Today, Tennessee mom and photographer Somer Pickel dives into the magical world of nature crafts, specifically focusing on creating nature critters with children. She explores the various materials that can be gathered from nature and transformed into unique creatures, as well as the benefits that come from engaging in these crafts together. As parents, we play an essential role in encouraging and participating in these activities, as they offer numerous benefits that extend far beyond the finished product.

On being “not crafty”

Is it alright to start a “crafting nature critters with kids” blog post, saying that I really truly don’t like crafting with kids?

I know, I know…as moms, we’re supposed to love doing all things crafty with our children. And let me tell you, I’ve tried. But at some point, it’s better to just accept the obvious truth. And in this scenario, it’s that I am not a crafty mama. 

I can’t stand bits of paper all over the place. Finding stickers stuck to anything other than paper annoys me to no end. Don’t even get me started on glitter, slime, or Play-Doh. No. 

But believe it or not, I’ve finally found a craft I can get behind – nature critters. Making nature critters together has just the right amount of crafting, creativity and outdoor time for both me and my kid. I get to have her outside exploring a nature-filled environment, including looking for small, minute details. She gets to use a hot glue gun. So basically, it’s a win-win.

Getting beyond the mess when crafting with kids

I know I’ve already voiced my displeasure about crafting with kids. And yeah, a lot of my displeasure is due to the concerted effort that’s needed in the setup and the patience involved during the actual craft. But, it’s also partially because crafting always seems to be so expensive. Then to add insult to injury, there’s the aftermath. After your kiddo loses interest, you’re stuck cleaning up Elmer’s glue from your kitchen table or picking Play-Doh out of your dog’s hair. Then you have to find someplace to put all kinds of crafting leftovers and supplies. 

And don’t get me wrong, I know that crafting is some folks’ cup of tea. There are people who love it so much they have entire rooms in their homes dedicated to the wonders of all things crafting! As I am sure you all can guess by now, that’s just not me. But also, I highly doubt they live with the constant tornadic activity that is a pre-schooler. My kid could thoroughly destroy even the most organized of craft rooms in under 5 minutes. 

Benefits of crafting with kids

However, there are some really great benefits of crafting with kids that I really appreciate, and go far beyond the finished piece of artwork and mess left behind. Crafting stimulates and enhances children’s creativity, allowing them to explore their imaginations and express themselves freely. It encourages problem-solving skills as they navigate through different materials and find innovative ways to bring their ideas to life. And doing craft projects with kids also promotes fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, as children manipulate and handle various tools and materials.

Moreover, crafting provides an opportunity for children (and their parents!) to develop patience, perseverance, and the ability to follow instructions, as they learn to complete tasks step-by-step.  Doing crafts together and making art fosters self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment as children witness their creations taking shape, boosting their confidence and pride in their abilities. 

If you’re a fellow hater of all things glitter, nature critter crafting may be just up your alley!

Tips for moms that hate crafting

For moms who find crafting with kids challenging (or frustrating, or just plain awful), there are several tips and strategies that can help make the experience more enjoyable, less messy, and less frustrating. Here are some suggestions to consider:

1. Simplify the projects – Start with simple and age-appropriate craft projects that require minimal supplies and have straightforward instructions. This will help reduce the complexity and frustration for both you and your child.
2. Choose low-mess materials –  Opt for crafts that involve materials that are easy to clean up, such as washable markers, colored pencils, or pre-cut stickers. Avoid projects that involve excessive glue, glitter, or paint unless you’re prepared for a potential mess.
3. Incorporate what you like –  Maybe you hate paint, but you don’t mind markers. If stickers seem wasteful, maybe consider stamps. Maybe you’re like me and don’t mind crafts that incorporate natural elements and cute creatures. Figure out (and embrace) what you like about crafting (or at least don’t hate or can tolerate) and use those materials. Cut out anything that’s too stressful, messy, or overwhelming. 
4. Set up a dedicated crafting space – Designate a specific area in your home (or outside it) for crafting activities. Cover the surface with an old tablecloth or use a plastic tablecloth that can be easily wiped clean. Having a dedicated space will make it easier to contain the mess and keep things organized.
5. Embrace imperfection – Remember that the process of crafting with kids is more important than the final product. Embrace imperfections and allow your child’s creativity to shine, even if things don’t turn out as expected. Let go of the need for perfection and focus on enjoying the experience together.
6. Incorporate storytelling or music – Make the crafting experience more engaging by incorporating storytelling or playing background music. This can create a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere, making the process more enjoyable for both you and your child.
7. Take breaks and keep it short – Recognize when you or your child might be getting tired or frustrated and take breaks as needed. Keeping craft sessions short and focused can help maintain enthusiasm and prevent burnout.
8. Don’t be too hard on yourself – Remember that not all moms are naturally inclined towards crafting, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s more important to focus on spending quality time with your child and finding activities that bring joy to both of you. Embrace your strengths as a mom and explore other ways to bond and connect with your child that align with your interests and passions.

Crafting nature critters

Embracing what I like about crafts (natural elements, cute creatures, and spending time outside with my daughter) led us to try making nature critters. Basically, nature critters are essentially anything your kid wants them to be – they’re not necessarily real animals, but maybe based on a real animal with some creative elements incorporated.

While I personally like to make them look more like animals, they don’t always end up looking like the one I envisioned when I started. For instance, when I tried to make a porcupine, I ended up making what looked like a turkey. My bird turned into a fish. And so on. Oh well.

My kid, on the other hand, is very imaginative and typically steers toward open-ended toys. So, I guess it’s no real surprise that she seems to like the more abstract-looking critters (cat-monkey!). When it comes down to it, the jest is they’re “critters” made out of any found natural materials and hot glue. 

When crafting nature critters, they really can be whatever you want them to be. Or if you’re anything like me, whatever they turn out looking like when you’re trying to make something else.

How to prepare for crafting nature critters with your kid(s)

• Have a glue gun with a few sticks of glue.
• Find a mesh baggie to hold the materials you find. Why mesh? We learned the hard way with this little detail. We brought home a few bug “friends” the first time we made nature critters. If this isn’t an issue for you, by all means, use whatever sort of bag you want. 
• Set aside an hour or so to spend outside looking for critter-making materials. Your natural materials can be any of the following items (or whatever you can find in your area): leaves, pinecones, flowers, shells, berries, sticks, moss, grass, bark, acorns, twigs, pebbles, etc. (see below for more ideas)
• Have an outdoor space with an outlet where you can plug in your hot glue gun. Why outdoor? Well, it’s just another precaution, given the likelihood of tag-along bug friends. 
• Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee or whatever your preferred means of caffeination and ready yourself to provide excessive patience. 

When your child is out looking for materials to craft with, they slow down. They take more in and they find purpose in the search.

Safety note

Some hot glue guns probably get hot enough to cause actual burns. Ours is a fairly cheap one that doesn’t get very hot. Even so, my four-year-old was supervised the entire time she used the tool. I also noticed that since she perceived it to be “dangerous,” she took more care with it than I believe she otherwise would have. She was much slower, more deliberate, and controlled with the hot glue gun than she ever is with her typical school glue. This could be purely coincidental, but I don’t think it is. I feel like it tracks with the idea that kids’ capacity to learn increases when a bit of risk is involved. But back to the nature critters…

Typically when children perceive a task as risky, they slow down and focus on what they are doing. In turn, they tap into deeper learning and understanding.

Why natural materials for crafting nature critters

Could you use more than just natural elements when making nature critters? Of course! If you want to break out the googly eyes, pom poms, pipe cleaners, and crafting supplies, go for it! However, we prefer to only use what we find in the yard or on a trail. I feel like this gives the critters a bit more personality and makes the whole activity more challenging and creative.

Plus, it really forces me and my child to slow down and pay closer attention to our environment than we otherwise would. On our most recent critter supply run, my kiddo found two good-sized Appalachian forest snails. They were so camouflaged that I had stepped right past them. My kiddo was so thrilled to have found what my eyes had missed, that she spent the rest of the hike talking about her superhero vision. 

I love watching my child slow down and really take in the world around her. This craft has been a fun way for us both to engage more deeply with the natural world and each other.

What materials to collect for crafting nature critters

Honestly, these are your critters, so collect whatever suits your fancy!

Everywhere you go will have different things available. We live in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, so we have an abundance of deciduous and coniferous trees growing in our area. This gives us access to lots of pinecones, needles, pebbles, moss, bark, etc.

But, last week, we were in southwestern Florida. While there, we found loads of shells, fish bones, sand, driftwood, and other treasures on the beaches every morning. I am sure desert environments would have their own brand of wonderful nature treasure finds that would lend to excellent critters too. Just use whatever you find around.

Personally, I’ve found coniferous cones, large and small, make great bases for critter heads and bodies. Acorns are fantastic for heads and hats. Sticks and twigs make great limbs. Other things we have used include leaves, bark, moss, seeds and seed pods, flowers, rocks, and grass.

But really, just collect whatever catches your eye. The good thing is, you can just toss whatever you don’t use into the bushes or compost pile after craft time is over. Or at least that’s what we do. 

Nature critters can be made into all sorts of concrete or abstract creations with a bit of creativity and luck! (This is supposed to be a deer of some sort.)

Sometimes the critters may just turn out well enough and sturdy enough to be toys! Other times they fall apart if you even try to move them. Either is fine, because, in the end, it was all about the process.

Nature art inspiration

So I’m not deluded enough to believe our crafting to ever grow into something truly outstanding. We are in it for the experience and the fun of creating. However, there are folks out there creating truly inspiring art out of totally found natural materials. One of them is David Bird. He started his career as a Lego toy designer, and that later moved into creating adorable little critters he lovingly refers to as Becorns. Do yourself a favor and check out his work. And, I also love the nature art created by Sisten Golden (@sistergoldenshop) on Instagram. Both artists create such a beautiful blend of photography, naturalism, and art! They demonstrate what is possible with time, creativity, and a passion for the world around us. 

Side note: my kid finds value in expressing her independence— including dressing herself. I find value in my own sanity more than her wearing socially appropriate outfits.

Embrace the mess

While the mess and challenges of crafting with kids may seem daunting, it’s essential to embrace the chaos and immerse ourselves in the joy and wonder of creating with our children. Making nature critters together not only allows us to tap into their boundless creativity but also offers a unique opportunity to bond with our children, both inside and outside. By engaging in these activities, we can foster a deep connection with nature, instill a sense of environmental consciousness, and nurture our children’s development holistically.

So, let’s embrace the mess, seize the chance to explore the great outdoors, and create cherished memories as we embark on this creative journey with our little ones. After all, the mess will fade away, but the moments shared, and the love nurtured will endure forever.

More nature crafts (that you may not hate)

Never fear, non-crafty mamas; we have a few nature-inspired crafts and activities that you may not hate! All of these involve spending time outside (in nature) with your kids and can be done with less mess than regular crafting. 

• Seashell crafts with kids
• Outdoor STEM crafts & activities
• Sun prints
• Hiking sticks (storytelling sticks)
• Plein air painting
• Rock painting
• Wildflower bookmarks

 Do you enjoy crafting with kids?
What sort of nature critters will you make?

About the author

Somer is a mama living in southern Appalachia. Somer’s motherhood journey began when her oldest daughter (Avelyn) was born with severe congenital heart disease. Avelyn spent the majority of her 18 months of life in a pediatric ICU. Though she lived her life chronically critically ill, Avie was an incredibly loving and joyous child. After her death, Somer and her husband sought solace backpacking a section of the Appalachian Trail. Before long, they discovered their ability to cope seemed to correspond with time spent outdoors.

When it came time to add another kiddo to the mix, bringing the baby along was never a question. In an effort to celebrate the freedom provided by healthy bodies, Somer has hiked her second-born 2k+ miles. Even so, she doesn’t believe grand adventures are necessary to reap nature’s wonder. They just as often revel in mundane evenings in their backyard. The family believes it’s prioritizing time spent outdoors that’s important.

Professionally, Somer has spent the last decade caring for veterans in an acute psychiatric unit as a clinical nurse educator. Over the years, she’s become a passionate advocate for the intersectional relationships of mental health, wellness, and the natural world. She truly believes there’s healing and strength to be found outdoors for those who seek it.

You can find Somer online in the following locations:
Instagram: @somerpickel
RWMC posts: Somer Pickel
Podcast episode: Overcoming Grief Outdoors

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Seashell crafts for kids

Florida is known for its warm and sunny weather, but did you know that it also experiences mild winters? While the temperatures may not reach the freezing point, the cooler weather and shorter days provide a perfect opportunity to enjoy making crafts. One of our favorite things to do is combine our love of the beach, with crafting.

Crafting with seashells is an activity that not only gets us outside, but lets us be creative, as well. Here in Florida, shells are abundant on the beaches, so there’s no shortage of supplies. Today, I’m going to walk you through my best tips for finding great seashells and guide you through the process of making simple and fun seashell crafts with your kids. 

Shelling with kids

First things first, you need to set off and find as many seashells as you can! Whether you have easy access to a beach all the time, or you’re visiting the beach on vacation, shelling is an engaging experience for parents and kids of all ages. It’s a free and fun way to spend a few hours outside! My kids love finding different shapes, sizes and colors of seashells. When the water is too cold to swim in, and the sky is cloudy, you can always spend your time at the beach seashell hunting! Grab a bucket or a sustainable ocean-friendly bag, your trusty bait net, and let’s hunt!

Tips for finding and collecting seashells

Finding seashells is often a matter of being on the beach at the right time. The best time, in general, is about an hour before or after low tide. High tide will bring those beautiful shells inland. As the tide recedes, you’ll be able to see the treasures the tide left behind. And if the tides are low early in the morning, this is even better! This is great for families, as little kids are often up early, and it’s a great excuse to get out of the house right away! We like to have breakfast on the beach in the morning, before the crowds arrive and we have the place to ourselves.

Shelling is especially good after strong winds or storms. Low spring tides during full moon or new moon periods can also bring in great shells. Here in Florida, any strong tides or Gulf storms can also bring plentiful shells to the Gulf area beaches. Most of the time, the best sea shells are found in or below the wrack line (where the debris can be found from the high tide the night before). If you venture up too high, you may find older sun-bleached shells (which can be beautiful). But, the bright colorful newer shells that just washed up the night before will be down closer to the waterline. 

Know the regulations

Be sure to check local laws and regulations to know the rules in your area regarding sea shell collecting. Some beaches allow shelling, and some don’t. If your child finds a shell that still has an animal living inside — gastropod, bivalve, or otherwise — tell them to leave it alone. In many places, including Florida, it is illegal to take a live creature from its natural habitat. If keeping empty shells is allowed, be sure to check to make sure they’re empty. Also, never take live sand dollars from the beach.

Cleaning and storing seashells

Once your child has found enough shells for your projects and crafts, you’ll want to properly clean them to bring out their full natural beauty. First, soak the seashells in plain warm water to remove any dirt, debris, and smell. Change out the water daily for a few hours or up to a week to fully clean your shells. You can use an old toothbrush to remove grit from the ridges and cracks if necessary.

We do not recommend using bleach. Bleach will ruin the color and vibrancy of your shell, and the shells will have a bleach/chlorine smell.

After your shells have soaked, you’ll need to thoroughly dry them. If your shells have particularly rough edges, you can smooth them down with sandpaper. And if you really want to bring out the color and brilliance of your shells, rub a small amount of mineral oil on a paper towel and buff the shells until they shine. This will ensure your shells look beautiful in any setting and last a lifetime.

Seashell wind chimes

Wind chimes made from shells are not only beautiful to look at, but they are an excellent way to bring a touch of nature into your home. Wind chimes are an easy seashell craft idea that can be made with a variety of materials, including driftwood, seashells, sea glass, bells, beads, etc..

Creating a wind chime made from materials you find at the beach is a fun and simple project that can be completed in a few hours. This is a great craft to make with kids that love sound and movement to commemorate your beach days. The resulting wind chime will be a beautiful and unique decoration that you can enjoy for years to come.

This section will guide you through the process of creating your own unique wind chime from natural materials. This is the perfect seashell craft for older kids. 

Shell windchime materials:

• Driftwood
• Seashells
• String (we used natural sisal, as it gives it a beachier look)
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Ruler or measuring tape
• Drill (if you want to drill holes in your shells)
• Optional: colorful beads, sea glass, shark’s teeth, etc.

Shell windchime instructions:

1. Collect driftwood and seashells of various sizes and shapes.
2. Cut strings to varying lengths, depending on the size and shape of the driftwood and seashells. We alternated the length of our strings. 
3. Choose your seashells. You can get as creative as you want. We decided we wanted it to look cohesive, so we chose multiple shells that matched and alternated them. 
4. Sand your driftwood (optional) for a beachier look. If you don’t have a sander, you can use a knife to shave the top layer of wood off. 
5. Drill small holes into each end of the driftwood. 
6. Thread string through holes and tie a knot at each end. You can create this piece as long or as short as you want. This will be the part that you hang. 
7. Now to decorating! We chose to drill a small hole into each shell and thread the string through. The easiest way to do this is to apply hot glue to the back of each seashell and glue it to the string. You can leave as much space between each shell as you would like. 
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 with the remaining seashells and strings, spacing them evenly along the driftwood.
9. Use hot glue to secure the knots and any loose strings.
10. Hang the wind chime in a location where it will receive gentle breezes, such as a porch or tree branch.

Tips for making wind chimes with kids:

• Experiment with different lengths and combinations of string and shells to create a unique and personalized wind chime. 
• If you have trouble finding driftwood, you can use other types of wood, such as bamboo or branches.
• To make your wind chime extra special, you can paint or decorate the driftwood or shells before assembling.

Seashell identification cards

Seashells are fascinating natural wonders that have captivated people for centuries. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and each one has a unique story to tell. To help children and students learn about these fascinating creations, educational cards made about seashells can be a valuable tool. This section of the article will guide you through the process of creating your own set of seashell identification cards.

Seashell educational cards are a great way to help children and students learn about these fascinating creatures and the important role they play in our ecosystem. The process of creating the cards is simple, yet educational and fun, and the end result is a valuable tool for learning and discovery. So go ahead and make your own set of seashell identification cards today!

Seashell identification card materials:

• Various seashell specimens
• Heavy cardstock or cardboard (we used an old shoe box)
• Ruler or measuring tape
• Scissors
• Markers or colored pencils
• Hot glue gun

Seashell identification card instructions:

1. Collect a variety of seashell specimens. Make sure to choose shells that are different in size, shape, and color.
2. Cut heavy cardstock or paper into 3 x 5-inch rectangles (this is the perfect size for little hands to hold).  You can make as many cards as you have shells.
3. Write the name of the seashell on the front of the card, along with any other information you wish to include, such as the location where it was found, its scientific name, or interesting facts about the species.
4. On the back of the card, write more in-depth information about the seashell, including its habitat, diet, and behavior.
5. Hot glue your seashell to the cardstock.
6. Organize them in a binder or box for easy access.

Tips for creating shell identification cards:

• Use a local field guide for shells, a local shelling website, or a shelling app to identify the shells you find. Let the kids help with this! 
• You can also include images or diagrams of the seashell’s anatomy or life cycle to enhance the educational value of the cards. You can print these off the internet or draw them yourself. 
• To make the cards more durable, you can laminate them or cover them with clear contact paper.
• Consider adding quizzes or games to the cards to encourage students to actively engage with the information and retain it better. You could even turn this into a memory-matching game. 

Seashell picture frames

Decorating picture frames with seashells is a fun and easy way to add a touch of the beach to your home decor. This project is perfect for anyone looking to add a personal touch to their frames and create a unique piece of home decor. They make the perfect gift too!

Adding seashells to picture frames is a simple and creative project that can add a touch of the beach to any room in your home. Whether you use a single frame or multiple frames, this project is a great way to display your favorite memories while bringing the beauty of the ocean into your home. We created these as Christmas gifts for families this past holiday, and our families loved them. Nothing feels more personable than a personalized, DIY gift. 

Materials for seashell picture frames:

• Picture frame(s)
• Seashells (in a variety of sizes and shapes)
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
• Scissors or wire cutters
• Optional: decorative ribbon, beads, or other embellishments

Shell photo frame instructions:

1. Choose your frame. Select a picture frame that fits the style of your home decor and the size of the photo you want to display. You can use a single frame or multiple frames for a more dramatic display.
2. Gather your seashells. Collect a variety of seashells from your local beach or craft store. You can choose shells that are similar in size and color to create a cohesive look, or a random assortment of different colors, styles, and sizes to create an eclectic look. 
3. Prepare the frame. Remove the glass, picture, and backing from the frame. Clean the frame thoroughly to remove any dirt or dust. If desired, wrap the frame with decorative ribbon or paint it with acrylic paints to match the seashells you have chosen.
4. Attach the seashells. Begin by hot gluing the largest shells first, starting at one corner and working your way around the frame. Make sure to apply enough hot glue to securely hold each shell in place.
5. Embellish.  Fill in the gaps as you add more shells, fill in any gaps with small shells or embellishments of your choice. You can also mix and match different sizes and shapes of shells for a more interesting and unique design. We added some awesome shark teeth, sea glass, and coral to ours. 
6. Finishing touches. When all the gaps are filled and you are happy with the overall look of your frame, it’s time to add any final embellishments, such as decorative ribbon or beads.
7. Reassemble the frame. Replace the glass, picture, and backing into the frame, making sure to secure it tightly in place.

And that’s it! Your seashell-decorated picture frame is now ready to display. These make great gifts for grandparents and teachers. You can also use this technique to decorate other items, such as mirrors or picture frames made from other materials, such as wood or metal. The possibilities are endless!

Mermaid crown and seashell necklace

A seashell crown or seashell necklace is a beautiful and unique accessory that can be worn on special occasions or simply as a fun, summery addition to an outfit. Creating a crown or neclace using seashells is a simple craft and a creative project that can be completed in just a few hours and with a few basic materials.

Shell crown and shell necklace materials:

• Seashells
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• String, floral wire, pipe cleaners, or headband

Shell crown/shell necklace instructions:

1. Gather your seashells. Collect a variety of seashells from your local beach or craft store. Make sure to choose shells that are similar in size and color to create a cohesive look.
2. Prepare your base. If using a headband, wrap it with ribbon to match your seashells and hot glue it in place. If using a wire wreath form, bend the wire into a circular shape to fit your head comfortably and cut off any excess wire.
3.  Attach the seashells. Begin by hot gluing the largest shells first, starting at the front and working your way around to the back. Make sure to apply enough hot glue to securely hold each shell in place.
4. Fill in the gaps. As you add more shells, fill in any gaps with smaller shells or embellishments of your choice. You can also mix and match different sizes and shapes of shells for a more interesting and unique design.
5. Finishing touches. When all the gaps are filled, and you are happy with the overall look of your crown, it’s time to add any final embellishments such as decorative ribbons or beads.

And that’s it! Your seashell crown is now ready to wear. You can personalize it further by adding feathers, beads, or even artificial flowers to match your outfit or occasion. Making a seashell crown is a fun and creative project that can be done by anyone, regardless of skill level. Seashell necklaces or a crown are a great way to bring a touch of the beach to any outfit, making you feel like a true mermaid or Aquaboy!

Seashell crafts for kids

There are countless crafts you can make with your kids using seashells. You can paint them, make personalized greeting cards with them, glue them to cups and make pencil holders or plant pots, even make one-of-a-kind jewelry! They provide hours of engagement, creativity, and hands-on learning for kids! We hope this post has inspired you to get out to a beach near you to look for shells and crate some beautiful art. Happy seashell crafting!

Have you ever made any crafts with seashells?

About the author

Lea is a mom of two adventurous kids and wife to her surfer husband Brandon. She is an Army veteran, Registered Nurse, photographer, and small business owner. Lea has lived in Hawaii, New Mexico, and now resides in Florida, where she and her family are enjoying endless ocean adventures. She has traveled to Costa Rica, South Korea, and many states across the US. Lea and her family love to surf, fish, hike, skate, and travel to new places. She is passionate about teaching her kids about nature and protecting our planet.

You can find Lea online in the following locations:
Instagram: @oceanmamalea
Website: Wild Stoke Fam
RWMC posts: Lea Reynolds

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Special thanks to our Instagram community

These fun activities are guaranteed to keep your kids (and you) entertained, learning, and active while outside this fall! These activities have been tried, tested, and kid-approved by our online Facebook community, followers, editors, writers, and contributors! Plus, all of the photos in the post of kids outside having fun are from our absolutely amazing Instagram community! A very special thanks to all the parents that let us feature their beautiful images.

