We love outdoor activities for children so today I’m sharing my favourite inspiring outdoor play quotes. Hopefully, these will inspire you to get your young children outdoors, developing their natural love of nature. This is the ultimate gift we can give our children. Time in the open air is the best way to let them run free and grow.
Inspiring outdoor play quotes
“Play is the highest form of research” –
Albert Einstein
1 – He should know!
“Children still need a childhood with dirt, mud, puddles, trees, sticks and tadpoles”
Brook Hampton
2 – How true is this? I certainly think so. Find 30+ things to do with sticks here.
“There’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend.”
Bob Ross
3 – here, here.
“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach of us more than we can ever learn from books.”
John Lubbock
4 – As much as I love children’s books (especially about nature), you really do need to combine it with real world experiences too.
“It’s a wondrous thing how the wild calms the child.”
Unknown
5 – I’ve seen this many times with my own children.
“Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.”
Thomas Berry
6 – It’s so incredibly important, now more than ever.
“Your kids will remember the adventures you went on, not the stuff you bought them. Kids outgrow stuff they never outgrow adventures. “
Unknown
7 – We certainly love an outdoor adventure in our house.
“Children still need a childhood with dirt, mud, puddles, trees, sticks, and tadpoles.”
Brooke Hampton
8 – Get the kids outdoors!
“Keep your children wild- don’t make them grow up too fast. Let them spend their days in the sunshine using their imagination. They are the change! Those wild children daydreaming in the sunshine will grow into grounded adults with minds and spirits capable of creating a better future.”
Brooke Hampton
9 – I think this one says it all.
“Why try to explain miracle to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.”
Robert Brault
10 – Gardening with kids is a great thing to do. Even if you only plant a few seeds. Find out more about starting gardening with kids here.
“When life gives you a rainy day, play in the puddles”
Unknown
11 – I’ve not met a child yet that doesn’t like puddle jumping!
“Children more than ever, need opportunities to be in their bodies in the world – jumping rope, bicycling, stream hopping and fort building. It’s this engagement between limbs of the body and bones of the earth where true balance and centeredness emerge.”
David Sobel
12 – Outdoor play is great exercise for kids.
“Kids don’t remember their best day of television.”
Unknown
13. Don’t get me wrong my kids love tv but adventures always beat tv.
“Before we ever put a pencil in a child’s hands, those hands should dig, climb, press, pull, squish, twist, and pinch in a wide array of environments and with a variety of materials.”
Amanda Morgan
14 – Playing in nature is great for fine motor skills as well as gross motor skills
“Let the children be free; encourage them;
let them run outside when it is raining;
let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water;
and when the grass of the meadows is wet with dew,
let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet;
let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade;
let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning.”
Maria Montessori
15 – Love this!
“Let nature be your teacher.”
William Wordsworth
16 – Nature has so much to teach us all.
“It’s time to return to childhood, to simplicity, to running and climbing and laughing in the sunshine, to experiencing happiness instead of being trained for a lifetime of happiness. It’s time to let children be children again.”
LR Knost
17 – My kids certainly love climbing!
“We must teach our children to smell the eart, taste the rain, touch the wind, see things grow, hear the sun rise and night fall – to care”
John Cleal
18 – Caring about our planet definitely starts with learning all about it.
“Nature breeds curiosity; it helps to grow explorers rather than robots. It reminds us that we are part of something bigger. It grounds us, calms us.”
Ben Palmer-Fry
19 – Let’s grow explorers!
“Restore balance. Most kids have technology, school and extracurricular activities covered. It’s time to add a pinch of adventure, a sprinkle of sunshine and a big handful of outdoor play.”
Penny Whitehouse
20 – parenting is definitely a balancing act!
“We could have never loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”
George Eliot
21 – I hope my children look back on their childhood and remember all our outdoor adventures.
“Children cannot bounce off the walls if we take away the walls.”
Erin Kenny
22 – My absolute favourite quote! I’ve definitely taken my kids outside to stop the squabbles many times!
“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
Kahil Gran
23 – I love seeing kids running bare foot.
“The Mud will wash off but the memories will last a lifetime”
Unknown
24 – My washing machine never stops!
“I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel when introducing a young child to the natural world. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil.”
Rachel Carson
25 – Childhood is a key time for growth in children. Exposure to outdoor play is incredibly important for that.
“Children grow up hearing how broken the environment is, how broken beyond repair. Plant strawberries together, make wild medicines, paint the sunrise. Show them proof that for every act of destruction, they can sow a seed, however small, of beauty.”
