Jenny's Tips

Jenny Ellegood, PA-C, MPAS, homeschooling mom:

Easy Outdoor Activities with Kids:

1. Bust out the sidewalk chalk! Draw an outline around your kids while laying down and let them color in their clothes, facial features, or other deocrations. Make a town with roads and drive Matchbox cars on it. If you are really sneaky, make it a learning activity by writing in chalk the numbers, letters, sounds, or words the child is working to learn. Then, ask them to “Bunny hop to the letter that makes the ssssss sound” or “Spin to the sum of 6 + 2!”

2. Go on an outdoor scavenger hunt. Make a list of items you might see on a walk and have kids try to find each one. Ask kids to find as many different types of leaves or different wildflowers as possible. Pinterest is filled with scavenger hunt lists that are free and printable.

3.Take lunch or snacktime outside. Grab a blanket and some food for a picnic. If the weather isn’t cooperating, change up the routine by having a picnic on the living room floor.

4. Let them get messy. Take an old storage bin and fill it with mud, sand, water, or all of the above. Grab some old kitchen utensils, measuring cups, and old plastic toys and you will be surprised how long the fun lasts. It’s also a great excuse to get those old Happy Meal toys out of the house!

5. Provide supplies for a fort. Let the kids have an old sheet and clothespins to turn a tree or playset into a fort. Set up a camping tent for a day or two. My kids love to play house, pretend to be pirates, re-enact something they saw or read, or cuddle up in a fort with a book.

6. Work on those botany skills! Ask kids to point out something they never noticed before on a walk in the neighborhood or park. The free “Seek” app uses your phone’s camera to identify species of trees, plants, insects, and animals and is a great way to learn about the world around us. 

7. Create an obstacle course. Make an obstacle course complete with balls to dribble, things to crawl under, places to jump  or barrel roll and see how fast kids can get through it. Let them make one for you to do, too.

8. Splash in the creek. On a warm day, put on some old clothes, head to the park, and don’t forget to pack the dry clothes and towels. Eagle Creek Park is one of many local parks with great creeks for stomping. Even my ten-year-old will spend easily an hour trying to slow the flow of the creek with a man-made dam and littles love to feel the stones and silt in their hands.