With the weather warming up outside my kids and I both enjoy being outside! That said, there are times when I have to encourage them to stay outside. Remember our Boredom Buster Dice? We made a new one full of activities they can do outside. Whenever they complain, “Mom, but I don’t want to ride my scooter – I wanna come inside.” We roll the dice and see what fun activity we get to do together. Here are just a few of the activities the kids and I thought of to put on our outside dice. Do you have any ideas to add? Let me know in the comments!
- Go on a Nature Hunt. - Can you find 10 living and 10 non-living things?
- Race, play Red Light, Green Light or do Basketball suicides. We have even played fetch, where I throw a ball or another toy and the kids race to see who can get it first.
- Make a mini-pool out of a tupperware tub. This is by far one of their favorite activities. We’ll fill a shallow tub with water and as it is Spring and too cool for true swimming, the kids get to practice pouring and dumping all with minimum mess/wetness.
- Make and play with Moon Sand. Another favorite activity we use with a tupperware tub to help contain the spread of the sand.
- Decorate your sidewalks with chalk or sidewalk paint. We love playing with chalk and have even created our very own sidewalk paint recipe!
- Weed the lawn or water the grass. You can use a sprinkler if the weather is balmy, if not give the kids watering cans. Mine enjoy walking around the lawn dumping their water.
- Find and feed the wildlife in your own backyard. That stale bread is good for birds, but also for the bugs! How many different bugs can you find?
- Make mud cakes. Another favorite activity. We actually have mud clothes set aside for just this activity.
- Fly a kite (or a plastic bag). Kites are great, but plastic bags fly more easily and with less wind. I need to make a video of this one of these days!
- Make plant rubbings. Have grass clippings? You have art!
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Want more ideas? Julia has a massive list of suggestions to keep your kids entertained outside.
I love the dice idea, and the collection of ideas you have put together. We have just finished school holidays and I had the “I’m bored” comment so often it really frustrated me – maybe I should keep a list of ideas ready to whip out at such times and get me a dice
.-= jenny @ let the children play´s last blog ..just add water =-.
Why do I never think of things like this? This is an awesome idea. Now I must be buy sidewalk chalk!
.-= Mom2my10´s last blog ..Zucchini Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup =-.
Great ideas! My boys have grown up a bit too much, and while they love to be outside, it’s all about sports! I look forward to doing some of these things again with my daughter.
Glad the snack ideas were helpful at Sugar Tails Recipe Box.
I am SO bookmarking this post – gotta try that moon sand! Thanks for the ideas!
.-= Natalie´s last blog ..The Art Box – April 26, 2010 =-.
We have a set of cloth blocks that would be perfect for this. I like how it keeps things simple, especially for preschoolers.
I made a longer list of 69 Ways to Get Outside and Play last year. Your ideas will be great additions. For my 6-year-old, I was thinking of printing all the ideas out, cutting them into strips, and having her draw them out of a jar. Maybe I’ll write a post after we set it up and see how it works.
Another idea I liked recently was creating art with . I hope we can do it soon; we certainly have plenty of “paintbrushes!”
.-= Julia´s last blog ..Ladybug Games =-.
Sorry for the accidentally linking so much text in the previous comment. I’m obviously an html amateur!
.-= Julia´s last blog ..Ladybug Games =-.
I am so making this idea for when the grandkid comes to visit! I might even make two diffrent ones.