Free printable checklist!

While this post will give you all the details and variations for all 100+ outdoor fall activities for kids, if you want a printable checklist version, CLICK HERE and get a free printable of the list!

@kelly.crews

100+ fall outdoor activities for kids

As the weather cools off, the days are shorter and seem to be packed with school, sports, and after-school activities. However, getting outside with the kids should be a top priority. Our family always makes a bucket list for fall, which includes tons of fun ways to get outside and active together as a family. We put together this giant list of over 100 fun things to do outside with your kids this autumn! We’ve got all the traditional fall activities, and we’re throwing in dozens more than you may not expect! We hope this list will help you plan fun outdoor adventures for your family this fall. And if there’s anything we’ve forgotten, let us know in the comments below, and we’ll get it added!

@isabellaxiong0

1. Jump in a leaf pile – Quite possibly the most fun and quintessential fall outdoor activity there is, jumping in a leaf pile is pure joy for kids! If your kids are little, rake a pile of leaves into a safe location for them. Make sure the ground underneath is relatively soft (grass, not concrete) and remove any long/sharp twigs, sticks or branches. If your kids are older, hand them the rake and put them to work making their own piles. For extra fun, rake the piles into shapes (a number that represents their age that year) and take a photo of them next to the pile from above as a keepsake.

2. Watch a football game – Friday night lights at the football field are a big deal where I grew up. Spend an evening or afternoon outside cheering on your local high school (or junior high) football team. Or head to your alma mater (or any local college) and watch a Saturday afternoon football game in the stands. Between the actual game, the cheerleaders, dancers, mascots, and marching band, football games are fun for the whole family to watch.

3. Attend a festival – Attending a festival is a really fun outdoor activity for kids and families in the fall. There are usually no shortage of festivals happening every weekend in September and October. From fun music to fall-inspired foods, festivals are a great way to support local businesses and vendors. Check your community’s local website or paper for details and find a festival that looks fun and intriguing to you.

4. Fall color hike – Make the most out of the gorgeous fall colors by taking the kids on a fall color hike! Give them a printout of the colors of the rainbow (or use paint sample cards) and have them find leaves and other items that match each color. Red, orange, green, yellow, and brown will be easy. But can they find something purple? What about black and white? This is a great way to entertain and occupy kids while hiking through the woods or local park. Don’t have time for a long hike? This can be done nearly anywhere – even in your own backyard.

@jessie.b.photo

5. Apple picking – Picking apples at our local orchard is one of our family’s favorite fall activities for kids! My kids are huge apple fanatics and we end up eating almost as many apples as we pick! There are so many different varieties of apples to choose from, so plan your trip according to what’s ripe for your purposes. Our favorite thing to do with our apples is making homemade applesauce. It’s super easy to do and if canned, lasts us for months. We also like giving apples as gifts and sending loads of them to school with the kids for snacks. Check out this apple picking tips post for info on what to pack for a trip to the apple orchard, how to pick the best apples and so much more! 

6. Match the tree game – One of my favorite all outdoor educational activities for kids is this tree-leaf fun matching game. All you have to do is gather a variety of leaves from your local park or neighborhood. Challenge the kids to see how many different shapes and sizes of leaves they can find. Once you have a variety, it’s up to the kids to match the leaf with the type of tree it came from. Have the kids look at the leaves that are still on the trees and match the shapes. For extra credit, have them identify the tree species by using a local field guide or nature book.

7. Make fall-scented play dough – Playdough is such a fun sensory activity that can keep a little one busy for hours. Even older kids love to play with it, especially when it’s soft and scented! There are so many creative, non-toxic, safe play-doh recipes out there for any age or season. I love the variety of fall scents such as cinnamon, maple, pumpkin spice, caramel apple, hazelnut, clove and nutmeg. Playdough is also surprisingly easy to make and can store for quite a while in a plastic container with a lid.

@seven_wild_hearts

8. Go horseback riding – Horseback riding is a great way to explore outdoors and get your daily dose of nature. There’s also something pretty special about spending time with horses. They’re such beautiful and majestic creatures, bound to thrill any child. Check your local stables for opportunities to take your kids on a horseback ride. Some stables will have an age minimum to ride solo, but many will allow younger children to ride with an adult.

9. Bob for apples – Looking for something fun to do with all those apples you picked at the orchard? How about bobbing for apples? This outdoor party game is a fall party staple and one that every kid (and adult) should try at least once! All you need to do is fill a bowl or tub with water and add some apples. Apple bobbing involves dunking your head into a tub of water, biting into and holding the apple in one’s mouth without using your hands. The time limit is usually 2 minutes. Or you could just go based on how long it takes to catch an apple. The first person to get an apple (or the one who does it in the quickest time), wins the game!

10. Track the phases of the moon – While shorter days are not usually something I’m excited about, it does give you the opportunity to do some fun fall outdoor activities with kids in the darkness. One fun thing to do is track the phases of the moon. Kids are naturally curious about the night sky, especially the moon. My kids always wondering why there are nights we can’t see the moon at all, how it is we can sometimes see the moon during the day and why it’s always a different size (and in a different location). A great project to do in the fall is to track the moon’s progress using a simple moon journal. Merely have your kids observe the moon each night and keep track of the changes that occur as the days go by. It takes 29.5 days for the moon to go from a new moon back to a new moon, so track for one month and then discuss your findings together. The full moons in the fall are called the Harvest Moon (September), the Hunter’s Moon (October) and the Frost Moon (November).

@bauerbach24

11. Go for a bike ride – Now that the weather is cooling off, consider going on a long bike ride with the kids. Fall is the perfect time to explore a new bike trail or make a day-trip out of a favorite. Pack a picnic lunch or find a trail with a restaurant along the way. Riding a bike not only improves physical fitness, but it also benefits your child’s learning development and mental health. Plus, biking reduces carbon emissions and eases traffic congestion. If you’re just getting started, we’ve got a great post with lots of tips for biking with kids.

12. Bird watching – Bird watching is one of the best, easiest, and most educational fall outdoor activities for kids. Bird watching is not only awe-inspiring and educational, but it’s extremely accessible nearly anywhere. From watching birds in your own backyard to going for a walk in the morning, there are always a variety of species to spot and identify. Start by reminding kids that birds may be hard to spot, but they’re easy to hear. Have them close their eyes and listen. Can they point to where the sound/song is coming from? Use a local field guide to identify the birds in your area. If you want a variety, try bird watching in areas near water. You’re more likely to spy larger water birds like herons, egrets, ducks, geese, and swans, which are easier for kids to see. And if you’re striking out on finding live birds, look for other signs that they’re around. Point out nests, cracked seeds, whitewash (poop), or owl pellets.

13. Make a witch’s potion from nature – As a kid, I love creating concoctions and potions. My kids love it, too. Use the upcoming holiday (Halloween) to inspire your kids to make a witch’s potion from ingredients they find in nature. Give each kid a jar and let them collect their items. Fun things to include are grass, twigs, leaves, dirt, pebbles, shells, sand, and acorns. Once they have all their ingredients, add about a cup full of vinegar, a squirt of dish soap and a few drops of food coloring. Swirl everything around. Then top with a spoonful of baking soda to get the potion brewing and bubbling! Make sure to do all this outside, because it does get messy!

@coleyraeh

14. Dissect a sunflower – Last year in preschool, my daughter’s class dissected a giant sunflower. She came home raving about how much fun it was to use tweezers to pluck the petals, pull apart the head with their fingers and examine all the sunflower seeds. She also came home with a small bag of seeds, which we planted this spring. Those sunflowers grew over 12 feet tall! So, of course, we had to continue the tradition and dissect them again. This is a great hands-on educational project to do outside (since it can get pretty messy), and dissection is a fun way to learn all about the parts of the plant. Let the kids pull off the leaves, pluck out the seeds with tweezers, cut open the thick stems and thoroughly destroy the whole thing…in the name of science, of course! Throw in some facts about pollinators and make a lesson of it!

15. Watch a parade – Watching a parade with kids is a fun, exciting and free outdoor activity for kids in the fall! The floats, the marching bands, the scouts, the horses and all the fancy cars! Plus, any activity that involves getting free candy is ok in my book! Find a local parade in your community and take your kids to watch. Many towns and schools have fall parades for festivals, homecoming, and other fall events. Set up your lawn chairs and sit back and enjoy!

@ekaterinaserova.photo

16. Have a bonfire – Make the most out of early darkness and cool nights with a bonfire! Autumn bonfires are the absolute best place to curl up next to each other and enjoy being outside as a family. Take your bonfire to the next level by roasting s’mores with fancy ingredients, telling ghost stories around the fire and changing the color of the flames! Make sure to check out our post all about how to create a magical bonfire for your kids.

17. Preserve leaves with beeswax – Ever wanted to make your fall leaves last longer so you could use them in craft projects? Preserving leaves is a really cool fall craft project for kids. The secret to preserving beautiful fall colored leaves is using pure beeswax! Beeswax is readily available and inexpensive. Beeswax for crafts comes in blocks or pellets, yellow or white. We recommend using pellets (over block form), since they’re easier to measure and melt. Once you’ve collected your freshly fallen leaves, allow them to dry between sheets of newspaper for 1 day (any longer and they lose their color). Put books on top if you want them flat. Melt your beeswax in a double-broiler or crock pot (not boiling hot) and carefully dip your leaves into them to coat.  Gently raise the leaf and allow any excess wax to drip back into the bowl. Place each leaf on the wax paper while it dries (it doesn’t take long). When the leaves are cool, you can re-dip them if you want a thicker coating. Test one first though to make sure you like how it looks. Use your leaves to make a mobile or leaf suncatchers for your windows.

@mamiyyo_

18. Go camping – While most people probably go camping in the summer, we’re firmly in the fall camping camp. We love outdoor camping in the fall and prefer it so much more than summer camping (which is also great, don’t get me wrong). In the fall, there are fewer mosquitos, fewer campers, and the nights are cool and crisp for campfires and sleeping. The stars just seem brighter in fall, and the smell of the campfire is so much better! Hot coffee tastes amazing on a cool fall morning, and sleeping bags are snugglier. If you’ve never tried it, we’ve got a great post on how to get started camping with kids and our ultimate camping packing list for families. 

19. Plant bulbs for spring – “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” This quote is never truer than when it comes to planting bulbs in the fall for the next year’s spring blooms. Fall is the perfect time to start planning your fall garden and planting bulbs for next spring and summer. Start by figuring out which bulbs work best in your zone by checking with your local nursery. Some classic bulbs are: daffodil, tulips, crocus, lillies, irises, hyacinth, and trillium. Planting bulbs is a great way to spend time outside and get your hands dirty. Plus, there’s nothing more exciting than forgetting about them until they rise up and let you know spring is coming!

20. Make nut brittle (or trail mix) – Another delicious fall recipe is brittle! My favorite autumn brittle recipe (although, not my kids’ favorite) involves almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, honey, and dried cranberries. Oh, it’s so good! However, my kids are more traditional, preferring a classic peanut brittle (preferably with chocolate chips or M&Ms). Other varieties: brown sugar cashew brittle, maple bacon brittle, pumpkin seed brittle, cinnamon pecan brittle, and butter cashew brittle. Not a brittle fan? How about a fun fall-inspired trail mix to spice things up. Here’s a great post on making trail mix for a hiking snack for kids.

@jessicaklinephotography

21. Go fishing – Fishing is the perfect fall outdoor activity to do with kids! The cooler weather means that the fish are more active, especially trout (our favorite to catch). It’s one of those activities that the whole family can enjoy and do nearly anywhere there’s water! If you’ve never fished before, do a little bit of research about what the fish in your area eat and when/where to go. Ask at a fishy friend or at a local bait shop. A lot of state parks will even provide fishing gear for the day for free! If you’re just getting started, here’s some great advice on how to make fishing fun for little kids.

22. Hayride – Going on a hayride is such a fun fall activity for the entire family and a wonderful way to treat kids to a rolling outdoor adventure in the crisp, autumn air and cooler temperatures. Hayrides usually consist of a group of people riding on a trailer filled with hay, pulled behind a tractor. My kids are huge fans of anything involving tractors, so hayrides are always a big hit. We particularly love the ones that happen in the evening, through a local park. We bring flashlights and spot deer, raccoons, and other wildlife. Follow your hayride up with a bonfire and smores, for an all-night adventure!

23. Make bird feeders – Feed the birds – tuppence a bag! There are so many fun and simple ways to make bird feeders with your kids, which is a really great nature craft for kids this fall. One of our favorite bird feeders is made by slathering a pinecone in peanut butter and rolling it in birdseed. Then simply place the pinecone in a bush or hang on a tree branch. Have an extra pumpkin or gourd? Chop off the top and fill the base with birdseed for an all-natural bird feeder. Here are three more simple bird feeders to make with kids.

@cayleyblackphotography

24. Go trick or treating – I’m such a huge fan of Halloween, it was impossible for me to leave this activity off the list. Trick-or-treating is one of my all-time favorite things to do with the kids. It only comes around once a year, so it’s special to all of us. We love dressing up as a family and visiting friends and neighbors in our costumes. In our community, each kid has to tell a joke to “earn” their candy and listening to the little ones mess up their jokes and still laugh is the most wonderful thing ever!

25. Have a flag football game – Spend a fall afternoon on the field with some friends playing a friendly game of flag football. You’ll not only get some great exercise, but bond with your teammates as you strategize how to win. If you have played football before, then learning how to play flag football will be easy! Divide up into teams of 4 – 9 players per side and attach different colored flags to each member of a team. The team going first will place the ball on the opponent’s 5-yard line. Each team will have 3 tries to get the ball to the midfield. If the team gets that right, they will have 3 more tries to score a touchdown. A touchdown is scored when the player places the ball in the other team’s end zone. If the team cannot cross to the midfield in 3 tries, the other team will have possession and try to do the same thing. Instead of tackling a player, you have pull the player’s flag. The receiver may not attempt to dodge a flag pull. Once the flag has been pulled, the play ends. Each touchdown counts as 6 points. Games last around 40 minutes. Have fun! 

26. Go on a bat hunt – Similar to bird watching, bat watching is a favorite thing to do in the late summer and early fall. Pick a dry evening and snuggle up in the garden at dusk with hot chocolate and just wait. It’s never long before the bats come out and start to circle the houses and swoop down into the gardens. Bats are not just cave dwellers or in the country; they live in cities and suburbs, too. Watch as they swoop, circle and dive. They’re great fun to watch. Bonus points for reading Stellaluna while you’re snuggled up waiting! Even better, build your own bat house! 

@kristcx

27. Night hiking – As I mentioned earlier, there are a few advantages to shorter days and earlier nights. One of our favorite evening activities in the fall is going on a night hike. My big kids think this is a special treat, as we leave the baby at home and venture out after their usual bedtime. We always choose a trail that we know well and make sure to let someone else know where we’ll be. With little kids, choose a trail that’s relatively flat and paved (if possible) to keep them a bit safer. We equip ourselves with flashlights, headlamps, and glowsticks and take off!  With less to see, we notice so many wonderful sounds and smells as we hike that we may not have noticed during the day. We keep our hike short and make frequent stops along the way where we turn out our lights and hold hands and discuss what we can hear and see. It’s so much fun!

28. Enjoy hot spiced apple cider – Cozy up on a crisp fall day with a big mug of hot spiced apple cider. Homemade hot spiced apple cider is easy to make with few ingredients and is the most delicious warming autumn drink. All you need to do is add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves (or pumpkin pie spice) to apple cider and warm it up on the stove or in the microwave. Even better, make a big steaming pot of it over a campfire for extra ambiance. Pop in a cinnamon stick for a stir, wrap yourself up in a blanket and enjoy! Here are a few other treats you can make with your orchard picks! 

@maureyfletcher

29. Outdoor picnic – Try packing a picnic and eating a meal in a new location. Choose a spot on your favorite hike, a picnic table by a lake at the park or in the middle of a beautiful pasture. Spread out a blanket with favorite finger foods from home or (better yet), if you’re in town, have pizza delivered to you! Let the kids eat as they run around and play with no rushing or nagging at them to sit down and eat. The kids will graze during the time you’re there as they play and explore. And chances are, they’ll eat ALL the food in the car on the way home!

30. Weekend road trip – Sometimes, the smallest things (like a change of scenery) can make all the difference. Fall is a great time to pack up, load the kids in the car, and hit the road. Visit a neighboring town/city, head to a fall festival, check out a new (to you) state park, or rent a little cabin in the woods or on a lake somewhere. Weekend road trips are such great family bonding experiences, even if (particularly if) they go poorly! I’m a firm believer that you’ll never regret traveling with your kids and broadening their horizons. Hipcamp has some really great unique experiences, such as staying in a tiny home, treehouse, cabin, airstream, or a converted bus! (Use the code CAMPLIKEACHAMP10 to get $10 off your next stay.)

31. Visit a botanical garden – Botanical gardens are some of the most magical, relaxing places. Strolling through the gardens, lounging in the great lawn, overlooking the lake and smelling the roses might be the best way to decompress from the madness around you. Botanical gardens are also incredibly educational for children. There’s so much to learn about how plants thrive, why some plants change colors, what plants need, etc. Use an afternoon in the botanical garden to teach your kids about comparison (how plants are the same/different), observation (what does this plant look like) and appreciation (what can these plants do for us).

@meghangarriott

32. Make a leaf crown – There are so many fun uses for all the colorful leaves falling from the sky. One of our favorite fall crafts is to use them is to make leaf crowns for kids. There are a million different variations on leaf crowns, from folding them, gluing them to sticks or stapling them together. There’s no wrong way to do it! Our favorite way requires nothing but leaves with stems attached and a little patience. Here’s some great info on how to make nature crowns with kids. 

33. Make a terrarium – If your kids are anything like mine, they love to get dirty. As the weather cools down, making a terrarium with kids is a great way for them to bring the outdoor inside and learn how to take care of plants through the winter season. To make a terrarium with kids, you’ll need a clean glass jar and then the following ingredients (in this order): small pebbles, some activated charcoal, potting soil and cuttings from succulent plants (or other plants of your choosing). Let the kids place the succulents inside the jar wherever they choose and add some fun colored-stones or mini figurines. Finally, spritz with water until moist.

@wildandgrow

34. Decorate your front porch/door – I’m surprised how seriously people take their fall porch decor! While not something I grew up doing, decorating your front porch (or door) for fall is a way to add some fun to your home’s curb appeal. This is particularly important if you’re going to have trick-or-treaters stopping by! We like visiting our local farmer’s market and getting a variety of pumpkins, gords, mums and corn stalks to decorate our front step. Sometimes we’ll cut out paper bats and tape them to the storm door or add a string of orange twinkle lights. Get your kids involved in the decorating process by letting them add their own flair.

35. Do leaf rubbings – Leaf rubbings can be made any time of the year, but we always do them in the fall. Probably because the beautiful colors make us want to recreate that in an art project. To make you own leaf rubbing all you need is a few leaves, some white paper, crayons (with wrappers removed) and tape). Freshly picked leaves work best, so the ridges show up well. Go for a nature walk and gather your supplies. Then, tape the corners of your paper to an outdoor table, driveway or sidewalk. Lay the leaves you have collected under the paper. Using the length of your crayon as the coloring surface, rub the top of the paper to make the images appear. Use as many colors as you want!

@jbaudryfrance

36. Make a pinecone wreath – Autumn is the best time of year to collect pine cones for crafts and projects. We like to make a challenge out of who can find the most and collect them in bags to take home. Making a pinecone wreath is a great way to preserve your pinecones and use them for natural decoration. You can buy pinecones from craft stores, but what fun is that? If you have pinecones you’ve collected from outside, I recommend baking your pinecones in a 250-degree oven for 30 minutes to get them to open and make sure you don’t have any hitchhikers coming home with you. You can then spray paint them any color of your choice or leave them au natural. Sort them by size and use a hot glue gun to adhere them to a wire or foam wreath form. Start with the inner circle and make your way out. Let the kids put their own spin on their wreath by adding twigs, branches, acorns, leaves, moss, bows, etc.

37. Run a turkey trot (or Fun Run) – If you want to add some extra outdoor exercise to your fall activities, sign your family up for a turkey trot or fall fun run! There are usually a variety of fun races in the fall at various distances and with lots of fun themes for all ages. If you have little ones, let them try a 1-mile fun run. Sign the whole family up for a local 5K. Want a bigger challenge, what about a 10K or a half-marathon? With older kids, you could even do a relay. Most races usually have fun swag (t-shirts, etc.), prizes, and a really fun ambiance. Not runners, sign your family up to volunteer at a water station to hand out water to runners. Who knows, maybe you’ll get inspired to join them next year!

@life_of_glow

38. Get lost in a corn maze – Corn mazes are all the rage in the fall. Our local orchard has a 16-acre corn maze in the shape of the Stanley Cup this year (guess my hometown)! Getting lost in a corn maze is a fun way to spend some time outside, surrounded (literally) by nature and to test your kids’ problem-solving skills. Use the maze as a way to challenge your kids. Have them come up with a game plan before going into the maze, task them with making game-time decisions on which way to go, allow them to make mistakes, double-back, and try again! There are so many great life skills to be learned from a simple corn maze.

39. Let your pumpkin rot – While everyone else is trying to preserve their pumpkins in pristine condition, I’m one of those people that enjoy watching them decompose! It’s fascinating! Turn your rotting pumpkin into a science experiment to do with your kids. Talk about what you all expect to happen and then use a nature journal to record the decomp process. Note what you see (and smell!). Are there are any bugs or mold. Have any squirrels or other wildlife taken a bite out of your pumpkin? What happens on the inside vs. what you see on the outside. This may sound gross, but trust me, kids will love this!

40. Make a scarecrow – Scarecrows are super handy to have in your garden or field – they help protect your crops and vegetables from being eaten by birds and various animals. And even if you’re not worried about scaring off crows, they also serve as festive fall or Halloween decor for your yard or front porch! Making a scarecrow is a bit of an undertaking – it takes creativity, ingenuity, craftiness, and skill – but it’s so much fun! Start by gathering some old clothes, a bunch of straw/hay and some wood for the frame. Stuff the clothes with the straw and good luck figuring out how to make it all stay together (twine, sewing, pantyhose, etc.). Use some burlap to make a head and draw on a face and add a hat! Voila! Guaranteed to scare all crows (and maybe some neighbors) away!

@nicholettat

41. Paint mini pumpkins – Is there anything cuter than tiny kids with tiny pumpkins? I just adore pumpkins in all colors, shapes, and sizes. I love the discolored warty ones as much as the perfectly plump white pumpkins. But mini pumpkins have a special place in my heart. Carving pumpkins on this list, but if you have small children that may not be able to handle a knife, painting pumpkins is the way to go! Grab a dozen and let the kids paint a few! Use them as colorful decorations around the house. Acrylic paints work great, or get super creative and help them (carefully) melt a crayon over the pumpkin and cover it in color wax!

42. Volunteer clean-up – Mother Nature is totally showing off in the fall, so help her out by picking up trash and litter. Schedule a playdate with friends to clean up along a favorite hike, local park, or route around your neighborhood. Teach kids how to care for our planet by example and show them what a difference they can make by cleaning up after others. They’ll not only be more likely to pick up trash in the future, but they’ll encourage others not to litter and help out as well.

43. Make caramel apples – There are so many delicious treats that pair perfectly with fall weather. One of our favorite treats is caramel apples! And this delectable indulgence can be spiced up a variety of ways. Cut whole apples into thick slices, cover with caramel and place them on a lollipop stick. This keeps hands clean and feels much more like a candy dessert. Have a number of people with lots of different tastes? Set up an entire caramel apple bar and let people choose their own toppings. Cut apples into wedges and let everyone dip their own and dress it themselves. Caramel apple toppings include chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, crushed pretzels, mini marshmallows, cinnamon chips, nuts, graham cracker bits, sprinkles, candy corn bits, toffee chips, fruity pebbles. Place toppings in a muffin tin for easy cleanup.

@ourlittlelifestyleblog

44. Read fall books outside – Back to school in the fall means kids not only need time outside when they get home, but they need time to read (and be read to). Cozy up this fall in a hammock, under a tree on a blanket or in your favorite spot in the garden to read together with your children. Anything you read is beneficial. Whatever they’re into! If you want a few recommendations for a couple of great nature-inspired fall books, here are few we like: (1) Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak, (2) Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, (3) Look What I Did with a Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi, (4) We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger, (5) Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert, (6) Because of an Acorn by Lola M. Schaefer, (7) Looking Closely through the Forest by Frank Serafini.

