We’re all needing to stay much closer to home at present thanks to the coronavirus. Social distancing and self-isolation doesn’t have to mean being constantly cooped up inside the house though. We like to get outdoors as much as possible even if we end up just being restricted to the garden. If you’re looking for ideas to keep the children amused out in the garden, here are some activities to try:
1) Get the children to help with some weeding.
2) Plant vegetables or herbs.
3) Make mud pies.
4) Do some mud painting.
5) Do some footprint painting – wearing welly boots if it’s cold, or barefoot if it’s warm enough.
6) Paint some pictures and leave them out in the rain to see what happens.
7) Make frost patterns on the windows.
8) Make an obstacle course and see how quickly the children can complete it.
9) Design and make a stick maze.
10) See how many natural items you can find to fit in a matchbox.
11) Make a mini volcano and watch it erupt.
12) Make oobleck.
13) Make a bottle rocket.
14) Dig for worms and build a wormery.
15) Make nature fairy wands.
16) Make a rain gauge.
17) Set up some small toys to make a garden safari hunt (you could also try encasing small toys in ice for an ice scavenger hunt).
18) Do a colour nature hunt.
19) Make ice suncatchers.
20) Make ice lanterns.
21) Set up an easel and do some painting or drawing outside. You could also try using different nature objects as brushes.
22) Make a fairy potion.
23) Make a fairy garden.
24) Blow some bubbles.
25) Make a plant pot person.
26) Make a nature collage.
27) Raid the dressing up box for some imaginative outdoor play or to make a dressing-up race.
28) Get a bowl of water, collect some items from the house and garden and guess which ones will float and which will sink.
29) Make a leaf crown.
30) Make a nature journal.
31) Collect some nettles and make nettle crisps.
32) Make nature masks.
33) Do some leaf printing.
34) Watch the clouds and see what pictures you can see in the sky.
35) Make some bird feeders.
36) Do some bird watching and see how many different birds you can spot.
37) Make a tepee.
38) Go on a bug hunt and see how many different insects you can spot.
39) Make a bug hotel.
40) Make a daisy chain or flower crown.
41) Make leaf pictures.
42) Make nature bracelets.
43) Make chalk pictures.
44) Do some rock painting.
45) Make a bubble snake.
46) Make some balloon rockets and have a race.
47) Do some ice painting.
48) Do some bark or leaf rubbing.
49) Make your own bird’s nest.
50) Make bark boats and float them in a bowl of water.
Most of the activities above can be done throughout the year or adapted for different seasons. In the summer, you can also add lots of water play ideas – getting the paddling pool out, having a water fight, playing with water balloons etc.
What’s your favourite activity for enjoying outdoor fun in the garden?
So many lovely ideas there. Love the flower crown photo. We went on a bug hunt in our garden and found a caterpillar who is ready to pupate. I’ll be writing that up to share soon #countrykids
Thank you. Going on a bug hunt is on our list to do at some point 🙂
I love all of these ideas. It’s vital to get as much fresh air as possible in these crazy times.
Sending lots of love and strength to you and your beautiful family. xxxxx #countrykids
Thank you Ella. It’s certainly helped us this past week being able to get outside in the garden so much. Lots of love to you all too, stay safe x
some really great ideas and perfect for keeping the kids entertained.
Thank you – we’ve been doing a few of them over the past week with the nice weather 🙂
That’s a great list of activities for younger children. We’ve done everything on there I think except making nettle crisps which are now on my list! We love kale chips so these sound fab. Keep safe in the coming weeks #countrykids
I liked the nettle crisps although Sophie wasn’t so keen! Definitely worth giving them a go 🙂
Brilliant ideas! I love the welly painting. Not seen that one before. We like to make obstacle courses and have races around the garden!
Thank you. The welly painting is a lot of fun 🙂
So many fab ideas, thank you! Love the fairy wand and the plant pot person! 🙂 x #kidsandkreativity
Glad you like them and hope you enjoy trying some of them out 🙂
Some fab ideas here. We are spending a lot more time in the garden which is nice, currently in the process of making a bug hotel! Thanks for linking up to #KidsandKreativity, hope to see you back next time x
Thank you. Hope you are having fun making your bug hotel.