Simple outdoor activities for kids to beat boredom

5 ice creams on a stick - ideas for outdoor activities for kids.

Keeping kids entertained during weekends, school holidays, and summer break is challenging. However, finding the right outdoor activities for kids can provide hours of fun, while encouraging creativity, movement, curiosity, and even quality family time.

In this post you’ll discover a variety of simple outdoor activity ideas to keep your kids entertained, and help beat boredom.

You’ll find outdoor adventures like exploring new places, and going on nature walks, plus simple backyard activities including camping, movie nights, and creative play ideas.

You’ll also discover activities to help kids burn energy, food inspired activities like picnics and ice cream sundae stations, and many other easy activity ideas you can try.

Whether you need something quick to set up at home, or inspiration for a family day out, these fun things to do outside with kids will help you make the most of your time outdoors.

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Outdoor adventures

From exploring nature, to visiting new places, these outdoor adventures will please the whole family.

Go fruit picking

Fruit picking is a great way to have fun outdoors, and to also teach your kids more about where food comes from.

During this outdoor activity kids can:

Pick their own fruit
Learn about different plants and fruit varieties
Try fruit they may not normally eat
Bake something with the fruit they pick

Visit a zoo or wildlife park

Zoos and wildlife parks are a great place to explore, and to see animals close up that your kids may never have seen before.

To make this day out fun you could:

Make it a competition to see who can find a certain animal first
Get your kids to write a story about their favourite animal

Go on a morning walk

Morning walks are an easy way to add outdoor time to your family’s routine.

You could walk in your neighbourhood, or try a new walking trail, and while walking search for interesting birds, insects, leaves or stones.

Be a tourist in your own town

This is an activity that I love doing with my kids, which is being a tourist in your own town by visiting local attractions you’ve never been to before.

Some places you could visit include:

Farms
Museums
New walking routes
Parks

Cherry blossom tree - ideas for outdoor activities for kids.

Backyard activities

Your backyard is a great place for your kids to play, create, and explore.

Here are some backyard activities that are perfect for when you want to keep your kids entertained, but you’d also like to stay home and get your own things done.

Create a backyard camping experience

You don’t need to visit a camping site to enjoy the camping experience, you can do the same thing in your own backyard.

Camping in your backyard is one of the many fun outdoor activities for kids that you can try, and if you do, you can incorporate some of these activities into your camping experience:

Eating dinner outside
Stargazing
Telling stories
Toasting marshmallows

Make a bird feeder

When it comes to things to do outside with kids, making and hanging a bird feeder is perfect for kids who love bird watching.

You can make your own bird feeder or buy a bird feeder, and don’t forget to get some bird food.

Have an outdoor movie night

Summer evenings are perfect for outdoor movie nights.

Some things you’ll need for this outdoor activity are:

An outdoor projector
An outdoor screen
Blankets
Snacks
Comfortable outdoor seats

3 ice creams on a stick - ideas for outdoor activities for kids.

Creative activities

Creative activities aren’t limited to the indoors, here are some outdoor creative activities that your kids can try.

Make an outdoor scavenger hunt

Scavenger hunts are a great way to encourage problem-solving and creativity.

Some scavenger hunt ideas include:

Searching for items of a certain colour
Looking for nature items like stones, butterflies, or flowers
Completing photo challenges and turning them into a collage

Collect seashells

If you’re visiting the beach, you can get your kids to collect seashells and see who finds the most shells, or the most unusual shell, which you can create artwork with once you get home.

Try outdoor messy play

Doing messy play outdoors makes clean up easy.

Some outdoor messy play ideas that my kids love are:

Bug hunts
Drawing with chalk
Getting mucky in a mud kitchen
Getting wet with water guns or water balloons
Painting
Playing with slime

Start a garden

Gardening is a fantastic outdoor activity for kids because they’re able to see things grow over time.

Some fruit and vegetables that are easy to grow include:

Blackberries
Blueberries
Carrots
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Raspberries
Strawberries
Sunflowers
Tomatoes

Plants in pot, gardening tools - ideas for outdoor activities for kids.

Active activities

Here are some active outdoor activities are a great way for kids to burn off energy.

Have a sports day

Create your own sports day at home, which can include:

For younger children:

Bean bag throwing
Egg and spoon races
Hula hooping
Simple obstacle courses
Three legged races

For older children:

Football competitions
Challenging obstacle courses
Relay races
Water games

Visit new parks

If your kids are anything like mine, they quickly get bored visiting the same parks.

One way to overcome this is to explore new parks, or bring any of the following items with you to tried and tested parks:

Football
Kite
Scooter
Picnic

Go bike riding

Bike riding is a great way for kids to have fun while being active.

You could go bike riding on local paths, or visit a park you’ve never been to before.

Food inspired activities

Whether enjoying a picnic, growing your own food, or creating a special summer treat, these food inspired outdoor activity ideas can help turn an everyday activity, into a more enjoyable experience for the whole family.

Have a picnic

I love going on picnics with my kids, some of our favourite picnic locations are:

Local parks
Family attractions with outdoor seating
Our backyard

Some food you can pack for a picnic includes:

Sandwiches
Sausage rolls
Wraps
Pasta salad
Mini quiches
Cheese and crackers
Pretzels
Hummus with breadsticks, pitta, carrots, or cucumber
Flapjacks
Brownies
Muffins
Yoghurt with apple slices, grapes, or berries

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Create an ice cream sundae station

This is a food inspired outdoor activity that I’m going to do this summer, which is to create an ice cream sundae station.

For this idea all you need are a few different flavours of ice cream, and a variety of toppings that your kids can choose from and add to their ice cream.

Some ice cream topping ideas are:

Chocolate pieces
Chocolate, strawberry, or caramel sauce
Chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, or dates
Crushed granola
Crushed Oreos
Crushed pretzels
Fruit compote
Marshmallows
Shredded coconut
Sprinkles

Simple outdoor activities for kids – a recap

Some of the best outdoor memories are created through simple activities that encourage your kids to explore, move, create, and enjoy time together as a family.

Whether you spend an afternoon in your backyard, visit somewhere new, or turn an everyday walk into an adventure, these fun outdoor activities for kids are a great way to break up family routines, keep your children entertained, and create memories.

Outdoor activities don’t need to be complicated. A scavenger hunt, picnic, bike ride, garden project, or a trip to a new park can provide hours of fun, and encourage your kids to use their imagination.

So the next time you hear “I’m bored”, choose one simple idea from this list and turn it into an opportunity for adventure.

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Which outdoor activity from this list will you try with your kids first?

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