45. Visit a haunted house – While maybe not technically totally outside, paying a visit to a haunted house is a must-do for this time of year. While this may be (probably is) way too much for little kids, older kids will love the opportunity to be frightened by axe murderers, chain saw massacres, and headless horsemen. Let them dip their hand into a vat of slimy eyeballs (peeled grapes) and be chased by possessed red-eyed rats. If you have little kids, consider letting them create their own “haunted house” with things they think are scary. This is the time to break out those pull-apart spider webs, old sheets for ghosts, black light, and a playlist of spooky music!

46. Outdoor exercises – You’ve probably seen those trails around your local park that have stops every now and then for people to complete various exercises. My kids always love playing on these and trying to figure out what they’re for, so one day we did a loop and did all the exercises! Not only was it a great (and easy) way for us to get active together, but it was so much fun watching them try the exercises, put their creative twist on them and beam with pride when they completed a round. I highly encourage you to do this as a family – it’s a great way to get your workout in and laugh a ton! Here’s a great post on how to get your family involved in outdoor exercise.

@nursevictoria

47. Go to a pumpkin patch – Ok, this one maybe should be way up at the top of the list for all-time must-do fall activities. Visiting a pumpkin patch in October is a rite of passage for all parents. You just gotta do it! But don’t worry, it’s not that bad! Picking your own pumpkins is really fun (there’s usually a tractor ride involved)! Plus, lots of pumpkin patches these days have tons of things to do for kids and adults: corn maze, sunflower fields, haunted house, pig races, playground activities, crafts, pony rides, fall snacks, and a Biergarten.

48. Make a thankful tree – November is a great month for making a thankful tree with your kids. There are so many variations of how you could do this, but we like making a centerpiece for our table. We collect a bunch of beautiful leaves and then write down one thing we’re thankful for on each leaf with a sharpie. Place a bundle of sticks in a vase and then hang each leaf from a branch to create a beautiful bouquet of thankfulness.  Little kids may need help writing down what they’re thankful for and you might be surprised just how adorable their answers are!

49. Painted leaf tablecloth – If you’re hosting Thanksgiving (or a Friendsgiving) meal, let your kids make a tablecloth (at least for the kids’ table). Roll out a large sheet of paper and let them use leaves to paint. They can either paint the leaves and stamp on the paper or use the leaves as a relief and paint around the edges. Use fall-colored paint and let them get creative.

@menyhart.ani

50. Collect conkers – Raise your hand if you’ve heard of conkers. For those who haven’t, what about horse chestnuts or buckeyes (for those of us in the midwest)? Fall is the time of year when children extract those shiny brown nuts from their prickly shells and have all kinds of questions about the treasure they just found. I remember collecting these as a kid and was so mesmerized by how slick and beautiful they were. My dad kept one in his pocket for years! There are all kinds of fun crafts you can make with conkers and games to play with them, but merely collecting them and playing with them was my favorite thing to do. 

51. Apple stamping – Apple stamping is a fun and creative way to get crafty with little kids. All you need to do is cut an apple in half and let your child dip it in paint and stamp it on paper. Stab a fork in the back for easy (less messy) gripping and dipping. Depending on the colors you choose, apple stamps can be used to make leaves, bushes, pumpkins, ladybugs, trees, and apples!

52. Make a dream catcher – Speaking of fun crafts and projects, making a nature-inspired dream catcher should definitely be on your fall bucket list. Historically, dream catchers were hung above the beds of sleeping children to protect them from bad dreams and evil spirits. Legends held that the spider web design of the dream catcher would allow good dreams to pass through and float down the hanging beads and feathers to sleeping children. Start by having the kids collect sticks and twigs to make the frame of your dream catcher. Use yarn or twine to create the spiderwebbing around the frame. Then let your kids add their own flair to the dream catcher. Some fun items to include are leaves, feathers, ribbons, yarn, twine, pom poms, beads, sticks, and pinecones. Anything goes!

@callred25

53. Go stargazing – Another fun nighttime activity to do with kids (taking advantage of shorter days) is to go stargazing. Pack up the kids, a bunch of blankets or sleeping bags, some snacks and get out of the city for a few hours to take in the wonders of the night sky. For beginners who want to know what’s going on up there, it can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not fully clued up on your astrology. It’ll make things a lot more fun and interesting if you know or have a rough idea of what you’re looking at, so print out a few constellations that are visible in the fall so you know what to show the kids to look for. It can take up to 40 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, so give yourself some time (and don’t look at your phone!).

54. Hot chocolate/apple cider stand – While lemonade stands are all the rage in the summer, don’t let that entrepreneurial spirit lie dormant in the fall. Kids love the opportunity to make money. Break out the cups and mugs and set up a stand to sell hot chocolate, apple cider or even hot tea/coffee. Add some donut holes or homemade apple chips and you’ve got yourself a full-service station. We usually ask the kids to choose a charity to give half their profits to, which they get super excited about (and usually give all the profits away).  Plus, that’s an extra incentive for the grownup to buy that cup!

55. Go hunting – This activity might not be a good fit for everyone (depending on your location, beliefs, and age of children), but if you have hunters in your family, consider taking your child hunting. I grew up in a hunting family and we ate all the meat that was hunted. Teaching his kids where our food came from was important to my dad and is important to me. While he’s too young to shoot, my husband has taken our son on various hunting trips for ducks, deer, and turkey. For the kids, it’s more about feeling included and getting to spend quality time together than actually getting something. Of course, safety is always our top priority and it’s great for him to see the adults modeling proper firearm handling and being respectful of nature. Check out this post for more information on how to get started hunting with kids. 

@ksenia_belanger

56. Roast marshmallows & hot dogs – Making a bonfire is already on our fall activity list, so it should come as no surprise that campfire food and treats should follow! Roasting marshmallows and hot dogs on a cool fall day (or night) is a fun outdoor activity (and a meal)! Kids are fascinated by fire, so stay close to them to supervise, but allow them some freedom to roast their own wieners and mallows. Even if they’re slightly charred, they’ll be so proud of themselves that they’ll eat it!

57. Pumpkin slime – Did you know you can make slime with real bits of pumpkin?! Oh yes, you can. If your kids are up for a messy outdoor activity, this is a good one. You’ll need: a small baking pumpkin, 1/4 cup liquid starch, 1/2 cup Elmer’s clear washable school glue, 1/2 cup water.  Cut the top off your pumpkin and loosen up the seeds and guts. Mis the water (room temp) with the glue in a separate bowl and stir. Pour the liquid starch directly into the pumpkin. Pour the glue and water mixture into the pumpkin and get your hands in there and mix it up! Knead well to improve consistency (rub a few drops of liquid starch on your hands to keep them from sticking). And now you have a pumpkin full of slime! Check out this post for more pumpkin science experiments with kids. 

58. Rake leaves for neighbors – I always like adding a few acts of service/kindness to any seasonal bucket list. A great way to pay-it-forward in the fall is to rake the leaves out of the yard of a friend of neighbor. If you have an elderly or disabled neighbor or just know someone that could use a few extra hands, send the kids over with the rakes and leaf blower to help out. Not only will they feel good about helping, but they can make piles of leaves and have fun in the process. Join forces with other neighborhood families and your good deed will go even faster! Here are 20+ outdoor acts of kindness you could do for your neighbors and nature. 

@indiesemlicht_fotografie

59. Fall photo scavenger hunt – We love a good scavenger hunt! It’s one thing that we can do nearly anywhere and keeps the kids busy for a good long time. One of our favorite ways to get creative with this is to add a camera. I have an old point-and-shoot camera that I let the kids borrow and give them a list of things to find. You can choose to give them specific items (a flower, a pine cone, a fire hydrant) or be vague and let them get creative (something that smells, something prickly, something yellow). Instead of crossing the item off the list, they have to take a photo with/of it. They love being independent and responsible for the camera. I love seeing the funny photos and interesting items they choose to photograph. Here’s another fun fall scavenger hunt idea (including a free printable). 

60. Pumpkin carving – You didn’t think I was going to forget this activity, did you? Pumpkin carving is a fall must. It’s one thing my kids talk about all year long and can’t wait to do again. My son loves digging the guts out of the pumpkins and getting them all prepped and ready. My daughter loves coming up with funny faces and designs we can carve into the pumpkin. They’re not old enough to operate the knife yet, so mom and dad help out there. They’re always so proud of their pumpkins and love seeing them lit up on the front porch every night.

61. Go on a spider web hunt – Spiderwebs may sound spooky, but they’re actually super interesting and beautiful! Spiders may have a sinister reputation (particularly this time of year), but we can change that by teaching our kids just how amazing and beneficial these little helpers are. The next time you’re out and about, go on a hunt for a spiderweb. See if you can find one intact and study the intricacies. Ask your kids to take a guess as to how long it took the spider to make that web, why she chose that location and how much food she catches in it daily. Getting them thinking of these things will get them to see spiders in a new light with a new appreciation for how hard they work.

@harrys_world20

62. Leaf threading – Leaf threading is a great way for kids to engage with Nature, get creative and develop their motor skills. Leaf threading is also a wonderful sensory experience for kids as they explore the sight, feel and smells of this activity. Get the kids involved from the beginning by letting them choose and collect sticks and leaves. Once you’ve got a nice selection of leaves of different sizes, shapes and colors and a few sticks, take them home and give them a quick rinse and dry. To start the threading make simple “needles” by tying a length of jute twine between two sticks. Having a stick on either end of the jute stops the leaves from falling off and allows two children to work together too, using one end each. Have the kids push their natural stick needles through the leaves and thread them onto the jute. Hand-eye coordination is strengthened and the fine motor muscles of the hands and arms are given a good workout. Full leaf threading tutorial.

63. Painting with mud – While painting with paint is fun, painting with mud is a blast for kids! Take advantage of a rainy fall day to create something new and exciting for your kids – mud paint! All you need to do to make mud paint is add a large scoop of mud to a couple of containers then sprinkle in some powdered tempera paint (or liquid watercolor, liquid tempera or even food coloring). Maybe 1-2 tablespoons of each color. Next, add a small amount of water and a squirt of Dawn dish soap. The Dawn helps the mud paint spread easier on paper and also helps keep clothing stain-free. And if you’re worried about stains, just leave the coloring out and give them mud! Stir everything up and pass it over to the kids with a few paintbrushes to go outside and paint their masterpieces! The paint is rather thick, so use a sturdy paper (cardstock, poster board or cardboard). Go here for even more mud activities for kids. 

@kristen_kaganovs

64. Acorn hunt – It’s quite amazing to look up at a giant oak tree and know it started as a tiny little acorn. Kids are fascinated with acorns, and we love finding different varieties of them on our hikes and walks. There’s a tree in our neighborhood that produces some of the largest acorns I’ve ever seen, and my kids collect them by the pocketful. We usually have quite a collection in the clubhouse by wintertime (if the squirrels don’t get to them first). Get your kids interested in acorns by spending some time going on an acorn hunt. Try to find as many varieties, sizes, and colors as they can. See if they can identify which tree the acorn fell from.

65. Watch geese fly south for winter – Fall is a great time to study migratory birds and spend some time observing them flying south for the winter. Geese are particularly good to watch, as they’re large and loud, making them easy for kids to find and identify. Tie your geese-watching to learning about the reasons behind migration. Discuss what the birds eat and where they go. Watch how they fly and the formations they make. Set up an outdoor movie theatre in your backyard and watch Disney’s Fly Away Home. It’s a heartwarming favorite, sure to get your kids to love and appreciate these feathered friends.

66. Make a float – I’ve already mentioned watching floats in a parade, but this is an entirely different kind of float – the one you can eat! Ice cream floats are such fun treats and they’re messy, so they’re perfect for enjoying outdoors. Root beer floats are great, but feel free to get inspired by fall and change it up with an apple cider float, butterbeer float, cherry vanilla float, or chocolate cream soda float!  Let your kids choose their flavor of liquid and ice cream pairing for extra fun!

@clark_family_travels

67. Build an outdoor den – Building outdoor forts and dens is a really important activity for children and helps them with all kinds of problem-solving and STEM skills. If you have access to a spot in the woods, I highly recommend spending an afternoon building a den together with your kids from natural materials found in the area. Putting together a den branch by branch requires teamwork, forethought and planning, creativity, and imagination. Start by choosing a good flat location with a clearing so as not to damage any live trees or plants. Start by building the frame of your den with large branches/logs and add long fallen branches to prop up the sides of the spine. Finally, collect smaller sticks, twigs, twine, and moss-covered branches to fill in the sides. Pretty soon, you’ll have a grade-A fort to play in and around.

68. Roast pumpkin seeds – After carving your pumpkins, make sure to save the seeds! Roasted pumpkin seeds are a fall staple and can be made so many fun ways, both savory and sweet. Savory variations include salt and pepper, ranch, cajun, garlic parmesan, taco-lime, rosemary, curry, ginger-soy, buffalo, BBQ, and Tumeric. Sweet variations include cinnamon sugar, maple, pumpkin pie, salted caramel, and spiced honey. All you need to do is preheat your oven to 350-degrees, have the kids separate the pumpkin seeds from the pulp, rinse them and pat dry, toss with your favorite seasoning and bake on a cookie sheet for 25 minutes! Or turn this into a full-time outdoor activity by roasting the seeds over a campfire or on the BBQ grill in the backyard!

@sara.hadenfeldt

69. Watch a sunset – Fall’s a wonderful time to curl up in a blanket and watch a sunset together. Since the days are shorter, sunset comes at a much more reasonable time for little ones to watch without staying up too late. Plus, the cool weather and the colorful leaves make it even more magical.

70. Plant cold-weather veggies – If your garden usually sits empty through fall and winter, this is the year to make those cold days count! You really can continue gardening into winter in many gardening zones. A wide variety of vegetables and herbs are easy to grow in cold conditions, given the right protection. Some will produce throughout the season, while others will come back to life in spring if properly covered. The two most popular methods of protection are the cover tunnel and cloches (from the French word for bell). Head to your local nursery with the kids and pick out some plant varieties they’d like to try. Some popular winter plants include radishes, spinach, Brussels sprouts, kale, beets, broccoli, garlic, parsley, and carrots. We’ve got a great post filled with tips and advice for planting a fall/winter garden with kids. 

71. Make campfire apples – If you want to elevate your campfire dessert to a new level, try making baked campfire apples. All you need to do is hollow out the core of an apple and fill it with the ingredients of your choice. My favorites are granola, caramel squares, M&Ms, nuts, and dried fruits. Wrap them in foil and toss them onto the campfire to cook. You’ll know they’re done when you can squeeze them with tongs and they’re soft, but not mushy. Let them cool for a few minutes, unwrap and enjoy!  So easy and really delicious – like a personal apple pie!

@_sandyphoto_

72. Attend a soccer game – Soccer is a fun, exciting and fast-paced sport that’s easy for the whole family to watch and enjoy. The rules are relatively simple enough for even little kids to understand. Plus, it’s quick and requires a lot of skill, which keeps the adults entertained and on the edge of their seats. If you have access to a MLS team, the season winds up in the fall and Playoffs begin. It’s a really exciting time to cheer your home team on. If you’re not close to a pro team, find a local college or high school team to support. Or attend a weekend game for a friend or neighbor’s kid. No matter what the age, it’ll be a great way to spend some time outside supporting local athletics.

73. Smash pumpkins – Did you know that the Saturday after Halloween is known as National Pumpkin Destruction Day? How fun is that? If you’d like to join in on the celebration, gather your pumpkins and let your kids come up with some fun ways to smash your pumpkins. How will they do it?! Using a sledgehammer? What about blowing them up? Shoot them out of a cannon or a giant slingshot? Shot them with dart? Drop them off the roof? Or you could even run them over with your car!

74. Make firestarters – Get ready for fall and winter fires by working with the kids to make these super easy and all-natural firestarters. All you need is a paper egg carton, 12 mid-sized pinecones and some wax (you can buy wax chips or melt a cheap candle). Start by giving your kids the egg carton (top cut off) and letting them find the largest pinecones they can that will fit into the egg slots comfortably. This takes some exploring and problem-solving skills. Melt the wax in the container of your choice and pour it over the pinecones in the egg carton. (This is a step for the adults.) Don’t go more than halfway up the pinecone and make sure it’s covered completely. Cut out the 12 pinecones and you’re ready to make 12 fires! These also make great gifts!

@lauren_kleynhans

75. Make a nature portrait – Using nature to make art is such a great way for kids to have hands-on experiences with just how beautiful, delicate, hearty and varied nature can be. Have your child come up with a scene or item that they’d like to create. Next, send them on a hunt for various natural items to use to create their masterpiece. Good items to collect might be pinecones, leaves, sticks, branches, flowers, nuts, etc. Using only natural materials they’ve found, have them arrange their finds to create art. It can be anything from writing their name to making a self-portrait. They’ll have to be extra creative and clever to find just the right pieces and lay them out in just the right spot.

76. Donut on a string game – If you enjoy bobbing for apples but are interested in giving it a more exciting spin, then “Bobbing for Donuts” is your game! I didn’t know this was a thing, but now it’s something I can’t wait to try with my kids. While apples do provide a more nutritious alternative to sugary treats, you can easily transform these confectionary delights into a wonderfully fulfilling outdoor party game that’s fun for kids and adults. All you need to do is use kitchen twine to hang as many donuts as you want from a tree and then have the participants use only their mouth (hands behind your back) to eat them from the air! This DIY activity is a great way for kids to get outdoors and play, while simultaneously getting the chance to indulge in their favorite treats.

@naturallyfamily

77. Campfire cookout – There are so many great foods and meals you can easily make over a campfire. And did you know that food tastes 800% better when eaten outside? (I made that up, but I believe it!) There’s something super special about making food outside, so plan a night to cook dinner over a fire! If you don’t have a place to make a fire in your backyard, check with your local parks and campsites to see if you could use a firepit there. Work with the kids to make a meal plan, shop for ingredients together and cook something wonderful! Here are a few of our team’s favorite recipes to make with their kids. 

78. Find wild persimmon – If you’ve never tried a persimmon, you’re missing out! Persimmon fruit matures late in the fall and is a sweet treat that can be found across the US, Europe and Asia. When persimmons ripen, they range in color from glossy light yellow-orange to dark red-orange depending on the species and variety. Similar to an apricot, they can be eaten raw and are great on salads (with some prosciutto and goat cheese…mmm). They can also be baked into breads, muffins and puddings. Spend some time in your local woods with the kids looking for persimmon trees. Bark forms in thick square blocks that resemble alligator skin.

79. Make popcorn on the cob – Have you eaten popcorn straight off the corncob? Add this to your fall bucket list! Head to your local farmers market with the kids and pick out some popcorn on the cob (it’s a specific variety, different from sweet corn). If it’s not already dried, you can oven dry the whole cobs. If stored properly, your cobs should be good for 12 to 30 months! Rub, drizzle, or spray some melted butter onto the popcorn cob and place it in a paper lunch sack. Fold top of sack closed several times and place closed bag in the microwave. Cook on high for around 2.5 minutes (about the same time your microwave cooks a bag of popcorn). The corn will pop off the cob, leaving you an empty cob and a bagful of amazing popcorn! Carefully remove the cob from the bag and drizzle in remaining butter and a sprinkle of salt. Close top, shake, distribute and enjoy!

@martinahempelphotography

80. Fall family photos – Fall is the perfect time to schedule this year’s family photos. Not only is it beautiful outside, but they’ll be ready just in time for holiday cards. While family photos can be stressful (picking out outfits, scheduling around activities and naps), it’s always worth it, in the end, to have beautiful photos of your family together. Many photographers have styling services or outfit guides to help in that department. If you’re not into traditional posed photos, lots of photographers would be happy to tag along on a family hike or on a trip to the zoo. Pick something that represents what’s meaningful to your family and makes everyone comfortable. Here are some great outdoor family photo shoot ideas and tips for nailing your family pictures. 

81. Friendsgiving – While Thanksgiving meals are usually reserved for family, Friendsgiving is for friends! Help your kids throw a Friendsgiving party for their friends. They can make/send out invites, plan outdoor activities for the group, come up with a meal plan, help clean and prep for the party and entertain their guests. It’s a really fun way for kids to show appreciation and love for their friends and make them feel special.

82. Train ride – What is it about kids and trains? Right? Fall is a great time to go for a train ride with your kids. The view out of the windows is lovely and there are so many fun places to go! If you have access to an Amtrak train or other passenger train, pick a destination where you can spend a few hours and take the train! Your kids will love the excitement of getting their ticket punched, going through tunnels and spending a few hours in a new place. Plus, you often get to see places and amazing views from a train that you can’t see from the road.

@taravphoto

83. Outdoor family game night – Enjoy the cooler weather and create a family tradition of playing games outdoors in the fall! Whether it’s a traditional board game (like Monopoly or Life), a fun family card game (like Uno or Go Fish) or something a bit more interactive (charades or Pictionary), games are great outdoor activities. This is my personal favorite family game (and this i-spy game is my kids’ favorite).

84. Donate to a food bank/pantry – Food banks and food pantries often get used most in the fall and winter months, so help them stock up early by donating. Have your kids help with a pantry clean out, collect cans and foods from neighbors or use part of their allowance/savings to purchase needed items to donate. Take the kids with you when you donate the food and get them involved from beginning to end. The feeling of giving and the pride of doing hard work is always worth it and will hopefully inspire your children to want to do/give even more.

85. Clean out garden & flowerbeds – With the end of summer comes the end of a lot of plants in your garden. While some will keep growing into and through the winter months, now is a great time to get outside and clean up your garden. Have the kids help pull out all the dead plants, leaves, and weeds. It may sound counter-intuitive, but you do not want your garden to sit bare/exposed all winter. Erosion from rain and from the freezing and thawing cycle will strip the nutrients out of the topsoil in your garden. Cover your topsoil in compost, mulch, or plant cover crops.

@brandimarkham

86. Build a compost bin – Speaking of compost, if you don’t have a compost pile or bin, now’s the perfect time to start one! Composting may sound intimidating, but it’s actually pretty easy to get started! Composting helps reduce the amount of waste your family is putting into a landfill while giving your garden a healthy boost! If you have a patch of land, you can start a layer compost pile. If not (or if you live in the city/suburbs), you can use an enclosed tumbler to keep animals out. Teach your kids what food scraps can be composted and let them help with the entire process. It’s fascinating and great for the environment.

87. Chop firewood – Definitely a job for older kids, but if you’ve got wood to chop (literally), get your kids involved in the process! Teaching your kids about chopping firewood is a great way to get them to appreciate hard work, learn to respect tools and develop strength and skills. Here’s a really great post all about the reasons and benefits of teaching kids to chop firewood, as well as how and when to get them started.

88. Salt dough leaf impressions – Put those fall leaves to good use by making leaf impressions in salt dough or clay. Simply mix up a quick batch of salt dough (1 cup salt, 2 cups of flour, ¾ cup of water), then press in some leaves of different shapes and varieties into the dough to make impressions. Dry in the oven for a few hours on super low temp and then use pencils, paints, markers, or oil pastels to color them in once cooled.

@born.to.adventure

89. Go canoeing/kayaking – While water activities may sound more like they should be on our summer list (they are), kayaking and/or canoeing are both wonderful ways to get outside and stay active in the fall. Rivers and streams are extra gorgeous this time of year, with fall colors reflecting off the water. And the fishing is usually great in the autumn. You may not spend as much time physically in the water during the fall (wetsuit, anyone?), but that shouldn’t stop you from getting out and exploring. If you’re just getting started, here’s a great post filled with beginner tips for canoeing with kids.

90. Random acts of kindness – Work with your kids to come up with a list of ways they can pay-it-forward this fall. Spend some time outside walking an elderly neighbor’s dog, picking up litter at local cemetery/park, mowing a neighbor’s lawn, putting pumpkins or mums on friend’s porches, or adding quarters to parking meters. There are so many great ways to be kind to others and make someone’s day. Here are 20+ outdoor acts of kindness for kids. 

91. Plant apple seeds – Speaking of seeds, another really fun (and educational) project is to plant your apple seeds. After apple picking with the kids, you’ve probably got lots of seeds to spare. Planting an apple from seed (and ending up with a tree) is like winning the lottery! However, since you’re likely going to compost that apple core anyway, you’ve got nothing to lose. Apple seeds need cold stratification first, so keep them in a moist paper towel in a baggie in the back of the fridge for about 6 weeks. Plant about a dozen seeds in a gallon pot and see what happens!