Nicolette Sowder
26 – I love this idea nad try to do this with my own children.
“Don’t just tell children about the world. Show them.”
Penny Whitehouse
27 – I couldn’t agree more. There is so much I want to show my kids.
“When children play in natural spaces, they’re far more likely to invent their own games than in more structured settings – a key factor in becoming self-directed and inventive adults later in life”
Richard Louv
28 – My children’s imaginations certainly seem to grow outdoors.
“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where the colors are brighter, the air is softer and the morning more fragrant than ever.”
Elizabeth Lawrence
29 – Love this idea.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
Margaret Atwood
30 – True.
“If we provide enough space and possibilities for moving freely, then the children will move as well as animals: skillfully, simply, securely, naturally.” – Dr. Emmi Pikler
31 – This is a really interesting thought.
“Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves.”
Stephen Moss
32 – We can all find ourselves outdoors.
“When a child gives you a gift, even if it’s a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. It may be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you.”
Dean Jackson
33 – Mine are always gifting me pebbles, dandelions and sticks!
“Direct contact with nature has direct benefits for children’s physical, mental and emotional health. Free play opportunities in natural settings offer possibilities for restoration, and hence, well-being.”
Stuart Lester and Martin Maudsley – Play naturally, a review of children’s nature play
34 – Children’s mental health is very important and time in nature helps.
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”
John Muir
35 – Very important.
“No matter how old you get, may you always stop to fill your pockets with smooth stones, empty snail shells & other little treasures.”
Nicolette Sowder
36 – I certainly can’t stop myself from helping my kids collect natures treasures.
“Every child needs nature. Not just the ones whose parents appreciate nature. Not only those of a certain economic class or culture or set of abilities. Every child.”
Richard Louv
37 – This quote is really important. Nature is important for everyone.
“we all had a playroom growing up. It was called outside.”
Unknown
38 – I spent so much time as a child outdoors.
““Children play instinctively with natural elements – they are natural experts. 82 per cent said that their favourite places to play were natural spaces, such as gardens, parks and local fields.”
Adrian Voce
39 – Natural loose parts are fantastic. My kids love creating with natural loose parts. I can’t resist collecting seashells myself!
“If we want our children to move mountains, we first have to let them get out of their chairs.”
Nicolette Sowder
40 – Kids spend so much of their days sat down so it’s important to get them moving when we can.
“All good things are wild and free”
Henry David Thoreau
41 – Yes!
“Kids don’t need more toys – they need more adventures!”
Sarah Mueller
42 – Adventures over toys any day.
“If you haven’t seen anything incredible today go outside”
Unknown
43 – Who knows what you may find!
“What do parents owe their young that is more important than a warm and trusting connection to the Earth?”
Theodore Roszak
44 – I think this is really true.
“The most memorable days end with the dirtiest clothes.”
Unknown
45 – Kids certainly think so. My washing machine never stops!
“Go and open the door. Maybe outside there’s a tree, or a wood, or a magic city.”
Miroslav Golub
46 – Kid’s imaginations seem to come alive outdoors.
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks”
John muir
47 – We love nature walks. Get lots of tips for making the enjoyable with kids here – things to do on a walk with kids.
“and when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain there woud be no rainbow.”
Gilbert K Chesterton
48 – Who doesn’t love a rainbow?
“We can never have enough of nature”
Henry David Thoreau
49 – 100% agree.
“Nature is the best playground”
Unknown
50 – This is so true. Climbing, exploring, balancing, it can all be done in nature.
“Time outdoors in nature offers endless opportunities to learn and grow, and supports the development of the whole child – cognitive, physical, social, emotional and creative”
Erin Saunders
51 – There are endless benefits to time spent outdoors.
“If you wish your children to think deep thoughts, to know the holiest emotions, take them to the woods and hills, and give them the freedom of the meadows; the hills purify those who walk upon them.”
Richard Jefferies
52 – Such an important concept.
“Children come alive by being in nature, beckoning us back into its wild places. It awakens their minds, centers their hearts and gives depth of the soul. It’s not an abondment of academic work but rather a help to it.”
Ainsley Arment
53 – Add some outdoor time to your child’s day!
I hope you have enjoyed these inspiring outdoors play quotes. Nature really is the best education we can give our children. I’d love to hear your best nature quotes in the comments.
Where to next?
- Find 71 great being in nature quotes here.
- Need some ideas for getting outdoors. Find 100 things to do outdoors with kids here.
- Forest school activities for 2 year olds – perfect for connecting toddlers with nature.
- If your children are a little older, this post is perfect – forest school activities