100 things to do outside with kids

I’m always looking for new things to do outside with kids. I love writing about outdoor activities for children and so today I’m going to be sharing 100 things to do outside with kids. I hope this list will inspire you with lots of new and some old but perhaps forgotten outdoor activities that you can enjoy with your kids.

My own children are 3 and 6 years old. Over the years we’ve spent a lot of time outdoors. I know from my own experience that keeping kids happy on a walk is not always easy which is why I created this post on fun things to do on a walk with kids.

With a little bit of thought though it’s possible to enjoy time outside with children. Because of the age of my own children, these ideas are great outdoor activities for 2-8 year olds but most of them are suitable for older and younger children too.

Outdoor activities for kids can happen in your own garden or on trips out. I’ve got some ideas for things to do at the beach, in the woods or in the park as well as ideas for all weathers. I’ve also included a number of outside games for kids some of which are best in a group.

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100 things to do outside with kids

21 outdoor activities to do in the garden

• Plant and look after fruit, vegetables or flowers. See my post on starting gardening with children for some ideas of easy to grow plants.
• Play in a * mud kitchen. You don’t need an expensive one, even just a selection of pots and pans on the ground will inspire your children. Use play dough, water &/or nature loose parts like conkers, acorns and pine cones if you don’t want to use mud.
• Make bird feeders, such as this simple pine cone bird feeder.
• Make a den or pitch a small tent and your child will play in there all day with their toys. It’s also a lovely place to read a book or two together.
• Have an after-dark walk with a DIY paper bag lantern.
• Paint with water. All they need is a small pot of water and a paintbrush and your child will have fun painting your drive, patio, walls or fence.

• Play Swingball.
• When the weather is hot then a paddling pool is a great addition to the garden for cooling down and having fun.
• Water play. We have a water table that my children have loved since they were toddlers but even a washing-up bowl will be fun.
• Create an obstacle course. Older children can design their own using garden toys like hula hoops, tents, tunnels etc
• Set up your own sports day. Penalty shoot-outs and different races like hopping or running all work well. Again older children may have ideas of their own.

• Camp overnight or perhaps just in the daytime but pretend it’s a trip. Kids love camping but perhaps you don’t or for some other reason a camping trip isn’t an option this year but camping in the garden might be more achievable and young children will love it just as much. Find my best tips for camping with kids here.
• Sensory play or messy play is great in the garden as you’ll worry less if they are making too much mess. How about rainbow spaghetti sensory play.
• Freeze small plastic toys or flowers in ice. Then give the kids some things to help them dissolve the ice such as a bowl of warm water and some eye droppers.
• Rainbow coloured rice sensory play

• Play sink or float with a bowl of water and a selection of natural materials and see which ones sink and which float. Ask your child to guess before trying it out.
• Have a water fight. Using water pistols, sponges soaked in a bucket of water or water balloons.
• Make a DIY water wall. A great idea to reuse plastic bottles. Pinterest is full of ideas for making your own.
• Make a fairy garden.
• Set up a mud cafe or lemonade stall. My girls love imaginary play like this. It’s a great way to encourage writing or basic maths too.
• Use chalks to draw on your driveway or patio.
• Find more things to do outside at home here.

10 things to do at the beach

• Build a sandcastle. See who can make the most or work together to build a really elaborate one complete with a moat.
• Paddle in the sea. Rainy day? Just wear wellies. It’s just as much fun.
• Try rock pooling.

• Try crabbing.
• Collect shells or pebbles. There are so many ideas for crafts and play activities using them once you get home. One example is seaside themed play dough.
• Stack/balance rocks.

• Skim stones in the sea.
• Have your own beach scavenger hunt.
• Build a small boat out of sticks and float it down a river.
• Bury each other’s feet (or more) in the sand.
• Run up and down the sand dunes.

15 Things to do in the woods

There are so many fun things to do with sticks.

• Build a den with sticks.
• Climb a tree.
• Make a pulley with a bucket and some rope.
• Hunt for minibeasts.
• Make mud faces on trees.

• Make mud sculptures such as animals.
• Use nature loose parts like fallen leaves and flowers, sticks and stones to make artwork on the forest floor.
• Balance on fallen logs.
• Use a stick to draw in the mud.
• Paint with mud.
• Do some bark rubbings.
• Take an identification book and see what trees your woodland has.
• Collect conkers in the autumn or do a scavenger hunt using my autumn scavenger hunt printable
• Look for signs of wildlife such as squirrels.
• Make a crown. This is really simple and fun. Start by cutting a piece of card the right size for your child’s head. Join the ends together to make a crown that fits your child’s head. cover the card in double-sided sticky tape and then let your child collect nature to stick on it like small sticks, leaves and flowers.