@daniellenixon_

92. Walk in the fog – There truly is something magical about fog. If you have the chance, I highly recommend taking a morning walk/hike in the fog with your kids. It may be a bit hard to predict when the conditions will be right, but if you see it, take advantage! Talk to your kids about what fog is and why it’s there. Show them it’s not scary or spooky, but a super cool natural phenomenon.

93. Go on a bear hunt – One of our family’s favorite books is Going on a Bear Hunt. When we’re out hiking, we love to sing along to the song (did you know there was a song?), mimic the actions and sounds. Encourage your kids to go on a bear hunt hike and look for things like long wavy grass, a deep cold river and thick oozy mud. Let someone pretend to be the bear and chase everyone home!

94. Visit an amusement park – Beat the heat and the crowd by visiting local amusement parks in the fall (instead of the summer). Lots of parks stay open with extended hours through fall months (or even year-round). Some even have special haunted decoration and rides around Halloween. You can often get reduced-price tickets as well, making it much more affordable to do as a family.

@gabriella.rojas.ray

95. Learn how to pitch a tent – Setting up a tent is a great skill for kids to learn. Not only will it teach them about teamwork and cooperation, but following directions and doing things in the right order. Pull out your tent and let the kids set it up in the backyard. If they’re old enough to read, let them work together to figure it out (without your help). Pitch in (see what I did there?) when you need to, but they’ll be so proud of themselves when they get it up. Bonus points if you let them spend the night in the tent!

96. Visit a local farmer’s market – Farmer’s markets in the fall are jam-packed full of extra special goodies you can’t find any other time of year. Honey crisp apples, pumpkins, pomegranates, pears, squash, sweet potatoes, turnips, gords, cranberries, persimmons, beets, and more. And I haven’t even mentioned all the baked goods! Even if your kids are picky eaters, they’ll be much more likely to try new foods if they have a say in helping pick them out. Take your kids to a farmer’s market and let them see the fruits and vegetables available. Let them ask questions to the vendors about how and where they were grown and how to eat them. Get them involved in the cooking process, as well. Kids love to help, so let them! Check out this post for all kinds of amazing things to do with kids at farmers’ markets. 

97. Swim in a corn pit – Playing in a corn pit is such a fun full-body sensory experience for kids. I remember the first time my son played in the corn pit at our local farmer’s market and the excitement and wonder on his face as he rolled around and scooped up the corn. Find a place your kids can have this fun experience and let them get all kinds of corny! You may be finding corn kernels in pockets and other places for months, but it’ll be worth it!

@3.little.trees

98. Climb a tree – If you ask me, I think children belong in trees! There are so many amazing benefits to climbing a tree, such as developing physical strength, boosting self-confidence and self-esteem, encouraging problem-solving skills, developing a resilient “I can do it” attitude, and helping kids connect with nature. And climbing trees in the fall gives an added bonus of seeing all the beautiful colors up close and personal!

99. Paint rocks – Painting rocks is always a fun activity for kids. Whether they’re making kindness rocks (with kind/encouraging sayings) or thankful rocks (with words or pictures of things they’re thankful for), painting rocks is a great way to spend some time outdoors, getting creative. Start by having the kids find and collect all their rocks. You can even let them give the rocks a bath outside with the hose to get them clean and prepped. Provide the paints and brushes and let their creativity come to life! Check out this post for tips and ideas for rock painting (and how to use them as motivation on hikes). 

100. Go geocaching – Geocaching is one of our family’s favorite things to do when out hiking or exploring. You’ll be amazed at just how many geocaches there are out there, hiding in all your favorite places! It’s a blast for kids and totally free! Check out our beginner’s guide to geocaching with kids for everything you need to know to get started!

@christineekeroth

101. Make a pumpkin volcano – Once you’ve carved and enjoyed your pumpkin for a while, why not turn it into a science experiment? All you need is to put a few drops of food coloring into a pumpkin with a small amount of dish soap. Next, pour in some vinegar from the tops and watch it erupt! Have your kids guess which holes the bubbles will come out. Maybe leave one pumpkin uncarved, so it erupts out the top! Or try a few of these other pumpkin science experiments for kids. 

102. Paint with acorns – Painting with acorns is a fun activity for little kids. Spend some time outside with your kids collecting acorns of various shapes and sizes. Lay a large sheet of paper on an old cookie sheet with a couple of small puddles of paint. Add the acorns and let your child shake the sheet to move the acorns around. The acorns end up covered in paint, and as they roll around, they create a beautiful masterpiece. You could also create little acorn figures and read this great acorn book. 

@kristalii

103. Leaf nature masks – Turn those leaves into fun animal masks for your kids. Start by getting outside and going on a leaf hunt and finding big colorful leaves (preferably ones with stems attached)! Next, press the leaves between the pages of a big heavy book. Once dry and flat, cut out some different shaped eye-holes and draw on some features, such as whiskers, ears, and noses. Felt-tip pens, sharpies and paint pens work great. You can make all kinds of cute faces and woodland creature masks, such as foxes, owls and rabbits.

104. Look for frost flowers – Despite the name, frost flowers aren’t actual flowers at all! These delicate creations are actually composed of thin ribbons of ice that curl into intricate petal shapes. Frost flowers are rare and fleeting but quite the experience to discover on a cold fall day while out hiking with kids. Not only does searching for frost flowers provide a fun way to explore nature, but it also is an opportunity for a science lesson to learn about how they form. Check out this post for all the info you need to know on how (and where ) to find frost flowers with kids. 

And there you have it!
100+ fall outdoor activities for kids & families.
Don’t forget to get the free printable checklist. 
What’s your favorite fall activity?

The post 100+ Fall Outdoor Activities for Kids appeared first on RUN WILD MY CHILD.

DIY nature crowns for kids

A beautiful nature crown should be a staple in any nature-loving child’s wardrobe. Nature crowns made from twigs and flowers can make your child feel like a wandering wizard or a frolicking fairy exploring the forest. Anyone who’s ever worn a crown before can attest to feelings of exhilaration, creativity, and mystical imagination. Not only are nature crowns fun and easy to make, but foraging for materials gets kids to spend time outside and piques their creativity. 

Nature crowns are also a wonderful way to engage children in outdoor and imaginary play! Add a crown to any outfit, and you turn your toddler into a prince! If you really want to take your child’s imaginative play to the next level, add some butterfly wings (moth wings) or a wizard robe to their ensemble, and let your child’s imagination run wild!

There are three common types of crowns that can be made with natural materials: 1) nature crowns made with sticks, leaves, and foliage, 2) wildflower crowns made with just wildflowers, and 3) traditional flower crowns. Today, we will learn how to make all three of these fun nature crafts! 

DIY cardboard nature crown

This gender-neutral nature crown is so fun to make and wear. Plus, all the materials can be found in your backyard and recycle bin! It’s an excellent option for creative kids that want to express their personality and display their favorite nature treasures and wild things. I love this type of crown because it helps teach our children the 3 R’s – Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle! 

These DIY cardboard nature crowns can be made using nearly anything! We’ve used the same process with paper strips to make leaf crowns using only colorful autumn leaves and fall foilage. We also love adding other fun items that give the crown lots of color and texture, like evergreen twigs, berries, sticks, flowers, and shells. 

My son had a blast making his own cardboard nature crown. We took a basket outside and frolicked through our yard, foraging for natural items to use for the crown. Once we had all of our natural elements, we gathered our craft supplies and sat down to create his crown. I helped him glue the pieces on, but he selected all the nature materials and created the patterns. It was so much fun to see what he picked and watch his vision come to life. 

When we were finished, he wore his crown and played in the forest and pretended to be a wizard. It brought so much joy to my heart to see him use his imagination to play. We made a fort with sticks and logs, which added a whole new dimension to his pretend play. My niece wore the flower crown I made (see below for instructions), making her feel like a forest princess! They played for hours, creating fairy houses out of sticks and observing different types of insects local to our area. 

Cardboard nature crown supplies:

• Durable cardboard or card stock (I used cardboard from a soda box)
• Nature materials (e.g. sticks, leaves, foliage, pine cones, pebbles, shells, etc.) 
• Hot glue gun
• Floral scissors

How to make a cardboard nature crown for kids:

1. Cut a piece of cardboard about 3″ in width. Measure your child’s head for the length and cut your cardboard strips accordingly. 
2. Lay the cardboard flat and begin designing your crown. Take into consideration the items you are gluing. We added small rocks, which added a lot of weight to the crown, so I had to adjust the size. 
3. Next, take your sticks, leaves, and other natural elements and glue them to your crown. If your kids are old enough, let them do this on their own. It’s a great way for older children to work on fine motor skills. Younger children will need more help. 
4. When you are done designing your crown, glue the ends together. 
5. Wear your crown and have fun playing in the forest!

DIY flower crown for kids (Haku Lei)

Traditional flower crowns are worn for a variety of special occasions and they have the uncanny ability to make you feel like a nature queen! In Hawaii, they are called Haku leis, and they are given to someone you love. These types of crowns are primarily seen at weddings, baby showers, and other special events. However, I like to wear them for holidays as well. History tells us that the circular shape of flower crowns represents power, glory, and eternity. When we add flowers and foliage, it represents love and celebration!

Making your own traditional flower crown is fun, easy, and opens up your creative outlets. This type of nature crown is perfect for the child in your life that loves color and flowers and likes to stand out in a crowd! 

I tend to choose flowers that will last a little longer, are bigger in size, and really pop with color! Roses, marigolds, daisies, and protea pincushions are my favorite. Each one of these are found in excess here in the Southwest. For those living in tropical areas, I know you have access to beautiful tropical florals! If you don’t have access to pick these types of flowers, you could also purchase a bouquet from your local flower shop, farmer’s market or grocery store to use in your flower crown. Alternatively, if you want your flower crowns to last a LONG time, you could even use artificial flowers. The same instructions below apply to all variations. 

So let’s get to it! Here are the steps and items needed to make a traditional flower crown. It should be noted these same steps apply for making flower crowns with artificial flowers. 

DIY flower crown supplies:

• Floral wire
• Floral scissors
• Floral tape or raffia (I like raffia because it is easier to control)
• Flowers 
• Greenery (hardy leaves, fern leaves, eucalyptus).

How to make DIY flower crowns for kids:

1. Take your floral wire and measure the crown of your head. Add a few extra inches. Create a loop at one end and wrap the loop a few times for security. Leave a few inches at the other end to loop through when your crown is complete. 
2. Trim your flowers. I cut so I have just enough stem to wrap around the crown. Remove leaves and extra stems. 
3. Trim your greenery/filler. Remove extra stems. 
4. Start with greenery and place it parallel with your wire. Wrap floral tape or rafia around the stem. (I usually wrap 3-4 times and sometimes more if it’s a heavier piece of foliage.) 
5. Next, choose your flower. Lay it on the floral wire in the same direction as the greenery, wrap around the stem.
6. Next, add another set of greenery and wrap the rafia.
7.  Continue this process until you finish your crown. Alternate between green leaves and flowers. 
8.  When complete, loop your extra wire into the loop we made and secure it based on your head size.
9. Twirl in the forest or on a beach and enjoy your flower crown!

Flower crown pro tips*

When making your flower crown, alternate between flowers and greenery. Think of the greenery as a frame and the flower as your photograph. Always place a flower in between greenery to frame the flower.

Place your flower crown on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator until you are ready to wear it. This helps to preserve it. When you no longer need your crown, don’t throw it away! Hang it up and let it dry out. They make beautiful art pieces for your home. 

When it comes to making crowns for infants, I find it best to use very small flowers and lightweight foliage, like baby’s breath. I made the one pictured above, which was a little too heavy for my 10-month-old. Still, she had so much fun playing in the woods while rocking her flower crown. 

*I should mention that I am not a florist or pro flower crown maker, or expert. I attended a few workshops when I lived in Hawaii, and now, I simply enjoy creating flower crowns for special occasions. Moreso, now that I have a daughter. Anyone and everyone can make them! 

DIY wildflower crown (no supplies needed)

Ask a handful of nature-lovers about their feelings regarding kids picking wildflowers and you’ll get a handful of mixed feelings. Many of us nature-lovers live by the Leave No Trace principles. One of the principles is to leave nature where it’s found. No picking the wildflowers, as that’s evidence that you were there. Wildflowers are a beautiful, beneficial and necessary part of nature. 

However, as parents, we know that in order to raise kids who love, appreciate and respect nature, they need to be able to feel it and touch it and understand it. It’s harder to love something from afar that you’re not allowed to touch or pick. There has to be a balance. Personally, I believe if you are picking the flowers to make something beautiful and are sharing in the appreciation of nature in a way that’s not harmful, overarching, or takes away from others, then why not.

If you’d like to make a DIY nature crown from wildflowers, please only pick what you need in an area where it’s permitted and allowed. Dandelions are a great option for wildflower crowns, as they’re usually very prevalent in your own yard and public areas. They work well for nature crowns due to their strong stems and ability to survive for several days. However, I could not find any dandelions near me, so I used these wildflowers from my backyard (which I planted) instead. 

DIY wildflower crown supplies:

• wildflowers (that’s it!)

How to make DIY wildflower crowns for kids: 

1. Frolick through your yard, a park, a forest, or somewhere that wildflowers grow.
2. Make sure you have permission to pick the flowers, and it’s not against any rules or regulations.
3. Pick just enough wildflowers to create your crown, making sure to leave plenty for the bees, butterflies, and others to enjoy.
4. Gather your flowers and remove any leaves along the stems.
5. See the photograph below on how to weave each wildflower. Little hands might need help with this process. 
6. Continue the process until your crown is complete!
7. Let your kids wear their own nature crowns and take some pictures enjoying the outdoors!

3 easy nature crowns for kids

And there you have it, three beautiful DIY nature crowns for kids that you can easily create! Whether you live in a city, near the mountains, or near a beach, you can create any variation of these nature crowns for your children. The next time you’re on a nature walk or hiking through the woods, take a look around you for potential nature items to use for this really fun craft. To this date, my son still asks to wear his nature crown any time we are headed for the woods. I am so excited to see what you can create! If you have questions, be sure to comment below or reach out. Tag us on social media (use the hashtag #runwildmychild), so we can see what magical crowns you create!

Have you ever made a nature crown with your child?

About the author

Lea is a dedicated wife, adventurous mother, Registered Nurse, and Army veteran. She is from New Mexico and strives each and every day to get outside with her wild toddler and newborn baby girl. She and her husband Brandon both served 8 years in the Army and it was during that time their love for the outdoors and seeing the world was born. When they had their son, that passion only intensified. They love to fly fish, overland in their Jeep, hike, surf, and capture these moments on camera. Lea is a professional photographer on the side and you can always catch her with her camera in her hand. Their goal is to influence more families in their rural state of New Mexico to explore the beauty of the SW while educating them on photography tips, medical tips like First Aid, outdoor safety and gear, etc. 

You can find Lea online in the following locations:
Instagram: @wildstokefam
Website: Wild Stoke Fam
RWMC posts: Lea Reynolds

The post How to Make 3 DIY Nature Crowns for Kids appeared first on RUN WILD MY CHILD.

Children learn by touching

I loved daffodils and tulips long before I had children. But their wonder and delight grew when I began to experience them with my kids. To a small child, whose outdoor world has been governed by cold and snow for so many months, daffodils and tulips bring sheer amazement. They’re so cheerful, so undaunted by the often frigid world around them.  

Children learn so much by touching and feeling the natural world around them. Dissecting tulips and daffodils is particularly delightful because it allows kids to take apart and touch each part of the flowers. Other than common weeds like dandelions, I don’t usually let my kids tear flowers apart! So, this activity definitely felt special to them. It reminded me that the simple beauty of nature brings so much wonder and delight to a child. Learning experiences don’t have to be complicated. They can simply involve removing the delicate pieces of a flower and learning what those pieces are called.

Picking daffodils and tulips

If you choose to do a flower dissection, be sure your child has permission to pick the flowers. Asking before picking flowers has been a hard lesson for each of my children to learn. It usually comes up most during their preschool years. They’re just so overcome by the beauty of the flower, they find picking it irresistible!

Tulips, in particular, seem to just call them. This has always been a big deal because tulips are often a little sparse in our flowerbeds. Yet, at some point in their early years, every one of my children has systematically picked the handful we had. One of my offspring once even picked and dissected the only bud we had, just to see what it looked like inside. Childhood curiosity! This dissection activity satisfies that curiosity. It also deepens kids’ understanding and appreciation of daffodils and tulips.

This is also a great time to teach them that just because it’s okay to pick some flowers doesn’t mean it’s okay to pick all flowers! I try to remind my children of the old adage, “What if everybody did?” If everyone picked every daffodil or tulip they saw, there wouldn’t be any left for us to enjoy in nature.

If you don’t have permission to pick flowers (or don’t have access to flowers), you can usually find cut flowers to purchase at a grocery or flower store. 

Daffodil and tulip dissection with kids

Daffodil or tulip dissection is one of the easiest and simplest nature experiments you can do with your kids! All you need is a couple flowers and a sheet of paper. You can also use this printable if you’d rather not make your own. We enjoyed laying out our own pages and labeling them ourselves. If you have a magnifying glass, be sure to keep that handy so your kids can examine each part more closely!

For our daffodil and tulip dissection, we simply separated the pieces of each flower and arranged them on a piece of paper. You can also cut the flower in half with a sharp knife, but my kids voted for taking it apart by hand. That way even the little one could participate.

My oldest daughter copied a chart showing the parts of the flowers, then the younger girls got to arrange their own flower pieces. This simple activity was so much fun! They all learned so much about the details of the flowers. It felt like playing, taking apart the petals and stems and other parts of the blossoms. After dissecting a daffodil, the girls couldn’t wait to try a tulip.

Identifying parts of a daffodil or tulip

For younger children, a simple breakdown of stem, leaves, and petals may be a deep enough look into the parts of the daffodils and tulips. For older kids, we’re also including a more in-depth at the parts of these flowers and their functions. If you’re looking for a little more information about the parts of a daffodil, check out this page.

• Stem: The stem is the tall, green stalk that carries water and nutrients from the earth up to the flower.
• Leaves: This is where photosynthesis happens—where the plant takes the sun’s energy and turns it into food for the plant!
• Spathe: The papery brown sheath that covered the bud before it opened.
• Ovary: Filled with ovules, or eggs, which later become seeds after the flower has been pollinated by bees or other insects.
• Pistil: This is the center part of the flower, including the style and the stigma at the top.
• Stamen: The six little stalks surrounding the pistil. The stalk part is called the filament and the pollen-covered tip is the anther.
• Petals: This is most visible and colorful part of the flower.
• Corona: The inside layer of petals on the daffodil, also called the crown or trumpet

Planting bulbs with kids

Daffodils and tulips are both bulb plants, meaning they grow from a bulb deep in the earth, rather than a seed. The bulb stores up energy for the plant and goes dormant over the winter. Daffodil and tulip bulbs are best planted in the fall, so they can emerge as the daylight strengthens and the earth thaws at the end of winter. A healthy bulb will multiply year by year—if you plant a single daffodil bulb, within a few years you should have several!

My mother-in-law likes to tell how she once assigned her children the job of planting some daffodil bulbs in her new flower bed. They carefully inserted a single bulb in each hole, neatly spaced around the flower garden. The next year, she had single daffodils blooming everywhere! But after several years, she had the beautiful clusters she had once dreamed of.

To turn this into a long-term science project, plant some daffodil or tulip bulbs with your child this fall. You can find them at home improvement or garden centers in the fall months. You can also order them from seed catalogs or even see if a friend or neighbor has some to share. Then plant them about twice as deep as the bulb is tall (probably about 2-3 inches deep). In the spring, you’ll have your own daffodils and tulips to enjoy!

Tulips and daffodils in the cold

As cold-hardy plants, tulips and daffodils are able to survive chilly and even briefly freezing weather. If you live in an area where spring comes in fits and starts, like we do, you’ve probably seen daffodils with their heads bowed down with frost or even tulips dusted with snow. Amazingly, once the temperatures warm and the sun comes out, these hardy plants usually bounce back like nothing ever happened! Although temperatures below 25 may kill the blooms, the plants themselves will survive and bloom again the next year.

Making spring flower bouquets with kids

If you can’t get enough of these beautiful spring flowers, here are some more activities involving daffodils and tulips. First of all, make flower arrangements! This is one of the easiest and most rewarding hands-on activities you could ever let your kids do. It builds artistic skills and deeply satisfies the love of beauty that’s built into every one of us. If you don’t have spring flowers to pick, maybe a neighbor or friend has a yard full of them. Many times people won’t mind letting children pick a few for a bouquet.

Flower picking instructions for kids

This is a great time to help children learn how to pick flowers intentionally. Have them think through these questions as they select and pick their flowers:

• How many flowers do I need for this arrangement?
• Which colors and shapes will look good in my arrangement?
• What varieties/colors are there most of?
• Which flowers can I pick without leaving a hole in the beauty of the mother plant?
• Are there other flowers or greenery to pick from to complement the flowers in my arrangement?

Teach your kids how to pick the flowers carefully, carefully breaking off or cutting the stem. If you have a vase in mind, show them the vase and how much stem length they’ll need for their arrangement. (For some reason it’s hard for kids to learn to leave enough stem with the flower. They seem to have their eye on the flower and break the stem just past the flower. It always takes a while to teach them to cut the stem with their flower!) But most of all, just let them have fun putting together beautiful flowers to display inside your home. Or have them make a bouquet to give to a friend or neighbor!

Dyeing daffodils with kids

Did you know daffodils can be turned different colors? This fun and simple experiment shows how their veins draw fluids up, through the stems, and out into the petals. Place a daffodil with white or light-colored petals into a glass of water and add food coloring. Better yet, try several daffodils in different colors of water. Set in a safe place and check back every day to watch the magic happen! 

You should be able to see colors in the petals within 24 hours. My kids are fascinated with this–even our four-year-old loved checking in to see the colors changing. We’ve had issues with the flowers beginning to wilt and fade before the colors had time to make a really vibrant difference, though. So I’d recommend using the freshest blooms you can find and a strong food coloring solution for the best results.

In the meantime, since I failed to get a photo before our daffodils started getting all sad and wilted, my friend Ginny shared one of her amazing colored daffodils. Aren’t those lacy-colored veins just gorgeous?  

Photo credit Ginny Yurich @1000hoursoutside

Spring flower fun for kids

Whether you dissect them, dye them, plant them, or just pick some for a bouquet, daffodils and tulips are some of spring’s greatest delights. So be sure to get out and find some to enjoy with your kids!

Have you ever dissected tulips or daffodils with your kids?

About the author

Leslie is an Ohio farm girl and chaser of light, children, and sometimes chickens. She’s a lover of Jesus, wife to her high school sweetheart, and a homeschooling mom of four wild rascals who love the great outdoors as much as she does. As a family, they love hiking, camping, fishing, and just about any outdoor activity. She and her husband are just beginning the process of building a homestead from the ground up, doing most of the work themselves. Leslie has a lifelong obsession with writing and capturing everyday life from behind the lens. Follow along with their homesteading, homeschooling, and everyday adventures on her Instagram account.

You can find more from Leslie in the following locations:
Instagram: @c_l_allofus
Leslie’s RWMC posts: Leslie Alvis

The post Dissecting Daffodils and Tulips with Kids appeared first on RUN WILD MY CHILD.

Slow down with plein air painting

As busy parents, we often find ourselves on the go, moving from one activity to the next, and collapsing into bed by the end of the day. Taking some time to slow things down and get outside is imperative for our kids (and for us). We know the benefits and importance of spending time in nature. While outdoors is the perfect place to be active and “run wild,” it’s also nice to have some downtime in nature to be thoughtful, observant, and creative! 

Plein air painting with kids is an amazing activity that combines the benefits of nature and art. It is a fun and relaxing way to spend a sunny afternoon with your children, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday activities. It lets them be still in nature, but also gives them something to do that engages their mind and stimulates their senses. Painting is one of my child’s favorite things to do outside, and I’m excited to share this activity with you today. Here’s all you need to know about the art of painting in the outdoors with kids.

Note: “plein” is pronounced like plain or plane

What is plein air painting?

