Outdoor Play
Outdoor Play ideas for children aged 2 to 8.
Outside solves several problems at once: the mess stops mattering, the noise stops mattering, and a child who has been climbing the walls has something to climb instead. Even ten minutes changes the temperature of an afternoon.
Most of these need nothing but the outdoors itself — a stick, a puddle, some chalk, a bucket of water and a paintbrush. A few use garden materials such as leaves, stones and mud, and those say plainly which bits to wash hands after.
Weather is a feature rather than an obstacle in several of them. Some of the best outdoor activities on this site specifically want rain.
Activities
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The First Cold Morning
A seasonal story about the morning you can suddenly see your own breath.
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Collect the Leaves, Then Sort Them
A bag, a walk, and a kitchen table. The collecting is half of it and the sorting is the other half.
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An Egg Hunt That Works for Every Age
The same hunt, three difficulty levels, so a two-year-old and a seven-year-old can play together without either being bored.
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Painting With Water
A bucket of water and a big brush. They paint the wall, the fence and the path, it dries, and they do it again. No mess at all.