17 things to do on a walk

• Go geocaching with kids. A great activity for getting kids walking and you might even find some new places to visit too. Simply download the app, pack a small item to swap and set off on a modern-day treasure hunt.
• Create a journey stick. There are various ways to do this such as tying some yarn to a stick and then tying each new find to it. Another idea is to use cardboard with double-sided sticky tape on. This could be a bracelet or simply a straight piece of card.
• Collect nature to take home and create a collage with.
• Collect fallen leaves and flowers and do some nature weaving with them. I made this one really simply by wrapping yarn around the cardboard.

• Take a scavenger hunt like this autumn one I created for you. Get your copy here. Perhaps you’d prefer a Winter Scavenger Hunt Printable.
• Give your child a simple camera and ask them to take photos of things the like.
• Collect wildflowers and take them home and press them. Remember to be careful about what flowers you pick. Here are more ideas for things to collect on a nature walk.
• Collect rocks and then paint them when you get home.

• Collect nature to take home and paint with like fallen leaves.
• Find a bridge over a river and play pooh sticks
• Go foraging, for example, you could find blackberries or bilberries.
• Play stop/go. This is one of my favourite ways to distract my kids when they say they are too tired to walk. Take it in turns to say stop or go and your child has to do exactly that. Sometimes you are in control of how far they walk each time and sometimes they are.
• Take binoculars and go bird-watching.
• Makeup stories together.
• Sing songs.
• Visit somewhere new.
• Plan a trip somewhere that has a kid’s trail on. We love the National Trust for this and the forestry commission do fantastic Julia Donaldson trails. For other ideas of things to find on a walk head to this post.

11 Things to do at the park

• Ride bikes or scooters
• Play on the playground
• Feed the ducks (not bread though)
• Pack some art supplies (paint sticks or colouring pens or pencils work really well). Use them to draw a picture.
• Play football.
• Pond dipping. See what you can find in a pond.

• Make daisy chains.
• Fly a kite.
• Lie down and look for shapes in the clouds.
• Blow bubbles. You could even make a bubble snake
• Play some outdoor games (see below).

10 Outdoor games for kids

• Hide and seek. Try this at the park, in the garden or in the woods.
• Play a game of rounders.
• Play tag.
• Play dodgeball.
• Play what time is it Mr Wolf.
• Play duck, duck, goose.
• Play catch.
• Take a frisbee.
• Take some chalks and play hopscotch.
• Use sticks and rocks to play naughts and crosses.
• Find more ideas for outdoor games for children here.

10 things to in the rain

• Dress for the weather and splash in puddles.
• Make a rain gauge and put it outside.
• Make a raft from sticks and sail it in a puddle.
• Catch raindrops on your tongue.
• Make mud pies – rain will make mud the perfect consistency for messy play.

• Collect rain in pots and pans, add wooden spoons and small bowls or cups and young kids will have loads of fun.
• Create art in the rain. Use washable felt tip pens to draw a picture and then leave it in the rain and see what happens.
• Hunt for worms, they come out in the rain.
• Dress for the weather and head to the beach. Splash in puddles and the sea, build sandcastles and generally have fun.
• Head for the woods. Sometimes it’s less wet in the wood as the trees provide shelter.

6 things to do in the snow

• Build a snowman.
• Have a snowball fight.
• Paint snow.
• Mix water and food colouring and freeze in moulds. Then hide these ice shapes around the garden for your child to find.
• Go sledging.
• Put some leaves, berries or other natural items in a dish, cover with water and leave outside to freeze. Once frozen remove from the dish mould.

I really hope I’ve inspired you to get outside with your kids. To make it even easier I’ve selected about 50 of these and included them in a printable PDF that you can print out and make in to and I’m bored jar. I’ve also included a page of blank boxes for you so you can add your own ideas such as specific local places to visit. You’ll never wonder what to do with the kids again!

Ad- Kid’s summer activity pack

Find out more here.

Outdoor activities for 2 year olds

If you have a 2 year old then many of the options above are suitable but I also have some posts specifically for this age group.

Find loads of great ideas for things to do outdoors for this age group here – Outdoor activities for toddlers.

Find loads of easy and fun Outdoor games for toddlers here.

Where to next?

Find my favourite outdoor activity books for kids here.

Read 50+ inspiring outdoor play quotes here.

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