There are many benefits to getting kids outdoors and even the youngest child can gain something from time outdoors. Below are my favourite outdoor activities for babies. As new parents, you may be wondering about how to start your outdoor adventures so this post is a great way to get you started. Don’t forget you can find all my outdoor activities for children here.
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Spending time outdoors with babies under 12 months old doesn’t need to be complicated. My advice is keep it simple. Time in nature provides plenty of sensory stimulation for babies. There’s the bird songs, the sensation of grass on there tiny toes and all the colours in nature.
Here are 10 ideas for things to do outdoors with babies. Keep reading to the end for some top tips for spending time outdoors with babies safely.
Go for a walk
There are so many benefits of taking your baby for a walk for both of you. You both get fresh air, you get some exercise and you’re both benefitting from time in nature.
Whether you choose to use a baby carrier or a pram doesn’t matter. Short walks can be enjoyed almost anywhere. Why not head to your local park or if you are in the North West (England), I have lots of walks on pram-friendly walks across the region. Find them here – family walks North West.
Water play
Kids love water and for most this love of water starts very young. Of course, it goes without saying that you need to supervise your baby closely where water is involved.
There are many ways you can introduce your baby to water play. Once they can sit up you could sit them in a paddling pool with a shallow amount of water in it. Or perhaps they’d prefer to sit on the grass or a picnic blanket with a small bowl of water to splash their hands in.
However you choose to introduce water play, you can add some balls to the water or perhaps some bath toys like a small boat.
Once they can stand a water table is a wonderful way to introduce sensory play. My toddlers loved splashing in a water table for ages. It was one of our favourite outdoor toys from when they learnt to stand until they were about 5. Find more Outdoor activity toys for toddlers here.
Outdoor play
As well as water play, there are other outdoor play ideas for babies. Anything you do indoors with your baby, you can probably do outdoors. For example, you can do tummy time outdoors, on the grass, on a picnic blanket.
You could always take a few of their favourite baby toys outdoors to play with. If you want to get them additional outdoor toys, this baby toy list is full of fun options.
Blow bubbles
Babies love bubbles. As do toddlers and older children too. You can pick up a simple bottle of bubbles for a very small cost and this will be a great sensory activity for babies. They’ll enjoy watching the bubbles blowing around them.
A bubble machine makes a great gift for babies that they’ll enjoy for many years to come.
Visit a nearby park
Your local park is a great place to visit with your baby. Whether you simply choose to walk around the park or even put them on the swings when they are old enough. Older babies often really enjoy a gentle swing.
Have a picnic
Another simple idea for older babies who are weaning is to have a picnic outside. If you are out on a walk or day out then a picnic is often a necessary part of the day but have you ever thought of having a picnic in your own garden?
Read together
There are so many benefits to starting reading to your baby from a very young age. We all think about reading at bedtime but you can read to your baby at any time of day. Why not take your favourite books outdoors and read to your baby in the garden?
Find some suggestions for books to read to babies here – Best books for babies and toddlers. I particularly like board books for babies but cloth books and * indestructibles are also good for this age group.
Sing nursery rhymes
Singing to our babies is another simple activity that has lots of benefits for babies from an early age. Read more about the benefits here. You can easily sing to your baby whilst you are out walking or in your garden.
Older babies might enjoy combining singing nursery rhymes and this fun Nursery rhyme treasure basket. You can very easily take this basket outdoors and put in front of an older baby who can sit. They’ll have lots of fun and gain so many benefits from the activity and listening to you sing.
Spend time in nature
As I said right at the start, spending time outdoors in nature is a sensory experience in itself for babies. There are so many new experiences and lots for them to see and hear as well as lots of different textures to feel. You can start to point out flowers, trees, birds and different animals to them.
Getting kids outdoors and learning about nature is a fantastic start to growing kids and later adults who want to protect our planet.
Naptime
Babies can get many benefits from napping outdoors. In fact, in Scandinavia babies nap outdoors in all weathers (yes, even below freezing). You can find out more about Why Scandinavians Let Their Babies Nap Outside In the Winter here.
When my own children were babies, putting them in their pushchair and taking them for a walk was one of the easiest ways to get them to sleep at nap time. Not only that, I got some exercise and time outdoors myself.
So hopefully you now have lots of ideas of things to do outside with your babies and are hopefully feeling more confident that you can keep it very simple at this young age.
Older babies and toddlers
As your baby grows and develops you can start to indroduce new activities to support their development and entertain them.
I have lots of posts on outdoor activities that are suitable from when your baby starts to walk. Some that you might enjoy include:
- The ultimate list of Outdoor activities for toddlers
- Forest school inspired toddler activities like bug hunting are great for toddlers. Find loads of ideas here – Forest school activities for 2 year olds
- Thinking about taking you older baby or toddler camping? Don’t go without reading my top tips for camping with toddlers
Top tips for spending time outdoors with babies
Warm weather tips
Babies less than 6 months should stay out of the sun as their skin doesn’t contain enough melanin. Find loads more sun safety tips from the NHS here. It’s really important we protect our babies and kids from the damaging effects of the sun.
We had a * snoozeshade when ours were in prams, which is fantastic for creating shade over a pram or pushchair. No more faffing with a parosol every time you turn a corner!
Don’t forget to apply sun cream regularly (once your baby is old enough to use sun cream), put them on a sun hat and sunglasses and keep them in the shade as much as possible.
For beach days and even in the garden, a sun tent is a fantastic idea but make sure it is open fronted, * like this one, as a full tent gets incredibly hot in the sun.
Cold weather tips
There’s no need to let cold weather be a reason to stay inside. The most important thing is to make sue you are aware of how warm or cold your baby is particulary if you are going in and out of warm buildings.
Layers are great as you can add and remove as you need to. A snow suit is invaluble and you can get them without feet once they start walking too. A warm har will keep their head warm and cosy toes are great for pushchairs.
If you are carrying them in a baby carrier, remember to think about using it safely. Find the latest advice here.
I hope you enjoy lots of outdoor time with your baby. Don’t forget to share any of your favourite activities or tips in the comments for other parents. Please share this post if you think it will help another parent.