Painting en Plein air is a French term that means painting in open air and describes the act of painting outdoors. The plein air style of painting is outdoor art, in and around nature. It is a direct contrast to painting in a studio with fixed lights or objects. It’s not necessarily a style of art or with any particular medium, but a method of creating based on your location (outdoors) and subject (nature/landscape). 

Plein air painting is usually art that captures the nature around them. Whether that’s the full landscape you see before you, or maybe just a tree, flower, or garden in your yard. It’s creating art from nature right in front of your eyes, not from a photograph or memory. When an artist paints in nature, they can better observe landscapes and their changing conditions, be that weather or light.

Plein air painting is a sensory experience

We often hear of the importance of giving your children full-body sensory experiences. Plein air painting is definitely a sensory experience, which creates a 3-dimensional experience and helps your children create powerful memories. When you paint outdoors, the sounds, smells, and sights of your surroundings add inspiration to your creative pursuits. You can feel the breeze, hear the rustling leaves, and smell the freshly-cut grass. 

Famous plein air artists

Painting outdoors is not a new activity, by any means. Here’s a little ditty for all of you kids who’ve ever taken an Art History 101 class. The artists who revolutionized this painting style in the late 1800s were known as Impressionists. The most renowned impressionists included Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh. Those are some serious heavy hitters of the art world! Plein air painting with kids will put your child in very good company! 

Where to paint outdoors

The great thing about painting outside is that it can be done anywhere! The world is your canvas (literally). Interested in painting seascapes? Head to the beach! Interested in painting saguaros and sagebrush? Head to the desert! Interested in painting flowers and butterflies? Your backyard, local park, or nearby botanical garden may all be perfect locations!

The great thing about nature is that you have a lot of options for the subject matter. Outdoor painting sessions need not be as divergent as desert or ocean, but could simply be the backyard or neighborhood park. There’s no limit to where you can paint, you just have to decide where to start and give it a try! 

What do you need for Plein air painting with kids?

We like to think of plein air painting as a picnic with a side of art supplies. For an outdoor painting session, you’ll want to pack art supplies such as watercolors, acrylics, or colored pencils. As for your canvas, the thicker the paper, the better. Can you use a sketchbook, thick cardstock, a canvas, or even a large piece of cardboard (this is a great way to get some use out of all those boxes). You’ll also want some paper towels and a cup of water so you can clean your brushes in between colors. These are the basic items one needs for a Plein air painting adventure.

Serious hobbyists and professionals will sometimes carry with them a portable easel stand. Easels are not necessary, but they can be helpful when your kids want to be at eye level with their subject matter. You don’t need to rush out to your arts and crafts store to make an easel. Portable easels can be easily made out of everyday materials like this cardboard art easel or a rustic one made out of sticks and twine.

Whichever landscape is your destination, dress appropriately for your location and the weather. Bring sunscreen and a hat for sun protection, plus refreshments so you don’t have to interrupt your creative inspiration when thirst and hunger strike.

Plein air painting out and about

Plein air painting doesn’t require a lot of planning or preparation. For the most part, you can find objects and landscapes right outside your house that are perfect for painting. However, if you want to take the show on the road, we suggest picking a location in a park or near a river where there are a lot of trees, birds, and shade. This will not only give your child plenty of inspiration to paint but also make them feel like it’s more of a special occasion. 

If you’re away from home, bring a few gallons of water with you for cleaning brushes, and be sure to use non-toxic paints that won’t hurt nature around you. Bring a trash bag with you to remove any trash you may create (or see/find in the area) to leave your location better than you found it. 

Artistic elements of plein air painting

You don’t have to worry too much about artistic elements with plein air painting with kids. However, if you have a child that’s into art or serious about their creation, there are a few things about art and observation that you can teach them to help them create their masterpieces. Here are few ways to help your child observe the area around them, decide what to paint, and how to capture it. 

The power of observation

Once you arrive at your destination, spend some time with your kids discussing and making observations about the landscape they’re going to paint. Younger kids might rev up their observation skills with a game of “I spy.” Older kids might jump right in with interesting observations about unusual things they see. The goal of spending time focusing on observation of their surroundings is that it helps them to hone in on what to paint.

Kids might become fascinated by the shape of the clouds in the sky, the shape of a tree, or the colors of the plants in a garden. By talking through all of the options in advance, kids strengthen their powers of observation and get better with decision-making skills at the same time.

Composition and rule of thirds

As you talk to your kids about what they see and what they may eventually paint, you’ll also want to help them understand composition. As you’re gazing out at your subject matter, talk to your kids about artistic considerations such as foreground, middle ground, and background. Talk about the elements in the landscape and how close they are to you (and to each other) – this will help them realize that things farther away look smaller than items nearby. 

Have them look at the horizon and where the landscape meets the sky.If you’re painting a beach landscape, talk about the horizon line where the water meets the sky. What do you see above the horizon? What does the water look like at the horizon (and is different than what it looks like up close)? Are there waves? Are people frolicking on the beach in front of you or out in the water? And as you guide their eyes to the sand, are there beach umbrellas or sand toys?

Spending time observing the elements of a landscape helps young artists to understand how to layout the composition on their own canvas. In art and photography, this is known as the “rule of thirds.” If you divide your canvas into thirds, either vertically or horizontally, the focal areas of your composition should line up at the meeting points of your imaginary grid. However, the rule of thirds is just a guideline, and your little artists may not want to be encumbered by rules when being creative.

Think about color 

Finally, have your child think about color when they’re plein air painting. Do the colors they see match the colors of their paint (or should they mix them a little to see if they can get a color a little more true to life)? Let them observe what happens when you mix colors. Let them add more water to their watercolor paints and see what happens. Experimentation is key and so much fun for kids. 

Plein ol’ fun!

Plein air painting is a great creative outlet for young artists that puts kids outdoors and in nature. It’s also a great way to expand upon school topics such as art history, geography, atmospheric sciences, horticulture, earth science, and more. Kids of all ages (and adults) can benefit from spending time in nature, being still and observant, and the creative act of painting outdoors.

Earn a patch for painting

We hope you are inspired to pack some paints and head outdoors with the kids. We are so passionate about plein air painting that my company, Wonder Club Explorers, has created a Plein Air Painter Merit Patch. This is just one of the 18 patches offered with the Wonder Club Explorers Adventure Kit. Every artist has a different perspective, and it’s so much fun to watch kids paint, create and express themselves. Wonder Club Explorers is an independent scouting program for kids without all the hassle of meetings and fundraising.

So, get out there, have fun and remember to tag us on social media using the hashtags #runwildmychild and #wonderclubexplorers on your next Plein air adventure!

About the author

Michelle spends her days working on projects to improve the quality of life for the citizens of her community and her nights reading books to her 6-year-old about every kind of dinosaur there ever was (there are 900 validated species, in case you’re wondering). Together with her son, Michelle created Wonder Club Explorers, a company to inspire wonder and curiosity in kids. She carves out time for herself on the weekends as an early morning exerciser and metalsmith of fine jewelry. Michelle is also the co-host of the Run Wild My Child podcast. She resides in Altadena with her husband and son amongst California Oak trees and a stone’s throw of the San Gabriel Mountains. 

You can find Michelle online in the following locations:
Instagram: @wonderclubexplorers
Website: www.wonderclubexplorers.co
RWMC posts: Michelle Garrett

The post Plein Air Painting With Kids appeared first on RUN WILD MY CHILD.

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Special thanks to our Instagram community

These fun activities are guaranteed to keep your kids (and you) entertained, learning and active while outside this spring! These activities have been tried, tested and kid-approved by our online Facebook community, followers, editors, writers and contributors! In addition, all of the photos in the post of kids outside having fun are from our absolutely amazing Instagram community! A very special thanks to all the parents that let us feature their beautiful images.

Spring activities for kids printable PDF checklist

While this post will give you all the details and variations for all 100+ outdoor winter activities for kids, if you want a printable checklist version, CLICK HERE to sign up for our newsletter and get a free printable of the list!

Feature image credit: @raisinguntamedminis

100+ spring outdoor activities for kids

As the weather warms up and the days are longer, getting outside with the kids should be a top priority. Our family always makes a springtime bucket list, which includes tons of fun ways to get outside and active together as a family. We put together this giant list of over 100 fun things to do outside with your kids this spring! We’ve got all the traditional activities and we’re throwing in dozens more than you may not expect! So we hope this list will help you plan fun outdoor adventures for your family this season. And if there’s anything we’ve forgotten, let us know in the comments below and we’ll get it added!

1. Puddle jumping

Jumping in a puddle is an absolute classic quintessential rite of passage for any child. So often kids are asked to refrain from getting wet and muddy. Give them the gift of freedom to explore and get as messy as they want for a day. Dress them in their rain boots and whatever else you don’t care getting wet (plenty of layers if it’s still cold) and encourage them to splash! They’ll be so excited about the opportunity and will remember this for a lifetime.

2. Host an outdoor tea party

Outdoor tea parties can be fun any season of the year. Spring is a perfect time though, with fresh green grass and flowers everywhere. Have your kids dress up in something fun and fancy! Pull out a little table and chairs into the backyard and whip up some tea and a light snack. Try traditional cucumber sandwiches or make it a sweet tea time with cookies or cake. Depending on the age and fanciness of your guest, break out the good china and really impress them! (or even just use glass coffee mugs, which are fun!) If your kids don’t like tea, substitute lemonade, sparkling water or fruit-infused water.

3. Make a flower bouquet

Spring is a wonderful time for finding and picking flowers. Bring a pair of scissors on your walk and snip a few flowers for a bouquet (as long as you have permission). Springtime flowers could include daffodils, tulips, orchids, primrose, snowdrops, and violets. Wildflowers make beautiful and colorful arrangements. But only take a few and make sure to leave plenty for the bees!

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

4. Dig for worms

One of my favorite memories I have with all three of my kids was teaching them how to dig for worms when they were little. There’s something about discovering a worm right under your feet that blows kids’ little minds! And you don’t need much to dig for worms. Find an outdoor area where you can dig (a garden or near the edge of the woods is ideal). The best time to find worms near the surface is after a rain when the soil is moist. Give each kid a shovel or garden spade and encourage them to dig into the dirt.

If your kids are little, dig a hole for them. Once you have a large scoop of dirt, break it up gently with your fingers, carefully looking for worms. If you find a worm, gently let your child hold it in their palm and let the worm wiggle around. When you’re finished observing the worm, you can set it free in a garden, compost area or watch it return to the soil.

5. Put out hummingbird feeders

Hummingbirds are delightful and highly desirable backyard birds. No matter how many times you see one it is a thrill to watch these tiny birds flit around and drink from flowers and feeders. It’s a common misconception that just hanging a hummingbird feeder in your yard will attract flocks of hummingbirds. There’s actually a lot more that goes into getting hummingbirds to visit your feeder, but luckily it’s not too hard! The best, and easiest, way to attract hummingbirds is to plant their favorite nectar-producing flowers and plants. These plants are usually bright colors (hummingbirds especially love red flowers) and many have long, tubular blossoms.

Some flowers that attract hummingbirds are the trumpet vine, trumpet honeysuckle, bee balm, hollyhock, zinnia, and sage. Hang multiple feeders in a low activity area that is near the flowers you planted for them. Fill your feeders with homemade hummingbird nectar, which is basically just sugar water (no red dye). Hang a variety of feeders in various locations. Different hummingbirds may have a preferred feeder style, so choose a variety of types to cater to their preferences. Change the water out once a week and sit back and enjoy the hummingbird watching with your kids!

Feature image credit: @kristinvucinaphotography

6. Visit a tulip field

If you’re lucky enough to live close to somewhere with gorgeous tulip fields, then please make sure you visit this spring. Not only are these places absolutely spectacular photo opportunities, but they’re just magical places to experience! Make the most of out what spring has to offer and spend some time amongst the flowers!

7. Play disc golf

Playing Frisbee is a great alternative to traditional pitch and catch. The flat disc is usually much easier for kids to toss and catch. Throw one around at your local park and see who can throw it the farthest or with the most accuracy. Once you’ve gotten the hang on it, try your luck at disc golf! There are free courses all across the country and you don’t need much to get started. It’s easy enough to learn in a day (although much harder to master), but so much fun for the whole family!

Feature image credit: @ksenia_belanger

8. Go fishing

Fishing is a great activity that the whole family can enjoy and do nearly anywhere there’s water! If you’ve never fished before, do a little bit of research about what the fish in your area eat and when/where to go. Ask at a fishy friend or at a local bait shop. A lot of state parks will even provide fishing gear for the day for free! Trust me, it doesn’t get much better than seeing your child’s entire face light up when she/he lands a fish! Here’s a great post on how to raise kids that love to fish.

9. Mud faces on trees

Making forest faces is a fun and simple outdoor springtime activity that can be done anywhere there are trees. All you need is some thick mud (or clay) and a variety of natural items for decorations (leaves, moss, small sticks, stones, acorns, rocks, etc.) and an accessible tree. Press a big hunk of mud/clay onto the tree trunk, smoothing the edges down onto the bark. Add a selection of leaves and moss for the hair or crown of the face. Add acorns or rocks for eyes and nose. Maybe a stick for a mouth. Get as creative as you want! Hopefully, the faces will stay for a while for other people to enjoy, but there is the chance they may dry out and fall off, or wash off in the rain.

Feature image credit: @sunniemf

10. Chase a rainbow

Is there really a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? You’ll never know unless you find it! For a fun spring outdoor activity with kids, try chasing a rainbow! Next time you see one, go for a walk (or get in a wagon or even in the car) and try to chase down the end and find that pot of gold! Let the kids choose which way you go. Who knows where you’ll end up, but it’ll certainly be an adventure! And if you find the gold, make sure to share some with me!

11. Fly a kite

Spring is the perfect time to fly a kite! The months in spring tend to be windy, which is perfect kite-flying weather. Pick a location with a wide-open expanse of land and air, so you have plenty of room to chase your kite and not run into any obstacles. If you have more than one kid, give them each a kite and let them race them or challenge each other to kite acrobatics!

Feature image credit: @wildpoppies.and.wheatfields

12. Spring flower suncatchers

If you want a fun craft project to make with kids that will add some nature and color to your home, try making flower suncatchers. Start by collecting flowers that are bright and colorful. You can dry them flat under a book or try microwaving them in between fabric under a brick (I’ve heard this works well to preserve the color). Once flat and dry, seal the flowers between two pages of laminating paper or even between 2 pieces of glass (in a frame). Hang them in your window and let the sun shine through! Here’s a great tutorial for how to make flower suncatchers with kids.

13. Plant a tree

Spring is a great time to plant a tree. And planting a tree is easier than you might think! Once you’ve picked out your tree and your location, dig a hole that’s at least twice as wide as but no deeper than the rootball. You want to give the roots room to spread out — to help establish the tree. But you don’t want to dig deeper than the tree root ball. Sitting the tree too deep into the hole can cause water to pool around the trunk.

Place the tree in the hole, then begin backfilling with the soil that was removed from the hole. You want to evenly fill in the dirt all around the rootball. Pack in the soil around the tree root ball using your feet. Create a small ringed dam around the trunk of the tree to keep water closer to the root ball during the tree’s first days.  Water the tree as soon as possible after planting it. And by water, I mean really soak it! Water thoroughly every day for the first 2 weeks. Then, cut back to watering once every couple days for the next several weeks. Finally, water the tree once per week for the rest of the first growing season.

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

14. Grill outside

In my opinion, almost all food tastes better when cooked outside over an open flame. Take advantage of the warmer weather and extra daylight by cooking dinner on the grill. Whether you’re grilling hotdogs, steaks, hamburgers or veggies, it’s guaranteed to taste amazing. And, if you’ve never tried to make your own pizza on the BBQ grill, what are you waiting for?! Buy some premade pizza dough (or make your own – it’s easy!) and your favorite pizza toppings. Have everything ready to go, then slide the crust on the grill for a few minutes. Flip the whole thing over and then add your pizza toppings while it cooks. Your grill can get much hotter than your oven, so it’ll make your crust extra crispy and delicious! And don’t forget the s’mores!

15. Press flowers

Flowers are popping up everywhere you look during the spring months! Take advantage of the abundance and preserve some for a cold rainy day. Collect flowers on a sunny day when they’re not wet or damp. Place the flowers between sheets of parchment or wax paper and lay a heavy book on top. Let the flowers dry for 7-10 days. Use the flowers for art decorations, cards, journals, luminaries or anything your heart desires! We’ve tried this flower press kit and made beautiful art!

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

16. Dandelion tea

Did you know that dandelions were healthy and delicious? Dandelions are packed with nutrients and antioxidants that can boost your health. You can make dandelion tea from the leaves, flowers, or roots of the plants, with the latter being the most common method. Herbal tea made with the flowers tends to be more delicate and sweet.  Check out this post for all the details on how to make your own dandelion tea this spring.

17. Go green for St. Pat’s

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this spring by going green for the day. How you choose to “go green” is totally up to you! Maybe that means wearing all green clothing head-to-toe! Perhaps you choose to eat and drink only green foods all day or for an entire meal. Maybe you simply choose to be extra eco-friendly (“green”) for the day and pick up litter or make crafts from recycled materials. There are so many fun ways to celebrate being green!

18. Explore a pond

Exploring ponds with kids is not only fascinating and fun, but it’s also educational! There’s so much to see, feel, observe and learn about around a pond. Technology and screen time cannot replace the hands-on lessons children learn just playing outside in the amazing classroom of nature. Ponds are a fascinating place, an ecosystem in their own right. They sustain entire life cycles of plants and animals in their own self-contained space.

In the summer they hum with life, providing a vibrant atmosphere to explore. From the birds and insects filling the air with song to the fish flashing by in the water and the bullfrogs calling just out of reach, they are a child’s paradise of discoveries. So grab a bucket and a butterfly net, and head to the pond together. Here’s a great post on all kinds of fun things you can do while exploring a pond with kids.

Feature image credit: @soulshinephotographer

19. Start seedlings in eggshells

Gardening has to be one of my all-time favorite springtime outdoor activities. I love everything about starting our garden every spring. One of our favorite things to do is start our plants from seeds in eggshells. All you need to do is save those eggshells from your breakfast (try to break just the tip of the shell off and pour out the egg). Fill the shell with potting soil and one seed. Push the seed down into the soil, but not too deep. Water the seeds and keep the soil moist (but not soaked). Put them in the egg carton (as a holder) in a sunny window and watch them sprout! When ready to plant, simply drop the entire egg into the soil. It will provide great nutrients and calcium for your plants.

Photo credit: @blackadventurecrew

20. Outdoor workout

Spring is a great time to workout outside with the kids. Bring them along on a run around the neighborhood. Do yoga together outside in the back yard. Take them to the local park and hit all the exercise circuits on the trail. Or plan your own outdoor circuit workout that you can do together and get them involved. Kids that see their parents being active are more likely to be active as well. Be an example and get out and sweat! Here’s a great post all about how to successfully exercise outdoors with kids. 

21. Make a fairy garden

If you have little ones that into all things fairies and magic, you definitely need to add a fairy garden to your spring bucket list. Fairy gardens are easy to make and can be done in any way your heart desires. They usually contain a small house or door for your local fairy to use. Decorate as fancy as you want with lights, glitter, beads, rocks, decorations, etc. There are even companies that make adorable fairy garden kits to make it easy for you! Set up your fairy garden in a place your kids can access and let them get creative!

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

22. Egg hunt

You don’t have to celebrate Easter to do an egg hunt (change it to a painted rock hunt). We love taking the traditional indoor egg hunt outside and scaling it up! Our entire neighborhood participates in a giant front-yard egg hunt for the kids on our street every year. Each house hides 50 eggs and the kids run wild through everyone’s yard finding as many eggs as they can. Once they find the eggs, they spend the rest of the day (week) rehiding them for each other and doing it all over again! It’s the gift that just keeps giving. 

23. Seed paper

Making seed paper is a great activity for kids any time of year. Spring is great though, because you can plant the paper right away (because kids love instant satisfaction). All you need is a bunch of recyclable paper (coloring book pages or newspaper), a blender, water, seeds and a screen. Shred the paper and soak it in water. Whip it up in the blender until it’s pulp. Mix in the seeds and then strain over a mesh screen. Once dry, you can cut into any shape you wan, write messages on them and give to friends and neighbors to plant! We’ve got a great post on how to make your own DIY seed paper with kids.

Feature image credit: @soulshinephotographer

24. Hatch baby chicks

Watching a chick hatch from an egg is one of the most amazing experiences. This activity requires a lot of prep work and planning, so it might not be suitable or possible for everyone. However, if you have chickens or know someone that will take the chicks after hatching, this experience is so worth it! A lot of classrooms hatch chicks as a lesson for the kids. Here’s a great post on everything you need to know and set up for your chick hatching experience.

25. Dandelion crown

Dandelion crowns are easier to make than you might expect! Not only are dandelions prevalent in the spring, but they’re completely free and fun! Start by collecting as many dandelions as you can. Make sure to keep the stems as long as possible. Wrap the second dandelion around the stem of the first and add the stem to the first stem. Add another and continue until you have enough flowers to wrap around your head like a crown. Use this dandelion crown pictorial for reference. Wear and enjoy!

26. Make a rain gauge

April showers are much more fun when you’re active in the rain. Get your kids excited about rain by making a rain gauge to monitor how much rain you’re getting. All you need is a mason jar (or other glass container) that you can write/paint on. Have your kids use a ruler and make marks on the glass for each inch of water. Place the rain gauge outside on a level surface away from overhead trees or awnings. After each rain, go out and check the gauge to see how much rain you got! Keep track of your findings in a nature journal or rain tracker chart. If you want more detailed instructions, plus a printable rain tracker, check out the DIY rain gauge in our shop. 

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

27. Blow bubbles

While this activity may sound super simplistic, that’s the beauty of bubbles! No set up or planning involved. All you need is a wand and some bubble juice (water + soap) to entertain and excite kids. My little ones can blow, chase, catch and pop bubbles for hours! They never seem to get tired of bubbles. A good bubble machine is worth its weight in gold and delight kids of all ages (even adults have a hard time not trying to catch them!).

28. Grass whistling

Did you know you can turn a single blade of grass into a whistle? Start by picking a thick and wide piece of grass. Some varieties of lawn grass are better than others for this purpose. You might want to pick several blades of grass and experiment with different ones, since each one will whistle at a different pitch. If you’re uneasy with dirt, feel free to rinse the grass thoroughly to remove any dirt or possible pet urine. You can use dish soap if it makes you feel better. Pat or blog dry with a paper towel. Hold the blade of grass flat and stretched between your fingers. Gently press to your lips and blow lightly on the blade. If it doesn’t whistle right away, keep trying! You’ll quickly figure out the best way to do this and get the hang of it!

Photo credit: @rui4050

29. Make a flower lei

A lei can be any objects strung together with the intent to be worn. Leis can be made from just about anything…shells, paper, money, ribbon, candy, fabric. Most commonly they are made from fresh plants, such as flowers and leaves. All you need to make a lei: fresh flowers, large needle, waxed dental floss, and scissors. Gather your flowers, then cut the flowers off near the top of the stem. Cut a long piece of dental floss and thread it through your needle and tie off the floss so that it doesn’t slip out of the eye of the needle. Carefully thread the needle through the flower. Go from the stem through the middle of the flower and then gently move it down the floss.

Make sure to leave a few inches at the bottom of the floss. Continue stringing flowers until it’s the desired length and then tie off!

Feature image credit: @carrinlewis_photography

30. Plant a garden

While gardening with kids might sound like a lot of work and a bit of a time commitment, it doesn’t have to be! If you’re new to gardening, start small with just a couple of plants. There are plenty of fruits and vegetables that are easy to grow with kids. You also don’t need a huge amount of space. While a large plot is ideal, lots of plants can be grown in containers on your back porch or windowsill. We have a great post on all the benefits of gardening and everything you need to know to get started gardening with kids.

31. Flower paintbrush

Art projects are even more fun when you do them outside with natural materials. My kids love painting with flowers. We start by collecting various plants and flowers while hiking in our neighborhood or local park. We take them home and turn the flowers into paintbrushes by dipping them in paint and using them to color paper. The different shapes and textures of the flowers each create unique patterns. The kids love experimenting with various flowers and finding their favorites. We then let the flowers dry and make an arrangement of painted flowers to leave on our tabletop. They make a beautiful and colorful bouquet!

