaginations in the process! We’ll give you the ideas and support you need and show you how to get your kids outside when they’d rather stay in!
Table of Contents
Why kids should spend more time outdoors
We could all do with having some outdoor fun with kids and being a ‘bit more wild’, but we don’t mean donning a bearskin or hunting for your next meal, we mean a chance to get messy, dig in dirt and splash in a puddle. Our kids deserve a ‘wildhood’, a space to be kids, a space to get muddy and explore and adventure.
Spending time outside doesn’t need any elaborate gear or fancy ideas. Simple family outings and easy kids activities to explore nature; making park visits routine; building dens – these kind of simple, achievable ideas are how we can help! Read on for tons of new ideas of how to incorporate nature and nature activities into your busy family days and find ideas here for Family Outdoor Activity Ideas that the whole family will love! These are our favourite outdoor summer activities for kids.
Scroll down for a handy printable list of all our outdoor activity ideas for kids!
Easy Outdoor Activity ideas for the garden
If you want to get your kids outside more but you’re not sure where to start – why not try these simple garden activities for kids?
Mud Kitchen
Making mud pies is a classic kid activity every kid should try. Take some old pots, pans, and dishes outside to play in the mud! Try here for some mud kitchen play ideas and there’s a whole heap mud kitchen recipes here that kids will love.
Gardening with kids
Why not start a vegetable garden with kids? It’s easy peasy to start gardening with kids – read here for ideas of easy things to grow with kids in a garden, there are lots of easy things to grow in a raised bed and there are lots of ideas for veggies to grow in containers or pots too.
Easy Outdoor Games
Want ideas that will keep your kids playing outside for longer in the garden? We’ve got a great selection of outdoor toy ideas and fun games for outside and here’s how to make a child friendly garden that kids will love playing in.
Outdoor Escape Room
Need an idea for an outdoor trip with kids? A great outdoor activity that kids will love is working as a team to solve a kid’s outdoor escape room! Escape Kit has lots of printable, downloadable escape rooms that work well in a garden or you can even use them whilst camping or on a picnic. They can transform a trip to the park and are easy to pack up and take on holiday too. The escape rooms from Escape Kit are easy to set up – the kit comes with everything you need, you just need to print and hide a few of the pieces in various places as mentioned in the instructions. There are a variety of themes and different escape kits to suit every age from 6-14 years old. We tried the ‘Superhero against Dr Villain’ escape room kit. Our kids were aged 6-13 years at the time and loved searching out the Superhero and Villain’s identity and deactivating the bomb containing the toxic virus before it was too late!
Outdoor learning Activities
You’ll also LOVE our outdoor learning educational ideas for learning outside which are perfect for family’s home educating, forest school activity ideas or EYFS outdoor curriculum ideas.
Fun Outdoor Activities for Kids
Here’s our all time favourite FREE outdoor activities for kids:
- Have a tea party with your toys
- Play with your toy cars in the mud and then give them a car wash
- Make a garden obstacle course (see our obstacle course here)
- Play with sidewalk chalk
- Read a book/storytime outside on blankets (or in a hammock)
- Blow bubbles (this is a great outdoors activity for toddlers)
- Play outdoor hide and seek
- Go fly a kite
- Paint kindness stones
- Make a time capsule and bury it in your garden
- Paint on cardboard box easels
- Make a fort/den
- Play with a Stomp Rocket
- Shadow drawing on a sunny day with your toys
- Play balloon volleyball
- Turn tin cans into stilts
- Draw a chalk maze on the pavement for your toy cars
- Paint the fence with water and a brush or a spray bottle
Outdoor Activity ideas for a field or park
No garden? No problem! Here are tons of outdoor fun activities for kids that you can do on a park trip or in a field. Here are our favourite games to play in the woods or a field that our kids love! These games are perfect as outdoor party games or for games for groups of scouts or forest schools.
Nature Scavenger Hunt – All kids will easily spend more time outside if they have things to search for and find! Download our FREE Nature Scavenger Hunt for Kids below!
Fun Easy Outdoor Games for Kids to Play in a Park
Try these fun outdoor games for kids of all ages to play! You’re sure to find some games for kid’s outdoor parties too!
If you’re visiting a woods or off on a woodland walk – you’ll love our ideas of things to do on a woodland walk and we have lots of ideas for things to do with the woodland treasures you collect in our Woodland Crafts for kids article.
Outdoor things for kids to do on a walk
Walks outdoors with kids don’t need to be boring! We have 30 ideas that you can do on a walk with kids including games to play along the way and fun activities. Follow the link for a FREE printable with lots of innovative ideas for making walking fun for kids!
