Being outside in the natural world sure beats screentime! The whole family is likely to move around more, and stress levels will certainly decrease as you focus on the beauty and variety found in our lovely town! The ideas on this list of outdoor nature activities for you and your kids are easy to implement. Enjoy!
- Have a snack at a local park, and focus on healthful, natural eating by packing hummus and veggies, a fresh fruit salad, trail mix, and kale chips. My family’s favorite parks have large green areas for the kids to run around and play. We especially like Town Green Park, Market Street's Central Park, and The Lawn at The Woodlands Mall.
- Find a ready-made scavenger hunt checklist online, or create your own, and hit the trails. Some popular items to add to a summertime scavenger hunt list are butterflies, earthworms, berries, and frogs. Older children might want to just collect a variety of different types of leaves from various trees, then create a collection or do a leaf rubbing project.
- Take the art studio outdoors. Bring pads to draw, sketch, or paint (watercolor is great for outdoors because you can get an all-in-one palette, and all you'll need to add is a cup of water), and create your works of art outside. Consider a landscape theme and encourage your crew to paint fields of flowers, bodies of water, mountains, and forests.
- Don't just send the kids out, the grown-ups need outside time too. Even if you think there’s nothing special out there (no indulgent swimming pool, no lush landscaping), heading out into the sunshine (or rain) can be therapeutic for your mental health. Enjoy a family read-aloud on the back porch. Tie dye t-shirts. Make smore's or have a weenie roast. If nothing else, sit still and enjoy the fresh air while your kids make mud pies. Feel free to break out the hula hoops, chalk, jump ropes, and bubble machine.
- Create a nature journal for everyone in the family. No special tools are required, and the more homemade-looking the journal is, the better. You can construct each journal with sheets of blank paper sandwiched between two thin pieces of cardboard, Punch holes in all and bind with twine or rope. Adorn with small twigs, leaves, and other natural materials.
- Search for creepy crawlies. Equip everyone with a magnifying glass and hunt for ladybugs, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and other insects that are plentiful during this season.
- Pack water bottles and granola bars for everyone, and take an early morning hike. Bring along a portable speaker to listen to Vivialdi's Four Seasons while you walk. Bring your nature journals and make periodic stops to encourage everyone to take in the scenery and sketch. Younger kids will delight in finding the various different shapes in nature.
- Read summer-themed books together in a hammock or another cozy outdoor spot. I recommend loading up a backpack and visiting the Mercer Botanic Gardens. Have a seat on their bench swings or in their Shakespeare Garden, and enjoy favorite picture books of the season.
- Improve fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination with spring lacing cards. You can make your own by printing out clip art of large animals, laminating them, and punching holes around the perimeter of the animal. Then your child can use a shoestring to practice the in-and-out motion of lacing.
- Invite birds in your yard by building bird feeders and a bird bath.
- Plant a garden – flowers, veggies, or both! If you don’t know the first thing about gardening, try a raised garden bed in the corner of your yard. You can find an easy-to-assemble kit at the local hardware store.
- Play with small animals. In the late springtime and early summer, many local farms are open for regular visits, and you can pet baby goats, chickens, pigs, and more. Favorites in our area: 7 Acre Woods, Oil Ranch, TGR Exotics Wildlife Ranch, and The Learning Zoo.
- Feeling crafty? Some of our favorite nature crafts can be done outdoors! Create a wreath for the new season. make dream catchers, or paint rocks.
- Sensory play is an easy way to keep the kids busy outdoors. Fill a sand & water table, or create your own sensory table by putting lots of natural items in a bin. Your child might like exploring, squishing, and playing with flower petals, new types of fruit or vegetables, beans, rice, pasta shells, homemade playdough, whipped cream, and lumore. Incde scoops, cups, and large spoons, but make sure your child knows he can use his hands also for an unbeatable sensory experience. Be mindful of your little one's age, and watch for choking hazards.
