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Keep discovery supervised and wildlife undisturbed
Choose activities for the child’s age, keep small loose parts away from children who may swallow them, and wash hands after handling soil or outdoor materials. Observe insects in place and return loose natural materials without disturbing nests. Only taste plants positively identified as edible; supervise water and magnifying glasses, and never use a lens to view the sun.
What’s more, lots of fun can be had in your backyard without any cost at all.
Investigate your backyard with a magnifying glass
Whether it’s bugs, butterflies, flowers, or leaves, using a magnifying glass to explore your backyard is a wonderful activity for all ages.
For older ones, you could order a cheap handheld microscope online that would allow you to see things in really close detail.
Build a bug hotel
You might have seen these when out and about on nature walks.
Bug hotels are essentially a box full of twigs, pinecones, and other items you might find in the garden that bugs will enjoy exploring and hiding in!
Treasure hunt
A treasure hunt is a great family activity for everyone!
With older kids, you can get them to think about literacy by asking them to find items beginning with a certain letter.
You could even make it more challenging by saying they won’t get a point if they write the same thing!
Younger children will love a more physical treasure hunt with a list of garden items to find. The possibilities are endless!
Stargazing
The fun doesn’t have to stop when the sun goes down!
Spotting stars, constellations and planets is a great night-time activity.
If you have a telescope, great. If you don’t, you’ll still be able to see lots of interesting things. Simply pop a blanket down on the lawn and lay down.
Stargazing is best when there’s no light pollution so turn off all the lights and let your eyes adjust to the dark.
Outdoor crafts
If you’ve got kids that love crafts, take it outside.
Making a collage with leaves and twigs or creating a sculpture out of garden items is a great way to spend an afternoon.
Grow your own food
Ok so this one takes a little time but planting the garden and watching it grow is a great activity for the whole family.
Growing your own food not only teaches youngsters where their food comes from, but it also might encourage little ones to try things they’ve never tried before.
Identify birds by birdsong
Birdwatching is fun but teaching kids about different birdsong is a great way to spend the early morning.
There are lots of apps available nowadays that will identify a bird by its birdsong.
So, while you might not be able to see the bird, you will be able to show your children pictures of the birds that are making those sounds, pretty cool, no?
Paint with water
Kids love painting but it can be quite messy.
Why not arm them with a paintbrush and a pot of water and let them paint the fence, the floor, the garden wall – or anything else that takes their fancy!
Leaf tracing
With a piece of paper and a wax crayon, you can create some really great designs.
Kids love it when their pictures look realistic, and this is one great way they can create pictures to be proud of.
Make a fairy garden
For the little ones, creating a fairy garden is a great way to have children be responsible for a small patch of earth in your backyard.
You can buy fairy garden kits online or, if you’re crafty, you can create your own!
Look for shapes in the clouds
This is something that many people do on long car journeys but there’s no reason why you can’t have fun in your backyard too.
See if you can spot your favorite animals or funny faces in the clouds.
A little imagination goes a long way.
Make daisy chains
Making a daisy chain is a rite of passage for children.
If you’ve got a lawn full of daisies, making a daisy chain is a good way to have fun and develop those fine motor skills at the same time.
Final thoughts on fun things to do outside in your backyard
We hope we’ve inspired you to have some good, old-fashioned free fun this summer!
Why not see how many of these activities you can tick off the list?