April activities for kids

I love the changing seasons and the opportunities for new activities to do with my girls. Hopefully, April will see warmer weather arrive soon. This post is filled with my favourite April activities for kids, I love spring and to me, it means new life, gardening and spending longer, warmer days outdoors. This post is part of my series of posts on Seasonal activities for kids.

I’ve rounded up my best spring-themed ideas for the month of April below. Keep popping back to my blog this month for more seasonal activities to do with your kids this month.

I’ve also added a new feature this month “New books we love right now”. I get sent a lot of books by book publishers (mainly nature based ones) so I’ll be sharing all the new books that I think you will love this month.

Ad – This post contains affiliate links. These are marked with *. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase through the links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

April in the garden

April is the perfect time to start gardening with children. Gardening is a fantastic way for the whole family to get outdoors. You can start sowing sunflowers, basil, courgettes, squash, tomatoes and many more seeds indoors or in a greenhouse. Outdoors you can start sewing beetroot, carrots and much more. We’re planting ours in a raised bed – find out how to grow vegetables in a raised bed with kids here.

We started sowing our seeds in late March but it’s not too late to get started. This year as well as the strawberries that we planted a few years back and the raspberries that we planted earlier this year, we’re growing echinacea, sweet peas, cosmos, basil, chives, courgettes and sunflowers.

Not sure where to start? As well as the posts of mine that I have linked above, there are lots of great books and websites that tell you exactly what you should plant and when. One of my favourite websites is the RHS website. They even have an app now too.

April outdoor kid’s activity inspiration

April is also a great time to start spending more time outdoors with children. Who doesn’t find it easier to get outside in warm weather? Playing in the garden, walking in the woods, visiting the beach or your favourite outdoor day out. I have created a free resource that you will love on your family walks this month. It’s a free nature scavenger hunt that young children will have so much fun completing. Find my free Signs of spring scavenger hunt here.

There are so many spring activities for kids that you can enjoy. From going to see the spring lambs at the local farm or visiting your local bluebell-covered woodland.

Spring for outdoor activities for children. Here are some of my favourite things to do:

• If you are going on a walk you’ll need plenty of ideas for things to do on a walk with kids.
• Ideas include geocaching with kids which is like a modern-day treasure hunt that kids of all ages enjoy.
• Create a sound hunt for preschoolers.
• Or an outdoor number hunt to help your child develop maths knowledge like number recognition.

It’s a little cold for me to start camping but I know many people start camping in April. Find my tips for camping with kids here.

Easter is in April and what better way to celebrate Easter than with an Easter egg hunt in your garden.

If you’re in North West England this Easter, you need to read my post – Easter events North West

You can also find all the events across the North West for the whole of the month here – Family events North West April

April on the bookshelves

There are so many spring themes in children’s books. Farm animals, bugs and butterflies, spring and much more. If you’re looking for inspiration then you’ll love this post – 20 children’s books to read this spring. It includes Spring stories for kids and easter books too.

Easter is in April this year and there are so many gorgeous children’s books for Easter. Find my favourite Easter books for babies here.

Find my favourite Easter books for preschoolers here.

Don’t forget I have a post with the best books about seasons for preschoolers.

You might like to start reading children’s books about gardening this month too. This post contains a mixture of fiction books and practical guides to gardening with kids.

If you have a preschool child then here are my recommendations for the best books about starting school to start preparing them for school.

If you want to help your children understand climate change, I have a lovely selection of Earth Day children’s books. I’ve found a mix of fact and fiction and there are ideas for all ages.

New Children’s books this month

Top row from left to right

• Eggs – This is a beautiful board book that is filled with flaps to lift. It is also a great introduction to counting to 5. You might be surprised by which creatures are hiding in some of these eggs! * available here
• Farm – This is a lovely board book with a load of interactive elements for toddlers like sliders. * available here
• If it’s Easter and you know it – This is a brightly coloured board book, full of cute illustrations. It’s filled with sliders for older babies and toddlers to engage with the book. This is designed as a sing-a-long book, to the tune of “If you’re happy and you know it”. It’s a really fun Easter book for little ones. * available here
• Where’s baby bunny? – This is another beautiful and simple board book with soft, felt flaps. The illustrations are simple but brightly coloured. It’s really short and sweet, best for babies. * available here
• The versatile reptile, Nicola Davies – This is a bright and colourful picture book with reptile facts for kids. The amount of facts isn’t overwhelming so it’s suitable for preschoolers and older children. * Available here.

Bottom row, from left to right

• Look what I found on the farm, Moira Butterfield, Jesus Verona. This picture book is filled with facts about farms including wildlife and food. * Available here.
• Pip and Posy Outdoor explorers. This is a great sticker and activity book about the outdoors. * Available here.

Top row from left to right:

• Grandpa and the kingfisher – This is a lovely picture book about the circle of life, “only nature goes on forever”. It handles the subject of getting older and losing a grandparent very sensitively. * Available here.
• Ruby plants radish – This picture book has lift-the-flaps and pop-up elements. It’s a lovely story and also teaches little ones about growing food. * Available here.
• Ben plants a butterfly garden – This book is similar to the book above but this time about flowers, caterpillars and butterflies. * Available here.
• The boy who saved a bear – This book is another adventure tale set in Sri Lanka. Follow the adventure of Nuwan as he goes from hiding in a bear cave to transporting a stolen key to the King’s city and finally persuading a ferocious bear to come with him. * Available here.
• The earth book – This is a beautiful fact-based book all about the earth, weather, the water cycle, volcanoes and a lot more. The see-through pages are really fun too. * Available here.

April ideas for creating and playing

There are lots of opportunities for spring crafts and sensory play in April. Both indoors and outdoors. Possible themes are weather, butterflies, bugs, farm animals, Earth day, St George’s day and Easter activities too. 

How about some bug-themed play dough or making butterfly wings. I also love making these Spring sensory trays for my girls to explore. Click through to find 5 super simple spring trays.

If you want some bug-themed colouring pages, find some Free ladybird pictures to colour here.

Earth day is on 22nd April. I have a post full of earth day activities for kids which includes earth day crafts and so much more. If you have little ones then you’ll love the ideas in my earth day activities for toddlers post.

If you want to find out more about earth day, head to my post on Earth day facts for kids.

Find loads of Earth Day worksheets for kids here.

How about some nature activities? You’ll find loads of ideas in this post on fun things to do with sticks.

Another great idea is some fun forest school activities for you to try.

If you do want to do some Easter activities then find simple and fun Easter crafts and activities for kids or if your kids are a little younger then you’ll love my post with Easter crafts and activities for toddlers.

We love play dough here, find my Easter play dough activity here. Don’t let your little ones miss out, try my Easter sensory bag activity.

I really hope this post has inspired you to plan some fun spring activities for your family this month. Perhaps you’ll plan a fun project for earth day or some bunny crafts to enjoy in the run-up to Easter.

Pin for later: