30 Fun things to do with sticks

Here you will find loads of fun things to do with sticks. My children are forever collecting sticks. Sticks have to be the ultimate toy or craft material. Children just love them. I love how children’s imaginations come to life with a simple stick. I might not make it to 100 things to do with sticks but I’m going to share lots of ideas for the humble stick. Find more Nature activities for kids here.

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Things to do on a walk with sticks

My kids love collecting sticks on walks. They’re one of our favourite things to collect on a nature walk. It always keeps them happy. Perhaps yours do too. Have you ever wondered though about what to do with sticks? Below you’ll find loads of stick ideas.

There are so many things you can do with sticks on a walk. Here’s a few idea for activities with sticks to get you started with.

Use them as a walking stick

Sometimes the most simple ideas are enough to keep children entertained on a walk. A stick seems to bring our my children’s imaginative play and their inner explorers too!

Play pooh sticks

Do you remember playing pooh sticks as a child? All you need is a stick each and a bridge over a flowing river or stream. Simply all throw your sticks in at the same time, on the side of the bridge where the water is flowing away from you, run to the other side and see whose stick comes through first. Sounds simple but kids love it. Just watch their competitive or investigative side come out. What kind of stick goes fastest? Is it better in the middle or near the sides of the stream?

Make art on the floor

Collect some sticks, fallen leaves, pine needles and other natural loose parts and create art on the floor. Perhaps you’ll make a beautiful mandala or a simple pattern or even a picture. Find some summer art activities to try here.

Create a stick maze

Lay sticks on the ground to create the pattern of a maze. If you create it large enough you could challenge someone to walk through it or perhaps just roll a conker through a smaller maze.

This is one of our favourite winter activities for kids.

Make a journey stick

My girls love creating journey sticks. They’re really fun to create on walks. They are a collection of natural things that your child finds on your walk. Anything from leaves, feathers and wildflowers.

There are different ways to do it depending on the age of your child. The simplest way is to take some tape to stick things to a stick. For older children, take some coloured wool or * garden twine and tie the bits of nature to your stick.

Find step-by-step instructions for two easy ways to create a journey stick here.

Play fetch

Perfect if you have a dog but my kids actually like to pretend to be dogs and play this sometimes too.

Make a stick den

My girls love finding stick dens on walks. Why not have a go at den building yourself though? One large enough for your child is not always possible but how about creating a small one for a toy? Find out how to build a den with sticks here.

Find more fun forest school activities here.

Measure how deep a puddle is

Try guessing how deep a puddle is and then use a stick to measure. You don’t need to take a ruler to measure exactly but it’s a great maths activity for preschool and primary school if you do.

Nature crafts to do with sticks

This is the section for you if you have ever wondered what can I make with sticks? I have lots of stick craft ideas for you.

My children love creating as much as they love being outdoors so we love to combine the two. Nature crafts are also perfect for bringing nature inside rainy days. Crafts are also a good way to practice fine motor skills as your child will be handling small pieces in all these fun ideas. 

You can do many of these crafts out and about if you have a few basic supplies with you or they are a great way to use that ever growing pile of sticks at home. These are the supplies we love:

• * String or twine
• * paint sticks
• * children’s scissors
• * washi tape

You might choose to collect the sticks on your walk and do the crafting at home. In this case you need a * children’s treasure collecting bag. My kids love collecting nature on our walks.

Create wool-wrapped sticks

A really simple nature craft is to tie a piece of wool to a stick and tightly wrap it around the stick and then tie off at the other end. You could do them all one colour or change colours to make a pattern.

Make a DIY pom pom and stick mobile

Use the wool-wrapped stick you made above and some pom poms and you can create your own diy pom pom and stick mobile.

We have a set of these * pom pom makers that make creating pom poms a breeze.

Create a nature loom weaving

Make a frame using four sticks and some garden twine, string or wool which you use to bind the corner together. Once you have your frame tie a piece of wool to the frame and wrap it around the frame from one side to the other side. Then simply fill it full of nature such as leaves, long grass and flowers. This is one of many Forest school activities for 2 year olds.

Make a bow and arrow

For this, you will need a flexible stick for the bow and a shorter, straight stick for the arrow. Start by making the bow by securely tying some wool to one end, bending the stick into an arc and tying the string at the other end. You can decorate your stick with feathers, wool and washi tape. As well as using cardboard to make a point for your arrow.

Make flags

Sticks are perfect for making flags. The ones below are triangles of decorated paper, attached with * masking tape. So simple but kids will love making them, displaying them, using them as plant markers in the garden or running around using them as batons in a relay race.

Make a stickman

We love the Julia Donaldson book * Stickman. Why not make your own with sticks bound together with some wool. Perfect for children to use in their own storytelling sessions.

Make a stick wind chime

How about using some painted sticks to make a wind chime for your garden like this one?

Make a god’s eye

This is a great craft that uses sticks and wool to make a god’s eye, this one is ideal for older kids. Find out how to make them Gods eye weaving. They’re not only fun but they’ll use up all those tangled-up wool scraps too.

Make a stick boat

Stick rafts or stick boats are really simple to make and then you can take them outside to float their little boat in a puddle, stream or even the seashore.

Make a wand

There are many different ways to make a magic wand. The one below is made with flowers and leaves tied to the stick, a real flower fairy wand. We’ve also made them with ribbons, beads and pipe cleaners. Simply choose the most fun way for your child.

Use them in a bug hotel

This is a really simple bug hotel to make. Simply thread a length of string through an empty kitchen roll tube and tie the ends together to make a loop. Then fill the tube with sticks. You could also do the same with a plastic bottle with each end cut off to make a more weatherproof and permanent bug hotel.

Use them with clay to make creatures

Air-dry clay is a great art material to combine with natural materials. Sometimes my kids will make creatures like this cute little hedgehog. Short sticks are great for spikes but also legs and arms in other creatures. Find * air dry clay here. You could also use play dough for young children.

Decorate them

Why not wrap * pipe cleaners around sticks? you could even add beads or other decorative objects to some of the pipe cleaners. A great fine motor activity.

Paint them

Washable * poster paints are great for worry-free painting with young children. For older children, acrylic paints will give more vibrant colours. I love these * acrylic paints for kids (UK only).

You could even decorate your sticks further with pipe cleaners and beads once dry. This is always such a fun activity.

Make a nest

Use sticks, moss, straw and anything else you can find that is suitable to make mini bird nests.

Make a stick picture frame

Create a really simple frame using 4 sticks bound together as we did for the nature loom above.

Make nature paint brushes

Painting with nature is so much fun. In the autumn we love painting with leaves and conkers (see my post on autumn process art for more details). Nature paint brushes can be made all year round with anything you find. Think fallen leaves, dandelions, feathers and moss. Simply tie your chosen natural material to a stick. Then give your child the nature paintbrushes, some paint and paper and watch them explore the different marks each brush creates.

Find more Easy nature art for kids here.

Try whittling

This is something I’m keen to try with my kids but we never quite get around to it. Here is a great book full of tips and projects – find my Forest craft review here.

Find a beginners * whittling kit here (UK)

Make a stick butterfly

This is a really simple to create stick butterfly craft with kids. All you need are sticks, coffee filter paper, felt tips and pipetts. How beautiful are they?

Other things to do with sticks

Use them to do outdoor maths

Sticks can be used with other natural loose parts in all sorts of maths activities for all ages. Preschoolers can count them or arrange them in size order. Primary school kids can use them as 10’s and stones, leaves or shells as 1’s to help them solve maths questions. For more ideas for taking maths outdoors, I love this book * Messy maths.

Use them to write letters

Can you write the whole alphabet using sticks and other nature?

Stir a mud pie

Kids love mud. Sticks are great for using to mix things like soil and water or perhaps your child will choose to make a magic potion with water and flower petals. They can use a stick to mix up this potion.

Make a campfire

Toasting marshmallows over a fire has to be one of the highlights of forest school sessions for my kids. Pictured below is a * Kelly kettle.

Make sure you pack a * fire steel and these * kneeling mats are lightweight and great for kneeling on damp grass.

Pretend it’s a broomstick

I’m sure your kids will come up with even more things to pretend the stick is. Tell me your favourite stick activity in the comments.

Where to next?

We love outdoor activities for children like walking and nature crafts.

Leaves are another great natural material to use in activities. Find loads of autumn leaves activities for toddlers here.

Find more ideas for outdoor activities for toddlers here.

If you’re particularly looking for outdoor activities, then you need Autumn outdoor activities for kids

I know how difficult it can be to keep kids happy on a walk. I’ve got you covered with 25 things to do on a walk with kids.

Do you want even more ideas for things to do outside with kids?

Perhaps you need ideas for things to do outside at home? There are so many things you can do in your garden, driveway or even a small balcony.

Find my favourite inspiring outdoor play quotes here.

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