Go on a Colour Hunt
Kids love a good “mission” when they’re out exploring. On your walk, have them go through the colours of the rainbow and find one thing that is that colour.
Make a Nature Bracelet – Making a nature bracelet is a fun activity to do on a walk. Wrap some tape (sticky side out) around your child’s wrist. Along your walk, as you find pretty flowers or interesting leaves, stick them to your bracelet to create a unique piece of art!
Nature Rubbings – Pack some crayons and a few pieces of paper and make some nature rubbings of fun textures you find on your walk. Try leaves, twigs, bark etc.
Night Walk – Who says your walk has to be in the daytime? Your kids would LOVE a nighttime walk with a lantern (make your own) or torchlight! Going out (even in very familiar surroundings) at night adds a whole new element of wonder and fun to the adventure. Depending on where you live and the time of year, they might not even need to miss their bedtime!
Start a Nature Journal – A good way of getting kids outside is to Start a Nature Journal, read this post for everything you need to know about starting a Nature Journal and here’s some Nature prompt ideas to get you started.
Ideas to get Teens and Tweens outdoors
Geocaching – geocaching is a brilliant way to get reluctant kids outside and it’s fun for kids of all ages including older kids. Here’s our tips for geocaching with kids.
Cook Outside – If you’re looking for different ways to get your kids outside or ideas that will keep older kids amused outdoors than try ideas for cooking outside with kids.
You can find More ideas to get teens and tweens off screens and outside in this post!
Things to do with kids outside in the rain!
Do not let the rain stop outdoor play for kids! Try our Rainy Day Outdoor activity ideas for kids to help you make the most of the rainy weather!
You could always try making Nature Crafts for kids if it’s raining. My kids love collecting nature treasures and we’ve made so many nature crafts over the years! Here are our favourite 100 nature crafts for every season and every age group.
Seasonal Outdoor Activity Ideas for Kids
Try these free outdoor activities for kids to do – there are ideas for every season to help you get kids outside whatever the weather and have family adventures in every season!
Outdoor Activity Ideas for Spring
Try our Nature Activities for Kids to do in Spring!
- Leaf crafts for Kids to make
- Fun Spring Sensory Outdoor Play for Toddlers
- Check out our WHOLE MONTH of Spring outdoor activity ideas that we shared with our Facebook Page: Wildhood Adventures.
- Go on a bug Hunt
- Go pond dipping!
- Cut the grass with scissors
- Try Hapa Zome (the art of flower bashing!)
Outdoor Activity Ideas for Summer
- Create a boat out of recycled materials (or leaves and sticks) and sail it downstream
- Set up the sprinkler or water hose
- Play Water balloons
- Play a board game outside
- Try stand-up paddleboarding
- Paint a fence or wall with water and a paintbrush
- Create a homemade water wall with recycling materials
- Soak pom poms in water and play catch
- Rent a paddleboat and take it for a cruise
- Play with pipettes and coloured water
- Go Camping! See our list of handy essentials for camping with kids for ideas!
- Make flower soup with petals and water
- Water balloon or squirt-gun fight
- Wash the dishes outdoors
- Play water balloon tennis
- Freeze some plastic dinosaurs or toy animals in ice and try to free them
- Learn how to skip rocks (or just toss them in to see who can make the biggest splash)
- Go to a pool or set up your own paddling pool in your garden!
- Cool down with these awesome water games for kids!
Outdoor Activity Ideas for Autumn
Autumn is such a lovely season to get outside – there are lots of nature treasures to collect and beautiful colours all around. My kids favourite things to collect are conkers – try our ideas for things to make with conkers.
- Crunch in Autumn Leaves
- Try these Autumn Sensory play ideas for toddlers
- Make a Hedgehog House
- Make mud exploding nature science experiments
- Things to make with Autumn leaves
- Pumpkin Potions for Kids
Read on for all our favourite Things to do outdoors in Autumn with Kids
Outdoor Activity Ideas for Winter
- Try one of our 100 Nature Craft ideas for Kids to keep children exploring outdoors in winter
- Drink hot chocolate outside
- Make a bird feeder, try our easy homemade Bird Feeders to make
- Toast marshmallows (try these other fun ideas for cooking outside with kids)
- Don’t have snow? Try these ideas for fun things you can do outside with kids in winter
- Here are plenty more outdoor winter nature activities for kids and if you’re lucky enough to have ice or snow – here’s our favourite ice and snow activities for kids!
- Try an Ice Scavenger Hunt for Kids
Hope this gives you lots of ideas for outdoor activities for your kids to do in all weather and all seasons! Which outdoor activity will you try first with your kids?