32. Hike & seek

Kids of all ages love to play hide and seek. There’s something so fun about coming up with clever hiding spots and the excited anticipation of waiting to be discovered that kids love! While normally played inside, we have a blast playing hide and seek outside, as well. Depending on your location, you’ll want to set boundaries ahead of time and explain to the kids anywhere that’s off-limits or out of bounds. Pay attention to where they’re hiding, but allow them the freedom to explore and get creative.

Feature image credit: @nicolejkolbe

33. Start a compost bin

Spring is a great time to set up and start a compost bin. Composting is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to eliminate food waste in landfills and help the environment. Plus, you end up with great fertilized soil for your gardens. You don’t need any fancy or expensive equipment either. A plain giant closed plastic container with a lid will work just fine (something like this). Drill some holes in the top and sides so your compost can breathe. To get your compost off to a good start, lay some ripped up cardboard or newspaper (black and white) in the bottom of the bin. Top that with some straw or leaves, then top that with some garden soil.

Now start adding your food scraps into your compost. The smaller the pieces you add, the faster you will have beautiful soil from it. Each time you add something to your compost pile, give a little stir. Things are decomposing when they’re giving off a lot of heat. If there isn’t any heat in there, your composting magic is not occurring. Make sure to balance your greens and brown (the ideal ratio is 25 parts browns to 1 part greens). For a big list of things you can compost, see this post.

34. Celebrate May Day

May Day (May 1) is an ancient spring festival in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s an astronomical holiday. It’s one of the year’s four cross-quarter days – a day that falls midway between an equinox and solstice. May 1st is between the March equinox and June solstice. There are so many fun ways to celebrate May Day with kids. A few ideas include: planting flowers or a tree, make a maypole with colorful ribbons to dance around, make personal flower baskets filled with petals/flowers to gift, make flower crowns or leis, have a bonfire, have an outdoor picnic, read poetry about spring or go on a nature hike.

Feature image credit: @lizbinder

35. Observe a pollinator

Teach your kids about the importance of pollinators this spring. Give them the task of watching and observing the flowers and plants in your backyard for bees and butterflies a few separate times. Then, ask the following guiding questions: (1) What types of insects or other animals are visiting which flowers? (2) Are some flowers visited more often or only by certain creatures? (3) Is there more activity at certain times of the day? (4) What kinds of paths do the insects take as they move among flowers? (5) Which types hover and which perch? (6) How do the flowers they visit seem designed to support these habits? (7) Does a mixed planting draw more different kinds of pollinators?

Once you’ve compiled your answers, research the plants and flowers that pollinators like best and set up your own pollinator garden or feeding station in your yard.

36. Cut the grass

If you have a traditional lawn that you cut with a lawnmower, chances are that there are quite a few places along the edges (or close to fences or rocks) that your lawnmower doesn’t get. Instead of taking a weed wacker to those spots, give your child a pair of scissors and let her practice her fine motor skills of cutting! Kids love helping out the adults and they love being in charge of things that are usually off-limits. On grass mowing days, let your child have a pair of scissors and help trim those hard to mow spots! She’ll not only put her hands to work and develop fine motor skills but feel like she’s helping and contributing to the family.

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

37. Spring nature hike

Hiking in the spring is so much fun! Not only do you avoid the heat, humidly, crowds and pesky bugs of summer, but you get to experience life reemerging in the woods in the spring. In the spring, the green is just beginning to reappear and the wildlife is incredibly active, leading to all kinds of close encounters with deer, squirrels, rabbits and birds. The leafs on the trees aren’t thick, so you can see long distances and easily spot flowers and animals. Just be sure to wear boots in case the trail is muddy! If you need advice, we’ve got a great post on how to get started hiking with kids.

Photo credit: @juelz_jourdan

38. Decorate a flower pot

Decorating a flower pot is a super fun and easy outdoor springtime activity for the kids. Start with a plain old terra cotta pot and let your kids decorate it however they want! They can cover it in stickers, paint it, draw on it with paint pens, markers or chalk. They could decoupage it or wrap it with ribbon. Anything goes! Once it’s fully decorated and ready, add soil and a plant for instant decoration. Let them keep it in their room or gift it to a friend, teacher or neighbor.

39. Tulip/daffodil study

When I was a kid I was always fascinated by things and wanted to take them apart. Plants and flowers especially. I remember picking flowers and carefully pulling them apart, picking off the petals, opening them up and trying to figure them out. My kids also love doing this. When daffodils and tulips pop up every spring, the kids get super excited. I always let them pick a few to take apart and check out. I give them a butter knife and a pair of scissors and let them explore! We talk about the parts of the plant and what each part does. They learn a lot and then leave the flowers alone the rest of the season.

Feature image credit: @kalliastivaktaki

40. Make mud pies

As parents, we see mud and only see a mess. But to children, mud is an abundant and attractive medium for creation, exploration and adventure. Mud is fun! Playing with mud engages all the senses, encourages creativity and creates long-lasting childhood memories. The art of making mud pies can be as elaborate as you’d like to make it and will entertain your kids for hours. Initially, just use whatever you have on hand (pie tins, bowls, pans, plates, etc.) and decorate with whatever they can find (flowers, leaves, sticks, grass, shells, etc.). You’ll be amazed at your children’s creativity and improve skills in decorating their creations.

41. Save a turtle

If you spend any time driving on country roads, you know that spring is a popular time of year to see turtles crossing the road. Turtles are on the move once the weather gets warm—but sometimes, a road or a highway stands between them and their destination. Speeding traffic and slow-moving turtles don’t mix, and many turtles are severely injured or killed on roads every year. Even if their shells are crushed, turtles can remain alive for days or even weeks in agonizing pain because they have such slow metabolisms.

If you see a turtle on or near a road, take action! If you happen to see a turtle in need, park in a safe place, put your hazard lights on, and make sure that traffic is clear before venturing out onto the road. Pick them up by grasping them firmly by both sides of the body, in front of their hind legs. Be careful not to drop them! If it’s a snapping turtle, gently push them from behind to safety with a blunt object. Always keep them moving in the same direction that they were headed. Do not try to make them change course, as they have a destination in mind and will simply try to cross the road again if placed back where they started from. Once they’re safe on the other side, leave them alone.

Feature image credit: @gretchennevin

42. Outdoor swing

Setting up a swing in the yard is a guaranteed way to keep the kids outside and entertained. Our neighbors have a net swing in their front yard and every kid on our block has spent countless hours out there playing. From tweens to toddlers, the kids are just fascinated by the swing! It’s such a simple thing, and yet so popular! This swing supports a few kids together and they have the best time pushing each other and giggling on that swing.

43. Start a nature collection

If you haven’t already, spring is a great time to start a nature collection. All you need is a sense of adventure and a place to store/display your collection. Anytime you venture out and find a cool discovery, add it to your nature collection! My kids have a great collection of all the fun things we’ve found over the past few years, which include feathers, rocks, shells, fossils, bird eggs, antlers, empty nests, bones, teeth, empty turtle shells, snakeskins, arrowheads, 4-leaf clovers, etc. The small rocks and shells get stored in a large glass vase. The rest of the stuff goes on a dedicated bookshelf in our living room so they can see and touch their findings.

Feature image credit: @raisingwildones

44. Have a spring picnic

An outdoor picnic is a great way to spend time outside no matter what the season. Spring is a great time for a picnic though, as it’s usually not too hot, there are fewer bugs and everyone’s extra ready to spend time outside. You can pack a picnic lunch at home and take it to your favorite outdoor location. Or swing through a drive-through or get carryout from your favorite restaurant. Heck, you could even have pizza delivered to you at the picnic location of your choice! No matter how you slice it, a picnic is a great outdoor springtime activity for kids.

Photo credit: @jhennyloouuu

45. Make wind chimes

I just adore the sound of wind chimes blowing in the spring breeze. And they’re surprisingly easy to make! You can make wind chimes out of sticks, shells, old silverware, stones, glass or anything else you can think of! My kids and I made some beautiful wind chimes from all the treasures we found on the beach last year (shells, driftwood, chunks of sand dollars, etc.). It’s a visible (and audible) way to remember our trip.

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

46. Set up a slackline

Slacklining is a perfect way for kids of all ages to hone balancing skills while spending time outside, building core strength and confidence. Slacklining is one of my kids’ favorite backyard activities and I’m blown away by how much time they spend on it daily, balancing, bouncing and playing games. This is a great beginner slackline kit and we’ve got an awesome post on slacklining with kids.

47. Create a treasure hunt

A treasure hunt is a super fun and creative way to spend some quality time outside with the kids in the spring. Help your kids come up with their very own treasure hunt in your backyard, neighborhood or local park. They’ll need to choose their treasure, figure out how/where to hide it, come up with a map and any clues they want to give. This is a great way for them to work on orienteering and map skills (X marks the spot). They’ll have to think analytically about clues and observations. They’ll work on writing skills by coming up with clever and descriptive clues that rhyme.

Feature image credit: @skye_taten

48. Outdoor yoga

Yoga helps us be more present and mindful and practicing yoga with kids outdoors is an excellent way for them to connect to the natural world. Anyone can help children enjoy the benefits of yoga and mindfulness outdoors. Incorporating fun poses with storytelling and adventure, children practicing yoga outside use all their senses to establish a link with nature and enjoy feelings of peace and connectedness. See our full post on incorporating yoga into outdoor nature play for all the details.

49. Make nature confetti

Making nature confetti is super fun for kids to do any time of the year! All you need to do is gather a bunch of colorful leaves, flower petals, etc. and a few different shaped punchers. Gather your materials and head home and start punching away. This project engages gross motor skills (walking around our neighborhood), fine motor skills (paper punching), and eye-hand coordination. After a large amount of confetti is made, the most fun part of the craft is tossing it in the air!

50. Stick magic wand

Create a magic wand out of materials you have at home for a fun project you can take outdoors into nature. All you need is a stick and ribbon scraps cut into similar lengths. Choose all different colors, widths, and patterns and tie them onto the stick. If your kids are old enough, encourage them to do this themselves, while little ones may need your help. Beware: magical wands can turn you into anything! Some can even be used to grant wishes! You never know what powers your child’s wand will possess.

Feature image credit: @michelerenephotography

51. Dance in the rain

When it finally starts getting warm enough to go outside barefoot without freezing, I love letting the kids out to dance in the rain! Feeling the rain coming down and playing in the puddles without shoes is an amazing sensory experience for kids. They feel the rain with their entire body, they smell it and taste it! Give your kids the opportunity this spring to dance in the rain with wild abandon! It’ll be something they always remember and hopefully the beginning of a lifelong love and appreciation of the rain.

52. Spring nature journal

Spring is a great time to start (or continue) a nature journal. A nature journal is a special book where your kids can record all the interesting things they see, smell, hear, feel, eat and wonder about, through the year. You can color, draw or paint what you see in your journal. You could try collecting leaves or petals off the floor and taping them into your journal. Photos are a great option too. Take them and then use them as collage items in your journal. Try asking kids to record what the weather looks like or to stand still and see what they can smell, see and hear on your walks.  For more tips, our creative team member Jemma of Thimble & Twig has a great post on how to get started nature journaling with kids.

53. Pay it forward

Give your kids one of the greatest gifts ever – the gift of giving back! Make sure to pay it forward this spring by doing small outdoor acts of kindness anytime you can. Whether that’s putting a quarter in a row of meters, mowing a neighbor’s grass, giving a bouquet of flowers to a friend or walking the dog for an elderly neighbor. Work with your kids to come up with a list of things you could do together to pay if forward this spring.

Feature image credit: @svet_sky_ya

54. Admire a blossoming tree

One of my favorite things about spring are all the amazing blooms from flowers, bushes and trees. Cherry Blossoms and Dogwood trees are high up there on my list of favorites. Cherry blossom season lasts for about a month every spring and is always weather dependent early March to early April is a good rule of thumb. Most trees bloom for one to two weeks. The further South, the earlier the trees bloom. This branch of trees is largely for looks as opposed to fruit production. Ornamental cherry trees do produce fruit closely related to edible cherries, these trees are usually grown for their beauty.

The dogwood is a majestic ornamental tree, which has over 50 species within the genus. These species vary wildly, from shrubs to deciduous temperate trees and evergreens. One of the most common species, and the one about which you’ve most likely heard, is the Flowering Dogwood (the state tree of Virginia), which has conspicuous white to light yellow flowers that offer magnificent blooms in spring. If you have the chance, I highly recommend you and the kids take a minute to admire a blossoming tree in your area!

Photo credit: @arevook

55. Listen for woodpeckers

The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. When you’re outside with the kids this spring, take some time to look and listen for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens. Pileated Woodpeckers sometimes visit backyard bird feeders, especially for suet. If you have dead or dying trees or snags on your property, consider leaving them alone as they may attract Pileated Woodpeckers (as well as other woodpeckers, nuthatches, etc.) to forage, roost or even nest in them.

56. Celebrate Earth Day

Earth Day is Wednesday, April 22. This year, celebrate Earth Day by reducing, reusing and recycling!! We love to recycle everyday items and reuse it in nature crafts. Paper towel tubes are fantastic for sowing seeds in, making into telescopes or a ton of other stuff. For crafting, we also use cereal boxes and we can even reuse milk jugs as watering cans. Use your imagination and try to reuse 10 items this week. It’s easy if you try.

Feature image credit: @soulshinephotographer

57. Have a barefoot day

Give your kids’ feet a break and have a barefoot day! Did you know that children who go barefoot frequently have a heightened sense of their surroundings and avoid sharp objects? Plus, feet toughen up the more they go barefoot, leading to more natural protection. Walking outside barefoot is recommended by many pediatricians and podiatrists for children and adults. Letting kids go shoeless as often as possible does wonders for foot and brain development. It helps develop and maintain an appropriate range of motion in the joints and strength and stability within the muscles and ligaments of the feet.

Forcing children’s feet to conform to the shape of a shoe will most likely result in permanent detrimental changes to the shape or construction of the foot. Walking barefoot also helps brain development as children learn to balance and develop other sensory systems in the body. Shoes reduce the amount and quality of sensory information kids get about their environment and body. Feeling the earth beneath their feet allows them to develop their somatosensory, proprioceptive, and vestibular sensory systems in ways that are not possible with shoes on!

58. Mushroom hunt

In my neck of the woods (the Midwest), spring is famous for bringing with it a delicacy that you can’t grow or get any other time of year – morel mushrooms! This elusive mushroom is prized for it’s tastiness, and can only be wildcrafted as no one has figured out how to grow them (yet). They come up in spring to early summer, depending on where you live, and are fairly widespread. Foraging for morel mushrooms can be difficult, as they usually blend in very well with their surroundings. But, once you get an eye for them, they seem to pop up everywhere! They like south-facing hillsides, and will typically be in the sunniest patches, where the ground is warmest.

They generally grow around the drip line of trees. And while they seem to prefer certain varieties of trees (ash, aspen, sycamore, oak, elm), there are no hard and fast rules on this. Also, they like disturbed forests and burned areas. Morels are one of the easiest mushrooms to identify. They have a pitted and deeply ridged cap that resembles a honeycomb. The cap is also completely attached to the stalk, and they are completely hollow when cut in half. There are a few varieties of “false morels”, so if you’re unsure, cut one in half to make sure that the cap is completely attached to the stalk and that it is hollow.

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

59. 4-leaf clover hunt

Need a little extra luck in your life? Try finding a four-leaf clover! All you need is a patch of clover and a will to find one – no prepping or planning involved. Keep your eyes peeled for that extra lucky leaf. And if you find one, chances are another will be close by! Check out our post for tips and advice on how to find a four-leaf clover with kids.

60 .Give a plant

Plants are one of my all-time favorite gifts to give and receive! There’s just something so hopeful and loving about giving a plant. My kids and I usually start seeds in the spring and I set a few aside to give to friends and neighbors. Our massive sunflowers have become quite popular on our street, as we’ve given plants to so many neighbors. We also plant some of our own homemade seed bombs in small pots and gift them to friends and teachers. Small succulents also make great gifts for coworkers and kids, as they don’t usually need a lot of attention to thrive. Help your kids pick a few plants to gift to loved ones this spring and let them get their hands dirty helping plant them.

61. Spring cleaning day

Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be the responsibility of the adults. Get the kids involved too with outdoor chores and projects for them. There are many outdoor chores that kids can help with, from toddlers to teens! A few of the chores my kids help with are: raking leaves out of the gardens, trimming hedges and branches, washing the outside of the house windows, spraying out the garage/driveway, pick up sticks, spray off the deck/patio, remove cobwebs, add mulch to flower beds and cleaning off toys and play equipment.

Feature image credit: @iammissymoore

62. Go for a bike ride

Biking with kids is a fun springtime adventure and a great way to get outdoors, explore new areas/trails, create family memories and get in shape. Riding a bike not only improves physical fitness, but it also benefits your child’s learning development and mental health. Plus, biking reduces carbon emissions, eases traffic congestion and eliminates parking problems. If you’re just getting started, we’ve got a great post with lots of tips for biking with kids.

63. Paint with mud

One of our favorite springtime outdoor activities is painting with mud. Mud is a wonderful medium for creating masterpieces, practicing writing letters or painting nature scenes. Sometimes we paint on poster board and sometimes we paint the sidewalk or even the fence in our backyard. Whether you use plain ole brown mud or get creative with color, your kids will love this new form of creating art! All you need is mud, powdered tempera (or liquid watercolor paint or food coloring), Dawn dish soap (optional), water, and some paintbrushes.

64. Set up a birdhouse

Many birds are facing habitat loss, which has driven some species away from former nesting areas. Help the birds in your neighborhood out by providing the right house to bring birds back home. We highly recommend doing a little research on the birds in your area and what kind of houses they prefer. Not all houses are equal and the ones that appeal to people might not be best for the birds. Find a house that is the right size, with the right size opening and place it in a safe place. If the hole is too big, it invites predators; rats and possums take the eggs. If the box is placed too low, snakes will get inside. Too big a hole also invites other (species of) birds to raid the nest. It’s a bird-eat-bird world out there!

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

65. Grow your socks

Want a super fun science project that teaches your kids and lets them get dirty? I’m sure you’ve all seen the project where you can grow a bean sprout in a plastic bag with a piece of cotton. Well, this is a fun new twist on that concept. Instead of growing seeds in a bag, grow your socks! All you need to do is let your kids run around outside with old wet socks on, getting as dirty and muddy as possible. This way they’ll collect the seeds directly from nature. When the socks are nice and filthy, take them off and place each one in a plastic bag. Tape the plastic bag to a window that gets a good amount of daily sunlight.

If the socks feel dry, add a small amount of water. Now all you have to do is wait for them to grow! See our post on how to grow your socks for all the details.

66. Play golf

Golf is such a fun outdoor activity for the entire family. My kids are really into golf these days and they can’t seem to get enough. We love going out and playing nine holes as a family at a public course. They love hitting the ball, but they also love driving around the golf cart. We also enjoy spending an hour hitting balls at the driving range. This is a great way to practice and get a lot of hits in! (less patience required) If you haven’t tried Top Golf, it’s also been a huge hit! There’s an extra element of challenge and competition, plus great food and drinks while you hit.

67. DIY butterfly wings

Looking for a really amazing and impressive (and yet not that hard) project to make with your kids? How about DIY butterfly wings that they can wear! This project is simpler than you might expect and guaranteed to make any little kid’s imagination go wild! They can be made from materials you probably already have in your craft closet and yard. For details on how to make these gorgeous wings, check out our friend Johanna’s post on woodlark.

Feature image credit: @soulshinephotographer

68. Go on a clean-up hike

We all know that we have to do our part to take care of the planet and it’s up to us to be good stewards of the environment and set an example for our kids. Next time you’re out exploring your favorite local trail (or even going for a walk around your neighborhood), take along a garbage bag and make an effort to clean up any trash or rubbish you find along the way. Chances are, you’ll be (unpleasantly) surprised at just how much trash has been discarded. Set a good example for your kids by cleaning up and explaining to them the importance of taking care of our surroundings and the environment.

Photo credit: @kidsdelmundo

69. Photo scavenger hunt

We love a good scavenger hunt! It’s one thing that we can do nearly anywhere and keeps the kids busy for a good long time. One of our favorite ways to get creative with this is to add a camera. I have an old point-and-shoot camera that I let the kids borrow and give them a list of things to find. You can choose to give them specific items (a flower, a pine cone, a fire hydrant) or be vague and let them get creative (something that smells, something prickly, something yellow). Instead of crossing the item off the list, they have to take a photo with/of it. They love being independent and responsible for the camera. I love seeing the funny photos and interesting items they choose to photograph.

Photo credit: @sage.and.summit

70. Visit a farmer’s market

In the spring, local farmer’s markets are teeming with really fun and interesting finds. Your local springtime farmer’s market harvest could include cherries, fiddlehead ferns, artichokes, dandelion greens, garlic, lemons, asparagus, beets, potatoes, mushrooms, and peas. Take your kids and introduce them to the vendors. Let them ask questions about where and how the food was grown. Let them taste free samples of fruits, veggies and baked goods. And then pick out a few items to take home for dinner! They’ll be more likely to eat the food if they had a say in choosing it. Here’s a great post all about exploring farmer’s markets with kids. 

Feature image credit: @msmportraits_

71. Visit a botanical garden

Botanical gardens are some of the most magical, relaxing places and a great way to observe nature waking up in the spring. Strolling through the gardens, lounging in the great lawn, overlooking the lake and smelling the flowers might be the best way to decompress from the madness around you. Botanical gardens are also incredibly educational for children. There’s so much to learn about how plants thrive, why some plants change colors, what plants need, etc. Use an afternoon in the botanical garden to teach your kids about comparison (how plants are the same/different), observation (what does this plant look like) and appreciation (what can these plants do for us).

Photo credit: @blackadventurecrew

72. Run a 5K

If you want to add some extra outdoor exercise to your springtime activities, sign your family up for a 5K or family fun run! There are usually a variety of fun races in the spring (before it gets too hot) at various distances and with lots of fun themes for all ages. If you have little ones, let them try a 1-mile fun run. Sign the whole family up for a local 5K. Want a bigger challenge, what about a 10K or a half-marathon? With older kids, you could even do a relay. Most races usually have fun swag (t-shirts, etc.), prizes and a really fun ambiance. Not runners, sign your family up to volunteer at a water station to hand out water to runners. Who knows, maybe you’ll get inspired to join them next year!

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

73. Strawberry picking

One of my favorite outdoor activities to do in the spring with the kids is to pick strawberries. Every May (here in the Midwest), we visit a local orchard and gorge ourselves on those sweet juicy berries! It’s such a fun tradition and the kids are basically expert pickers by now. Make sure to wear plenty of sunscreen, as there’s little to no shade when picking strawberries. And boots, as it’s also usually pretty muddy! But freshly-picked strawberries right from the vine are worth it every time!

74. Play hopscotch

One of the most popular and easy outdoor games is hopscotch. Learning how to play Hopscotch is a great way for you to enjoy time outside this spring without having to go anywhere but your backyard. First, draw the grid you’ll be playing on. Usually, there are 8 blocks numbered 1 – 8. You can draw these sections in any way you choose.

For example, start with two next to each other, then one in the middle, then two again, etc. The player who goes first stands behind the starting block and throws his or her marker (a rock or coin) onto block 1. This player hops over square one to square two, pausing to pick up the marker and hop back to square one. Complete the grid by hopping down the rest of the blocks. The next turn, throw the marker in block 2 and continue the pattern. Remember to take turns! A player is out when he or she can’t throw the pebble in a square, when they lose balance, or when they touch the lines.

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

75. DIY seed bombs

One of our favorite springtime projects is to make DIY wildflower seed bombs. Not only are these DIY seed bombs easy enough for kids to make in under an hour, but they’re good for the birds, bees and butterflies in your area. They only require a few ingredients (seeds, water, dirt, clay) and have the added benefit of letting kids get their hands really messy! Make them and let your kids “bomb” the neighborhood or give them as homemade eco-friendly gifts to teachers, neighbors, family and friends. Everyone will love watching the bombs grow into a beautiful patch of colorful wildflowers. See our post for the recipe and all the details on how to make DIY wildflower seed bombs.

76. Visit a farm

This is a great time of year to visit a local farm, petting zoo, nature center or animal safari to learn more about the animals. We have quite a few farms in our area that give tours of the barnyard animals and let the kids interact with them (you can learn how to milk a cow, ride a horse and feed the chickens). We also have a wolf sanctuary and a drive-through elk park. And we have a bird rehabilitation center and a number of petting zoos. Chances are good that you have something like one (or more) of these in your area. Look at the local attractions in your area and ask your kids which animals they’d be most interested in learning more about.

77. Play catch

With opening day of baseball season right around the corner, spring is a great time to get outside and practice your pitch and catch skills. All you need is a ball and a glove! Throw the ball back and forth or around in a circle (if you have more than 2 players). Practice catching pop flies and bouncing grounders. This a great way to develop a skill and get some outdoor exercise and fresh air.

Feature image credit: @il_etait_un_clic_pro

78. Read outside

I’m of the opinion that almost everything is better when you’re outside and immersed in nature. That’s definitely true for one of my favorite past times…reading! If your kids are old enough to read on their own, create a comfy and shady spot for them to read outside. If your kids are little, try having storytime outside together and reading to them as they lounge on a blanket or in a hammock.

79. Raise butterflies

Watching a tiny caterpillar grow and then turn into a butterfly is truly one of the most spectacular miracles of nature. Give your children a chance to experience this incredible metamorphosis themselves by finding (or purchasing) caterpillars and watching them change. Make a habitat for your caterpillars where you can feed and observe them. Make sure it includes plants they like to eat and a place for them to cocoon. Watch the metamorphosis right in front of your eyes! Finally, releasing the butterflies into the wild is a memorable moment they won’t soon forget. See our post on raising butterflies from caterpillars for more info.

Feature image credit: @river.rascal

80. Climb a tree

Climbing trees is a great way for kids to experience “risky” play, with great rewards. One of my favorite writers, Linda McGurk wrote: “Tree climbing has real benefits for kids – physically, mentally, cognitively and socially. Just think about it. As your child scales the tree he’s building muscle strength, practicing gross motor skills such as balance and improving spatial awareness and proprioception. When he decides which branches are safe to stand on and how high to go, he’s learning how to judge risk and developing critical thinking skills.

As he plans his path up through the limbs, he’s gaining decision-making and problem-solving skills, and if things don’t go according to plan, he gains emotional strength and resilience by trying again. When he successfully negotiates the branches, he feels a sense of accomplishment, which in turn boosts his self-confidence.”

81. Attend a baseball game

Particularly if you’re in the US, nothing says summer quite like baseball season! If you can, attend a baseball game with your kids. Whether it’s a professional MLB game, a minor league team, a high school game or just a little league team at your local town’s baseball fields, watching a baseball game is a great way to spend a summer evening. Root root for the home team and enjoy those peanuts and cracker jacks!

82. Draw flowers/buds

Break out the watercolor paints or colored pencils and sketch those spring flowers. Spring is a great time to introduce art and drawing to your children. Get them a sketch pad and let them draw the spring flowers they find in your yard or local park. There are a ton of great books, journals, tutorials and online resources for teaching kids how to draw if your little ones want to get better. If you’re not much of an artist either, maybe you can learn along with the kids!

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

83. Release ladybugs

If you’re growing a garden this year, consider adding a few hundred/thousand friends to the party! Each spring we release 1,500 ladybugs into our garden and it’s such a fun experience. My kids love it and I’m hoping this is something you can experience with your kids, too. Ladybugs are wonderful for gardens because they’re capable of consuming up to 50 to 60 aphids per day! They will also eat a variety of other insects and larvae including scales, mealy bugs, moth eggs, leafhoppers, mites, asparagus beetle larvae, whitefly and various types of soft-bodied insects.

Releasing ladybugs into your garden is a really fun way to get kids interested in gardening and teach them about this amazing insect. We’ve got a great post filled with all kinds of fun ladybug facts for kids below, plus tips on how to gently and effectively release ladybugs into your garden and how to get started gardening with ladybugs.

84. Make fruit smoothies

There’s no better way to get your kids to eat healthy foods than by letting them be a part of the process. Kids can be involved in every step, growing their own food to harvesting/picking their own fruits and veggies and helping out in the kitchen. Even if you’re not growing your own food, let kids help pick out fruits and veggies from the grocery store or farmer’s market. Make fruit and veggie smoothies together with your selections. Kids love being involved and are much more likely to eat healthy if they’re part of the decision making process.

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

85. Make a stepping stone

Decorate your garden, lawn or walkway with beautiful concrete stepping stones that your kids made and decorated. All you need is a mold, some concrete mix and any decorations you want to use. Try colored stones, shells, glass or beads. Let them add their own items such as army men, marbles, trinkets, coins, etc. You could even buy a stepping stone mosaic kit with all this stuff included, just to make it easier on you. Add water to the concrete mix, pour in the mold and let the kids decorate. It takes a few days for the stones to completely dry and solidify, but you’ll have a forever keepsake of this season.

86. Host a field day

As the weather gets warmer, it’s time to get outside and active with the family. Do you remember how much you looked forward to field days when you were a kid, with three-legged races and egg-on-a-spoon competitions? If you have a big backyard or live near a public park or schoolyard, host your own field day for your family. Field days aren’t just for kids either—invite over the grandparents and cousins and ask other families in the neighborhood to join in on the fun.

Plan the games ahead of time and get everything set up before everyone arrives. Make games out of basic household items and add a few of those ‘Minute to Win It’-style games with things you find around the house. Mix it up so there’s something for everyone with scavenger hunts, races, art projects, sports, etc. Add some fun music and serve snacks and beverages for a great day of games!

87. Create a putt-putt course

You don’t have to hit the links when a golf course could be right in your own backyard. Using ordinary household objects to construct the course – like cereal boxes, cardboard tubes, and books – you can create this fun and challenging 9-hole miniature golf game the whole family will enjoy. Here’s a great post with all kinds of awesome ideas for creating your very own DIY putt-putt course in your backyard this spring.

Feature image credit: @paraphrasephoto

88. Make naturally dyed eggs

If you’d like to dye eggs with your kids this spring, but don’t want to use processed food dyes, try making your own dye from all-natural ingredients! Here’s a great post on how to use natural household ingredients to dye your eggs all kinds of beautiful colors. We walk you through our easy process using household ingredients from your backyard, fridge and pantry like blueberries (blue), beets (pink), turmeric (yellow), onions (orange) and cabbage (green/blue).

89. Look for frogspawn

Late spring is the perfect time to look for frogspawn and raise tadpoles. Check out your local pond and see if you can find some frogspawn to collect and bring home. You can place it in a tank of pond water at home with a few large stones in it. Over the next few weeks, watch as the frog spawn hatch into tadpoles and slowly change over the space of a few weeks into tiny little froglets. Once they are fully grown, be sure to release them back to the pond where they were collected. Check out our post all about raising tadpoles with kids.

90. Make a windsock

These tissue paper windsocks are a great way to add some color to your patio and let your kids decorate their environment in a fun way! Plus they are also an affordable craft that all your kids can enjoy as tissue paper can be found in several colors at your local dollar store. All you really need to make a tissue paper windsock is tissue paper, construction paper, glue, scissors, and yarn. Here’s a super cute tutorial on how to make a tissue paper windsock with your kids.

Feature image credit: @sara_mccarty

91. DIY bird feeder

Attract some local birds into your backyard by setting up a bird feeder. It’s easier than you think to make your own DIY bird feeders with your kids. We’ve got a great post on how to make easy bird feeders for kids with items and ingredients you already have at home and another post on ec0-friendly bird feeders to make with kids.

92. Fly a flag

June 14 is Flag Day in the US, which commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. Spend a little time with your kids this spring learning about flag day and the symbolism behind our flag. Celebrate by making some flag crafts and flying the stars and stripes.

93. Make a kaleidoscope

A kaleidoscope is a fun project to make with kids. You can either make it entirely on your own or start with a kit. We tried this Nature Kaleidoscope Kit which comes with everything you need to make the kaleidoscope, decorate it and experiment with it. The three mirrored pieces are sturdy and fit together easily. Just peel the plastic coating off (to prevent scratches) and use a piece of tape to keep them together in the triangle shape. Insert the eyepiece in one end of the tube, then the mirrors, and finally, add the plastic container with your nature objects at the other end.

The instructions were super easy to follow and my son assembled the whole thing by himself. This also got the kids thinking about which items they could find in nature or around the house to put in the kaleidoscope and had them guessing about whether the light would pass through them or not. Here’s our post all about how to make a nature kaleidoscope with kids.

Feature image credit: @kaseyfanucchi

94. Paint with rain

If you’re in need of a rainy day art project, this is for you! Get outside and make some April showers art by painting with the rain! All you need is some fairly thick paper, which can cope with getting wet, watercolor paints, paintbrushes, a few rocks to hold your paper in place and a rainy day. Start by painting an abstract design of your choice on your paper using your watercolor paints of a few different colors. You might like to place your paints very close together, or space them out – or try both and see what different effects you can create.

Be generous with your watercolor paints, and keep them liquid, adding plenty of water to blend the colors from your palette. While the paint is still wet, quickly take your paper outside. Use some rocks to hold the corners of your paper in place. Watch as the raindrops paint/change your picture, splattering your colors, making your paint spread and flow, perhaps blending one section of your art into another.

95. Seed sorting

When you’re discussing gardening with your kids this spring, add seed sorting project to your bucket list. All you need are a few different types of seeds and a few containers for holding them. Chose seeds that would likely be familiar to your kids (apple, pumpkin, corn, beans) and then throw in a few less recognizable ones for a challenge. Have your kids sort the seeds into containers using tweezers (to help develop those fine motor skills). While you’re at it, talk about the different kinds of seeds and how each plant grows. When you’re all finished, plant a few!

Feature image credit: @turtledove.a

96. Collect wild garlic

Wild garlic is a leafy green herb that emerges each spring from the forest floor, filling the entire area with a soft garlicky scent. The plant is composed of a tiny bulb that sprouts tender green leaves in early spring and then later on white flowers emerge. You can pick and eat both the leaves and flowers from plants you find growing in the wild but don’t dig up the plant or bulb up unless it’s growing on your own property. Collect the leaves and flowers of wild garlic to eat raw in salads or cook them down like spinach and make pesto. This is perfect for pasta dishes and it can be frozen in ice cube trays to use later in all sorts of meals. It has a subtle garlic flavor that is wonderful!

97. Hula hoop

Like jumping rope, hula hooping seems to be a lost art of childhood. Make sure your kids get the chance to experience the thrills and fun of a hula hoop. Watching kids learn how to hula hoop is absolutely adorable and worth the nominal price of a hoop. Play games, like who can keep it going the longest, who can make it go up and down their body or who can jump through it as it rolls down the sidewalk!

Feature image credit: @i_am_samhaines

98. Set up a hammock

Get your outdoor space ready for warm afternoons by setting up a hammock. Hammock naps are the perfect way to spend warm summer days. But until then, hammocks are also a great place to play, read a book, snuggle and spend time together. If it’s not warm yet, bring out a blanket and wrap up together in your hammock.

99. Insect hunt

There are so many interesting insects to find and learn about in the spring months. Take advantage of the warm weather by going on a bug hunt! See how many bugs you can find in your own backyard, local park or on a hike! Kids love finding crickets, caterpillars, ladybugs, grasshoppers, Junebugs, dragonflies, centipedes, butterflies and stinkbugs! If your kids are up for it, let them hold them and gently observe. Or take a photo of each or sketch them in your nature journal.

Feature image credit: @desireemacke

100. Sidewalk chalk games

There are so many fun ways to play with sidewalk chalk. We’ve already mentioned playing hopscotch, but there are plenty more! How about a game of four-square (do you remember that one)? What about hangman, tic-tac-toe or Dots. Make a bullseye and toss pebbles into the middle. If you’ve got a lot of kids in the neighborhood, make a friendship quilt by drawing a huge square and dividing it up into multiple smaller squares and letting each kid decorate their own patch. Draw the alphabet in big bubble letters and fill in each letter with words or pictures of things that start with that letter. Have your child lie down on the sidewalk and draw their chalk outline (like a crime scene) and then let them decorate their person.

Make an obstacle course or maze to walk or ride your bike on. There are so many fun ways to play with sidewalk chalk, which makes it a perfect outdoor springtime activity for kids. You can even make your own sidewalk chalk paint!

101. Sinks or floats

One of my kids’ favorite things to do is throw things in the water. They usually throw rocks, but they’re not opposed to tossing anything else in that they can find. When we’re out and exploring around water, we play the “sink or float?” game. Everyone finds a variety of objects to throw in the water and then we all guess whether they will sink or float. We’ve tried all kinds of things like sticks, seed pods, feathers, leaves, nuts, grass, pinecones, flower petals, etc.

Feature image credit: @christiebauerphotography

102. Watch a sunset

Spring is a wonderful time to curl up in a blanket and watch a sunset together. Since the days are just starting to get longer, sunset comes at a reasonable time for little ones to watch without staying up too late. Plus, the cool weather, the pops of green coming out of the trees and the smell of rain make it even more magical.

103. Outdoor family game night

Enjoy the cooler weather and create a family tradition of playing games outdoors in the fall! Whether it’s a traditional board game (like Monopoly or Life), a fun family card game (like Uno or Go Fish) or something a bit more interactive (charades or Pictionary), games are great outdoor activities. This is my personal favorite family game (and this i-spy game is my kids’ favorite).

104. Climb a wall

Climbing walls are all the rage at playgrounds and parks these days. Make a special visit to check one out this spring and let your kids attempt to conquer it. They’re super fun and exciting for kids and great for their full-body senses, balance, strength, and agility.

What’s your favorite outdoor spring activity for kids?

The post 100+ Spring Outdoor Activities for Kids appeared first on RUN WILD MY CHILD.

Incorporating nature into Easter crafts

I’m not sure what’s happening with the weather where you are, but here in the UK, we have seen blue skies and sunshine for the first time in what feels like forever!  Flowers are in bloom; birds are busy making nests, which means only one thing… it is Spring and very nearly Easter.  We love this time of year. There are so many activities to do outside with kids and everyone actually wants to be outside again.

We also love decorating our house at Easter. We love the nature-inspired reminders of new life through eggs and chicks, bunny rabbits, lambs (…but don’t forget the chocolate!).  This year we decided to go all out with our Easter decorating in our favorite way – with nature! We decided to make a few fun Easter-themed nature crafts from materials we could find in nature. Not only does this mean we got to spend time outdoors in nature together, but we also got to have fun, get messy (and crafty) in the spirit of the holiday all in one go.

Easter nature crafts for kids

Below I’ve included a few ideas for some nature crafts to do with your kids.  Each of these projects will be great for the upcoming holiday. Spread them out over the next couple weeks, as you won’t be able to do them all in one day. They are simple and fun for kids (and adults) of all ages.  Most of the crafts use things found in nature, but obviously, you will need some other crafting bits, too.  So, let’s get on with the fun part! Here are some entertaining ideas to brighten up your home and Easter table, with a few bonus yummy Easter treats mixed in, too!

Easter bunny nature picture card

This Easter craft activity is the simplest by far, but it’s so much fun! With this activity, you get to combine two favorite things – exploring outside and making a card for a family member or school friend.  All you need is to do to collect your materials is to go outside and explore your garden or local park and find the following:

• 2 bunny  ear-shaped leaves
• 1 bunny face-shaped leaf
• Twigs for whiskers
•  Something pink for a bunny’s nose or you could paint a stone.
• Something white for bunny’s teeth, we used petals.
• Goggly eyes
• Lots of PVA glue

We learned from previous craft activities that when you are trying to stick shiny, waxy leaves onto paper you need lots of PVA glue! And you need patience because you need to wait a while for it to become tacky (you can speed up the process by using a hairdryer if needs be).

Cover your paper and the leaves in glue and then place the leaves onto the paper where you want them. You’ll need to hold onto the paper, we had to rub the leaves and weigh them down with a lid. Draw your mouth and stick on the teeth and nose and eyes.  Then apply more glue for the sticks…we loved our end result, he makes us smile!

Nature-inspired Easter egg hunt

Everybody loves Easter egg hunts, right? Well, our version of an outdoor Easter egg hunt also incorporates nature. Instead of finding eggs, your kids will find fun things in nature that they can use to decorate a cardboard egg. This activity is great for big groups and kids of all ages. Small children can also get involved, which is great if you have toddlers and little ones. It will make a perfect Easter day activity as it can incorporate hiding chocolate eggs, too. 

Here’s what you will need for your nature-inspired egg hunt:

• PVA glue
• Cardboard
• White paper
• Scissors
• Treasure hunt clues
• Collecting pot/bowl/bag

We started by cutting out an egg shape from the cardboard and white paper and then stuck them together.  I then gave the children nature challenges such as going outside and finding:

• 10 stones
• 3 different things that are red
• 2 different shaped leaves etc
• 2 different colored flower petals
• evergreen needles
• 3 super tiny sticks

Every other turn, have the children run and find a chocolate egg! When you have completed the hunt you then use the nature treasures to decorate your eggs…and of course, eat the chocolate ones!

Egg-tastic mini herb garden

You will need:

• Egg box/carton
• Eggshells
• Herb Seeds (parsley, basil, chives, and watercress)
• Soil
• Scissors

Crack eggs with one large piece of shell and one small.  Place the large piece in the egg box, fill it with soil. Next, insert the seeds following the instructions on each of the seed packets. Water the soil and leave your egg card herb garden in a bright, warm place for the seeds to germinate. If you want to transfer the plants into your garden later, you can easily place the whole thing (eggshell and all) directly in! 

Pinecone spring chick

This fun craft is one that you can let your kids run with to make their own! There are no hard and fast rules – you can get as creative as you want! First, you will need to go on an adventure to a local woodland with evergreen and pine trees so that you can find some pinecones for this project. Next, you’ll need to gather the following craft supplies from your stash:

• Yellow paint mixed with PVA glue
• Orange foam or tissue paper for beak and feet
• Yellow feathers
• Goggly eyes

Let your child paint the pinecone with the yellow paint/glue mixture and then stick the feathers all over it. This is a fun (and messy) project, so we recommend doing this outside and using a washable paint (just in case). Next, cut a triangle from the orange foam or tissue paper as the beak and stick it onto the pinecone, along with the googly eyes. Ta da! You now have an adorable little pinecone chick! 

Easter tree decorations

Since becoming a parent, I’ve started to enjoy festive decorations more for all our holidays. Holiday decorations are such a fun and easy way to get kids excited about the next holiday and show off their amazing creativity. They’re usually fun and colorful and bring me so much joy looking at them and remembering the memories of making the decorations together. And for Easter, there’s nothing better than a small blossoming branch as a centerpiece for your dining table. If you want to make your own Easter tree, here’s how! 

You will need:

• Lots of eggs (white shell best, although they’re hard to find in the UK)
• Needle
• Cotton
• Paint
• Natural items
• Double-sided tape
• String/twine/raffia to hang the egg

The first step is to remove the inside of the egg from the shell by egg blowing! Have you ever done this? I remember egg blowing as a child (although I can’t remember why we were doing it), but this is obviously a fun memorable child activity. However, I will say that it is a lot harder than I remember! 

To start, you have to carefully use a needle to make a hole at both ends of the egg.  Rotating the needle is more effective for not cracking the egg. You want both holes to be small, but one should be big enough that the inside of the egg can pass through. 

Next, in order to blow the “guts” of the egg out, you need to seal your mouth over the smaller hole and blow gently.  It’s a good idea for the adult to start as after a few drops it gets easier.  Once you hit the yolk you might have to take over again as it takes quite a lot of puff to break it down through the hole. 

I have to be honest, I thought we were then going to thread the cotton through the egg to be able to hang it but every attempt resulted in a cracked egg! We ended up using double-sided tape and attaching the string or raffia to the egg and then painting over it. You can give it a try (hopefully you’ll have better luck than us) or just start with this little trick.

Next, let your kids paint the eggs, add stickers or glitter, or go into the garden and collect nature things to stick on them. While your little ones are searching for their nature decorations, you can find a pretty branch to cut and place in a vase with soil and top with small stones or wood chips.  Once your eggs are dry, hang them from your Easter tree/branch and use this as a centerpiece for your Easter table or tabletop decoration! 

Rocky-road chocolate bunnies

Now, this is our not-so-nature-loving activity! But, it is great for a rainy April shower kind of day. Plus, these are very yummy treats that your kids will love! The great thing is there is no need to measure or weigh.  Just chuck all the ingredients in a bowl and mix.

• 2 large bars of milk chocolate
• 1 bag or bar of Malteser chocolate
• Mini marshmallows
• Mini chocolate eggs
• Rice krispies/corn flakes or crushed biscuits/cookies
• Optional healthy things like raisins, cherries, dried cranberries, or apricots
• M&Ms
• Sweetie laces for whiskers
• Silicon mold

Break your chocolate up and place it in a glass bowl. Heat gently and slowly in a double boiler over a pan of boiling water. Make sure to stir regularly with a wooden spoon. While the chocolate is melting, lay out your bunny features in the mold (rice crispies for eyes, m & m for nose, cut up sweetie laces for whiskers).

Once the chocolate has melted (be patient, this may take a while – don’t rush it), remove from heat and add your crispy bits, crushed mini eggs, marshmallows, and anything else you fancy and spoon into molds.  This does need to be done quite quickly as the chocolate will start to solidify. We’ve had this cute silicone mold for years and never used it so this was a first for us! We were so excited to finally put it to good use.

Place mold into the fridge for 1-2 hours to solidify. Once the chocolate is solid, push your bunnies out of mold and EAT! Mmmmm! 

Making this candy treat was so much fun! We had a blast and ended up with a LOT of candy. We’ll be giving these yummy treats as gifts to the family for Easter.

Spring crafts for kids

We hope you enjoy being creative with these spring and Easter nature crafts for kids. We hope this has inspired you to get outside and look for fun and useful nature treasures to use in your crafting projects. Spring is such a fun time of year to get outside and see nature coming to life around you. Now, go outside and play! 

 Are you incorporating nature into your spring decorations this year?

About the author

Hannah Martin has worked as a PE Teacher in the UK for 15 years. She has always loved being active outdoors. However, she discovered a new passion for nature and appreciating the environment when she had her son Hobie (now 5 years old). Hannah and Hobie’s vision is to inspire parents to spend time doing fun, creative, nature activities outdoors with their children; no matter where they live and whatever the weather. They believe spending time together outdoors as a family will encourage future generations to love and care for the world, wildlife, and environment.

Find more from Hannah (and Hobie) in the following locations:
Instagram: @hobies_nature_club
Website: hobiesnatureclub.co.uk
YouTube channel: Hobie’s Nature Club
RWMC Posts: Hannah Martin

The post Easter Nature Crafts for Kids appeared first on RUN WILD MY CHILD.

An art project that promotes outdoor activity

Have you ever wanted to complete a practical, yet creative art project with your children that you can use outdoors? Wouldn’t it be great if your crafts actually inspired your kids to be active and get outside? Ever wish there was a way to kids your kids more excited about hiking?

Well, making and decorating a hiking stick with your kids might be the perfect project for you! Making a hiking stick with kids is a fun and easy activity that will not only get their creative juices flowing, but it will also get them excited about their next hike. You can make this art project as simple or intricate as you’d like. Also, completing this project that is beautiful and serves a purpose is creating functional art! 

Why walk with a hiking stick?

When walking on an uneven surface, a hiking stick can provide support and help you keep your balance. For example, while walking uphill, a hiking stick can dig into the ground to use as an aid to pull yourself up. Conversely, hiking stics can be used as anchors to give yourself something to steady yourself when walking downhill. They are even proven to improve posture when walking on a flat surface.

Need more reasons to use a hiking stick? Hiking sticks can also be used to brush spiderwebs out of your path, check the depth of a puddle in your way, or push thorn bushes aside. They’re really practical and handy to have when you’re out on the trail. These tools aren’t just for adults either, hiking sticks are for kids, too!

Making hiking sticks appealing to kids

While the logical reasons behind using a hiking stick make it worth your while when hiking, a child might still not be interested in carrying one. My kids love finding hiking sticks, but they don’t necessarily need or use them much.

However, kids are involved in creating their own decorated hiking stick, they might be more interested in using it, as well as being proud of their accomplishment. Once they start carrying a hiking stick around, they may find other fun uses for one. My boys like to use their hiking sticks for walking but also to draw in the dirt, poke at rotting wood or mushrooms, or have the occasional sword fight. They have even been known to use discarded buoys found on the beaches as hiking sticks! 

List of items need to make a decorated hiking stick with your kids

The good news is that you really don’t need anything above and beyond to decorate your hiking stick. Other than the stick itself, there’s no need to buy or order anything special. Art and craft supplies you already have at home will do just fine. Here’s a list of art and craft supplies you could use: 

• Carving knife, curved draw, or an ax
• Electric sander or sandpaper, both will work
• Varnish (optional)
• Acrylic paint (this paint worked wonderfully on the wood, I highly recommend it!)
• Paintbrushes
• Drop cloth
• Masking tape or washi tape (optional)
• Power drill
• Paracord, leather strips, or twine for handle loop
• Yarn for journey stick (directions included in this article)
• Scissors

Locating a hiking stick with your kids

Finding the perfect hiking stick to use can be as easy as looking along a trail or in your yard (if you’re lucky enough to live near the woods). We found branches in the woods near our house to use for our hiking sticks. It took a while to find ones that were not wholly decaying, but we didn’t want to cut down any live trees for this project. 

Fresher wood is better for making a hiking stick because it’s less likely to be dried out and brittle. Keep that in mind during your hiking stick search. Just be sure to inspect the sticks you’re finding on the ground for any insect activity (as you probably wouldn’t want to bring these into your home) or decay (mold/fungi growth). 

How to find the perfect hiking stick

When searching for a sturdy hiking stick, the essential qualities you are looking for are: (1) hard sturdy wood, and (2) a generally straight stick. The types of hardwood trees are maple, ash, cedar, beech, cherry, aspen, and others. But, use what you can find. We used some oak branches because the woods around our home are mainly pine and oak.

Also, you want the hiking stick to be about one to two inches in diameter and at a comfortable height for walking. Of course, everyone’s preference is different, but generally, an adult’s hiking stick can be about 55-65″ in length, and children’s can be shorter. Typically, you want a hiking stick to come up about three inches or so below your underarm. If you find a straight hard wood stick that’s longer, you can always cut it down. A hiking stick that’s too short, won’t be as helpful or useful. 

How to prepare a hiking stick

Once you find the chosen stick that you’d like to work with, there are a series of steps to follow to make it suitable to decorate and hike with. Here are the steps we took to prepare our hiking sticks. 

1. Remove the bark

First, you will want to whittle or carve off the bark of the stick. This will help keep you from getting splinters and make the stick easier to grip and decorate. You can remove the bark with a knife, a curved draw, or even an ax. However, if you want a rustic-looking hiking stick with more of a natural feel, you can keep the bark on. It’s really up to your preferences!

Some types of hardwood have two layers of bark and need to be scraped down twice. This can be a lot of work, don’t get discouraged! Older kids can help with this process with adult supervision and guidance. Remind them to always carve away from your body and not to try to go too fast. 

2. Let your hiking stick air dry

Before applying any paint or varnish to your hiking stick, you want to make sure it is completely dry. We made the mistake of leaving our hiking sticks in the trunk of my SUV to dry, and then our dog, Jetty, found them and decided to use them as chew toys! Needless to say, they were a bit wet and slobbery (and in pieces) when we were ready for them.

So, I’d recommend putting them in a safe place, out of reach from any pets who enjoy a nice stick as a snack. Depending on the climate and time of year, the drying process may take up to a couple of weeks. 

How to prepare your hiking stick for painting

Once your hiking stick is nice and dry, you’ll want to get it ready for painting and decorating. Use sandpaper to smooth out any inconsistencies, knots, or raw parts of the hiking stick. We started with an electric sander, but the hand-held sandpaper seemed to work better (although it took longer). Once you’ve entirely sanded your hiking stick, wipe it off with a damp rag to remove any sawdust. 

If you’d like to add a handle loop to the top of your hiking stick, now would be a great time to add a hole at the top of your stick. We made a hole with a power drill and a small bit. You can make a wrist loop with a variety of materials, including leather, paracord, ribbon, rope, string, or twine. (I will add more information on making these handle wrist loops later in the article.)

How to paint your hiking stick

Set up your supplies for painting your hiking stick in a well-ventilated area. If possible, paint it outdoors! Get all your materials set out and ready. Gloves and a mask are a good idea, as well as a drop cloth or old sheet to prevent paint splatter on furniture or floors.

If you are choosing to varnish your hiking stick, follow the instructions on the product of your choosing. This technique will create a simple look that will let the natural wood grain shine through. 

If you choose to go for a more colorful look, as we did, you may want to start by giving your hiking stick a base coat of white paint. The white basecoat allows the bright colors to show up more vividly. For extra vivid colors, you may want to do a few coats of paint so that they really pop!

How to decorate a hiking stick with paint

There are no rules when using paint to decorate your hiking sticks with kids! Let them be the creative director and see what they dream up. My youngest wanted to make a rainbow with every color possible, and my oldest wanted to make a ringed pattern. Both of their projects came out so great and matched their personalities too!

I asked if they wanted to use masking tape to create “negative space” on their sticks as I did with mine, but they both declined. Masking tape and washi tape are helpful with this technique to make clean lines. 

Other creative ways to decorate a hiking stick with paint are: polka dots, rainbow patterns, alternating colors, repeating patterns of large and small stripes, swirls or other textures, etc. 

How to make a wrist loop for your hiking stick

So, why do you need a wrist loop for your hiking stick in the first place? Well, it’s really for safety reasons. If you happen to drop your stick while walking, it will be wrapped around your wrist and won’t go tumbling down the mountain. But, it is also helpful for storage! You can hang your stick by its loop when you’re not using it. It also just looks nice to have some extra color and decoration. 

Choosing what material to use for your wrist trap is up to you. My favorite thing to use is whatever you have on hand! Again, no need to buy anything new. If you happen to have some rope – that works! If you have some paracord, that’s great! Being conscious about commercial consumption and using materials on hand is always the best option, in my opinion.

Braided hiking stick wrist loop

Plait a simple braid together with three pieces of whatever material you choose and then string it through the hole you made at the top of your hiking stick. But, first, make sure the loop fits comfortably around your wrist. 

We used paracord, which is easy to manipulate, strong, and comes in various colors. If you choose paracord, make sure to melt the ends that you cut, so it doesn’t fray. Melting the material is easy to do with a lighter or match. Using a flame is a job for an adult or a supervised older child.

How to create journey sticks

While researching making hiking sticks with kids, I found an enjoyable activity to do with your completed hiking stick. The concept of a Journey Stick originated in Australia with the Aboriginal people. When they went on an expedition, they would attach objects from their trip to a wooden shaft in chronological order as reminders of their travels. They would then use these items to tell stories about their voyages when they returned home. 

The journey sticks were visual representations of the story of the journey. Storytelling is an important skill for kids to learn. We as humans are more likely to attach importance to a story when we see ourselves as a part of it. When children are asked to recount the story of their adventures and explorations, they become active learners, leaders, and caretakers of their environment.  

Creating journey sticks with kids

You can use your decorated hiking stick (or any hiking sticks) to create a journey stick with your kids. We took a simple wooden hiking stick out on a local trail through the woods to use as our journey stick. We brought scissors and yarn with us and I explained that we could pick up anything we wanted to tie to our stick in order to tell the story of our hike.

My youngest required help with the tying, but he chose each of his treasures by himself. Picking out items to attach to his stick made him slow down and pay attention to his surroundings; it was beautiful! He ended up choosing pine needles, a leaf that “looked like an owl,” a piece of a fir tree, a pine cone, holly leaves, lichen, phragmites, and sea myrtle. When we returned home and looked at his journey stick, I was so surprised that he could remember exactly where he found each unique token and recount the story of our hike. 

Try this on a hike with your kids and see what they find! For more info, we have a great post on making journey sticks with kids. 

Fun facts about hiking sticks:

After investigating all about hiking sticks and how to make them with your kids, I found some pretty fascinating factoids I thought I should share:

1. Someone who collects walking sticks is called a rabologist. (I can see adding this name to my resume!)
2. Hiking sticks are not only used for support but also for self-defense or as a fashion accessory.
3. Henry VIII was once arrested for beating a constable with his walking stick!
4. The Smithsonian has a cane with a golden handle given to President George Washington by Benjamin Franklin.
5. Tutankhamun was discovered with 130 walking sticks buried in his tomb, as he had a clubbed foot. 
6. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy estimates that 90% of through-hikers use hiking sticks or poles on the Appalachian Trail. 

If you don’t have time to DIY a hiking stick

If you’d still like to get the benefits of using a hiking stick but don’t have the time or the resources to find or make your own, there are premade ones that are acceptable alternatives. Also, many people choose to use two hiking poles rather than one hiking stick. The aluminum construction allows them to be very lightweight. I’ve included options below for both poles and sticks, and there are some great options online. 

The best hiking sticks for kids:

• These aluminum hiking poles are collapsable and lightweight.
• These REI brand kids hiking poles are aluminum with plastic grips.
• These customizable kid-sized hiking sticks are made from birch and are sold on Etsy.

The best hiking sticks for adults:

• These REI brand adult-sized hiking poles are made from aluminum with cork handle grips.
• These foldable adult-sized hiking poles are lightweight and have tungsten carbide tips.
• This wooden custom-made hiking stick from Etsy comes with an interchangeable tip, an alpine tip for trail walking, and a rubber bottom for paved surfaces.

Children’s hiking book recommendations

After decorating your hiking sticks with your kids, read these wonderful children’s books all about hiking and exploring nature!

• Mrs. Peanuckles Hiking Alphabet, by Mrs. Peanuckle
• Let’s Go on a Hike, by Katrina Lu
• Hiking Day, by Anne Rockwell
• Hike, by Pete Oswald
• The Hike, by Alison Farell
• Spring Hike, by Dineo Dowd

More resources about hiking with kids 

If you’re interested in more great content about hiking with kids, be sure to check out the following posts:

• Best Hiking Shoes for Kids
• 10 Hiking Essentials for Families
• Best Baby Carriers for Hiking
• Trail-Test & Kid-Approved Hiking Snacks
• Ultimate List of Outdoor Gear for Kids

Are you ready to make a hiking stick with your kids?

About the author

Lissy lives near the ocean on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband, 2 rambunctious boys (aged 4 & 7), and an ever-growing number of pets. She grew up walking nature trails and finding joy in the beauty of nature. She now shares that love for local adventures with her community through her blog, “Get Outside Cape Cod”. Lissy knows that everyone can benefit from spending more time outdoors, and wants to inspire and support families to do just that!

You can find more from Lissy in the following online locations:
Instagram: @getoutsidecapecod
Website: Get Outside Cape Cod
Facebook: @getoutsidecapecod
RWMC Posts: Lissy Perna

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Kids are fascinated with snow

Growing up in Southern California, I was always fascinated with snow. But, unless we made a trip to the mountains, we didn’t have very many opportunities to play with snow. My children (being raised in Texas) are a lot like I was as a child. They love the snow, and apart from the rare snowstorm we experienced last year, they don’t have a lot of experience playing with real snow. We do, however, enjoy making and playing with our own snow! Making your own snow is very simple, and it is an amazing sensory activity for all ages. Today, I’ll show you how to make your own DIY snow and why sensory activities like this are so beneficial for kids.

Why are sensory activities so beneficial?

Making your own snow is an awesome sensory activity for your child. Sensory activities are enjoyable for children, and more importantly, are incredibly beneficial to their cognitive development. They aid in the development of motor skills, problem-solving, and creativity. During sensory play, a child can describe what they are touching, tasting, hearing, seeing, smelling, or experiencing through their body sensations, which helps with language development. Movements involved in sensory play (squeezing, pinching, sorting, placing, and scooping) help improve fine motor skills and increase coordination.

These activities also give children the opportunity to learn through exploration and play, which is amazing for young children and early learners. Adding sensory elements into teaching can spark an interest in learning. Sensory play is engaging and fun because it is an unstructured form of play in which there are no real limits or rules. Children who learn through play get more enjoyment out of it and thus, want to do more of it. 

Let it “fake” snow!

The thing that I love so much about this DIY snow recipe is that it could not any simpler. There is no need to run from store to store to find random ingredients – everything you need to make snow is probably already in your home! Each of our DIY snow recipes listed below only needs TWO ingredients. That’s it! So, are you ready to let it snow! 

Three DIY snow recipes for kids

There are three different ways you can make DIY snow at home for your kids. Each of these recipes only requires two ingredients that can be found in your home. Each snow recipe makes a slightly different type of snow. Depending on what you want to use the snow for, you can pick the one that works best for your purposes or make it extra fun and try out all three! 

1. Baking soda moldable snow recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups baking soda
• 1/2- 1 cup hair conditioner

Instructions for baking soda moldable snow

Our favorite DIY snow recipe is the baking soda moldable snow recipe. Grab a mixing bowl and pour in your baking soda. After you have poured your baking soda into the bowl, add in your conditioner (shampoo may also work).

Start with a 1/2 cup of shampoo or conditioner and add more if needed until you get your desired consistency. I tend to add more shampoo or conditioner because I feel like the snow can be molded easier. I usually use conditioner, but this time I used shampoo and did not notice a real difference. So, you can use whichever you have on hand. Both the shampoo and baking soda were purchased at Dollar Tree.

This keeps surprisingly well, even uncovered. However, for a longer play, I would recommend storing it in an airtight container or sealed bag. If you do keep it uncovered, you will need to add more water or shampoo after a day or so to make it moldable again. We’ve kept the “snow” out uncovered for a couple of days and it still had the same consistency. 

2. Powder snow recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups baking soda
• 1 cup water

Instructions for powder snow 

If you are uncomfortable using shampoo or conditioner, I would suggest giving this powder snow recipe a try. Grab your mixing bowl and pour in the baking soda. After you have poured in the baking soda, add your water about a tablespoon at a time until you achieve your desired consistency. This “snow” will not be moldable, but it is still great for sensory bins and can even be used for other fun sensory activities. 

3. Shaving cream moldable snow recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shaving cream*
• 1 cup corn starch

Instructions for shaving cream moldable snow 

Grab a mixing bowl and pour in your corn starch. After you have poured your corn starch into the bowl, add in your shaving cream. Start with a 1/2 cup of shaving cream and add more if needed until you get your desired consistency.

*A note about using shaving cream. While this is another simple way to make snow, this honestly wasn’t our favorite due to the smell. I had the hardest time getting a hold of unscented shaving cream. The smell of the typical shaving cream can be a bit overpowering, especially if you are not used to strong scents. After we made our snow using the shaving cream, the scent lingered around the room for days. The texture of the snow, however, was great and it was very moldable. 

Ideas for playing with DIY snow

You can let your children play with the snow as is, or you can create your very own Winter Wonderland for them to enjoy. I tend to land on the “Pinterest Mom” side and decided to create a Winter scene sensory bin for my kids using the snow we made. The powder DIY snow recipe is the best option for this type of sensory play. 

Aside from the bin itself, the materials and toys used to create our snow sensory bin were all purchased at Dollar Tree. Because it is Christmas time, there were a lot of items from which to choose. The bin was purchased long ago at IKEA. I reuse this bin a lot for various sensory activities throughout the year. 

If you are creating a snow sensory bin for babies or children under 3, I would highly suggest skipping the small toys that we used. Instead, you can add objects like large plastic ornament balls, or simply let them play with the snow with nothing added.

Embrace the mess

So often, parents are leery of having their children play with sensory bins or do sensory activities inside the home because they are MESSY! I completely understand. However, as long as you are prepared, messy play can be great for kids and actually adds to the sensory experience.

This is not a nice and neat activity. But, it is one that I 100% recommend. My sensory-seeking 5-year-old was fully engaged and playing with our DIY snow for close to an hour. He was totally focused. I witnessed him experimenting with building, role-playing with the character toys, and observing the differences in texture.

While the “snow” did not all stay inside of the bin, the learning through exploration that I saw made it all worth it. Plus, after he was finished he requested to use the vacuum to clean up the mess. So, that’s a double win in my book!

If you are still unconvinced about allowing messy play inside, I would advise using a large towel, sheet, or splat mat underneath the bin for easier cleanup. This is also a great activity that can be done outside because even on the hottest day this is snow that will not melt.

Winter sensory play for kids

Creating a “snow” sensory activity for your child can be great fun! We hope these simple DIY snow recipes lead to hours and hours of fun sensory play for your kids this winter. Sensory activities are an incredible way for children to engage all of their senses. Did you know that engaging most, if not all, of the senses actually aids in the creation of neural pathways in the brain? Something as simple as playing with fake snow can be so beneficial.

Which snow recipe will you make for your kids?

About the author

Lauren is a California native turned Texan, who loves to get out in nature and discover hidden gems all around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She is a wife and homeschooling mama to three kids who definitely keep her on her toes. She truly believes in the value of homeschooling and that there are learning opportunities available all around us. In addition to homeschooling, Lauren is also an entrepreneur; she’s the co-owner of Crunchy Boutique (a natural-living/eco-friendly boutique). 

You can find more from Lauren in the following places:
Instagram: @crunchymamadfw
Facebook: @crunchymamadfw
RWMC Posts: Lauren Cain

The post Make Your Own Snow: 3 Simple DIY Snow Recipes for Kids appeared first on RUN WILD MY CHILD.

Candle making with kids

The holidays with kids are pure magic! Being together, creating a cozy little place for our family, taking time off from work, and most of all, no stress! Ha! Not quite. When you realize you are late on buying Christmas gifts for your family, or forgot a few people on your list, there’s no need to worry. Today, I am going to show you the secret gift that will fit perfectly in the cozy ambiance of the holidays and makes everyone shine!

Candles made by the little hands of your children are the perfect gift for everyone on your list. No doubt that grandma and granddad or your kids’ godparents will be charmed by this thoughtful and original present. Plus, holiday candle-making with kids is the perfect activity to keep your little ones busy on a cold and wet winter day!  

The magic of candles

The holidays without candles don’t really feel the same, don’t you think? The jumping flickering little yellow light brings joy and magic into your house. The moment I light candles around our home, my girls will be next to me asking to blow out the candles. Some invisible power just pulls them towards the light.

I have to admit, fire really scares me. Fire can be dangerous, so please approach this activity (and anything having to do with fire) with the utmost caution. Give your kids constant reminders of fire rules and safety. When our girls were tiny, I would be the first to tell the girls to be careful and stay away from the candles. Now that they are bigger and aware of the danger we’re able to enjoy the beauty together, with a bit less stress. 

The history of candles and candle making

Candles have come a long way since their initial use. For more than 5,000 years candles were used as a source of light. Little is known about the origin, but Egyptians were already using candles in 3.000 B.C. Papyrus and beeswax were the base for these wicked candles. Worldwide different ways were found to mold candles. Ancient Chinese candles are said to be made of wax from insects combined with seeds, Japanese candles were made of wax extracted from tree nuts. In India, candle wax was made by boiling fruit of the cinnamon tree. We are very happy to see that this tradition has been kept, as cinnamon is our favorite candle scent!

Holiday candle making safety

Before you begin making your own candles with hot wax, we’ve got some safety groundrules to cover. Make sure you are able to make your candles in a safe location and with the proper equipment. When melting wax, I use a stable pot on our kitchen stove. Make sure you also warn your children about the heat and keep them at a distance. My girls can sit around our kitchen island nearby, so that they can see and follow the process from a safe distance. When pouring the wax, the girls kept a distance good distance to maintain safety. Take your time for this creative activity. It will take you a couple of hours for melting to decorating (and cleaning for the parents).

Take it outside

If you live some place where it’s warm outside (or want to try this activity in the warmer months), consider taking this project outside! You and melt your wax over a campfire or even on the grill. You can add all kinds of fun nature decoration that you find in your yard or local area. It’s a great outdoor family activity that your kids will love! 

How to get started making candles with kids

Gather your materials

DIY candle making is not only a fun and easy activity for families, it’s very gentle for your budget. You can probably find all the basic items needed for this activity in your house. When you have creative kids like mine, you probably already have a box (or 10) of craft supplies and little odds and ends. 

All about wicks

Some people prefer to buy wicks, but you don’t have to. We just used the cotton twine we had in the house, which worked perfectly. Purchased wicks come in different types and sizes. The types are flat braid, square braid, metal core, and paper core. The sizes are small, medium, and large diameter. The larger or longer-burning the candle, the larger diameter the wick.

Candle molds

There are a variety of cacle molds available for purchase, but you certainly don’t ned to buy anything for this project. You can make candle molds from things you find around your kitchen, such as wax-coated fruit juice cans, milk cartons, canning jars, paper cups, and various empty food containers. Even shells or empty fruit shells make great containers. This is a great way to give some of those soon to be discared/recycled items a bit more life! We just love recycling! Check out for more recycling ideas with kids.

Candle scents

There are a variety of additives to make stylish, trendy, deliciously scented candles. I am a major fan of natural ingredients like cinnamon and dried herbs, and fruits. You can use a few drops of your favorite essential oil or even purchase specific scented oils specially made for candles and other products (soap, shampoos, etc.). 

Candle making supplies:

• Leftovers of used candles or old candles
• Glass jar (or other candle mold)
• Toilet paper rolls/Pringles tubes/milk cartons/etc
• Solid cotton string, twice or wick
• Accessories: glitter, beads, dried flowers, herbs or fruits, cinnamon sticks, spices, oils
• Wooden stick or pencil
• Scissors
• A double boiler (you can create one using two pots of a different size)

Making candles in a glass jar

1. Fill the biggest pot of a double boiler with just enough water that the small pot doesn’t float around. Add water to the pot if it evaporates. Don’t let it boil down. Melt the wax in the top double boiler pot. 
2. Decorate your jar from the inside before putting the wax in. My girls put glitter inside. We used a paper napkin with glitter glue to transfer it to the glass (a paintbrush would also work great). You could also decorate the inside with dried flowers or coffee beans or whatever you think is pretty. This is where your kids’ imagination gets to shine!
3. Cut a length of wick and dip it in the wax a few times to coat. Wrap the wick around the wooden stick or pencil and roll it until it’s the right length for the mold you choose.
4. When the wax is melted, use a potholder to pour it into the mould, holding it at an angle and pouring the wax down the side. Set aside some of the melted wax for later.
5. Put the wick in the exact middle of the mold. We used different colors, so the wick was already in there after the first layer.
6. Let it cool for about an hour. (If you’re impatient like us, you can put the jars outside to cool.)
7. Reheat the leftover wax. Fill in the holes in the candle around the wick wherever needed by pouring wax up to the original fill line. Repeat as necessary until filled.

We worked in layers to get a different effect. This means repeating the steps above several times. Each time we added a layer, we had to wait until the previous one is hard enough. It takes a little bit more patience, but the result is fantastic.

Making candles in a tube

The steps for making a candle in a tube (paper towel roll or toilet paper roll) or other removable mold are slightly different. Melt the wax as described above, but instead of decorating a glass jar, you’ll need to prep your tube.

Use a straight/flat surface (like the lid of a jar) and put the mould on top. We used an empty toilet paper roll and a pickle jar lid. Pour a bit of melted wax on the lid and inside the mould and let it cool so that it’s connected and won’t leak. Now, as you continue the candle making process (as described above), the wax will not leak out when you fill the mold. Once your candle is completely made to the fill line and hardened, you peel the paper tube off the wax to reveal your beautiful candle! 

The fun thing about this kind of candle is that you can decorate the candle once the mold is removed. You can use special wax deco pens or just add fun decorations like sequins or stamps. Your children will love creating their own personal candle!

Keep the candle making going

There are so many different ways of making candles. So one piece of advice I can give you for the next couple of weeks: don’t throw away your candle leftovers! Ask your friends and family to keep their for you as well, so you can make your own candles from time to time. It’s a great way to connect with your children. That way, instead of buying new candles (and spending money), you can recycle your candle remains and make your house shine again! 

Have you ever made your own candles? 

About the author

Tine is a natural-born adventurer from Belgium. She met her husband, soulmate, and the father of her two girls while working and living in the Dominican Republic. Nine years ago they moved back to Europe and are still exploring European grounds. Her happy place is wherever her kids are, but she spices up life by discovering unknown places, planning new adventures, and going outdoors as much as possible. Having kids added a big value to her life, because seeing life through the eyes of her little ones lifted it to a completely different dimension. Their family goal is to travel the world, living a location-independent lifestyle. The family is now working on a couple of projects to make this dream happen! In the meantime, they keep on exploring and Tine keeps on writing and inspiring other families to explore just like them. 

You can find more from Tine online in the following locations:
Instagram: @kidsdelmundo
RWMC posts: Tine Voeten
Website: www.kidsdelmundo.com

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