15 Popular & Fun Outdoor Activities for Kids

Spending time outside with fun outdoor activities and games is probably a favorite for kids of all ages. In addition, it is one of the most beneficial ways to teach them about the world around them and help them have healthier bodies and minds.

The benefits of fun and practical outdoor activities for kids are countless. It positively affects their physical and mental health, improves their coordination, and even supports their immune system.

Still, not every outdoor activity cannot be count as fun things to do with kids. Thus, parents need to learn about the best outdoor activities for kids to help them stimulate their skills while having fun.

Now, you might be wondering what kind of outdoor activities you should provide your kid with, why it is essential to have games on their schedule, and which activities are best for summer and winter.

You are in luck! Because all the answers to these questions are here. Let’s start!

Outdoor Summer Activities for Kids

There is nothing more beneficial and entertaining for a kid than spending time outside and enjoying the fresh air, sunlight, and beauty of nature. Thus, outdoor summer activities for kids are essential.

Here are the best summer and spring outdoor activities for kids to help them enjoy vitamin D and lovely weather!

1. Bird Watching

Bird watching is one of the best outdoor activities for kids, and with its multiple benefits, it is worth putting at the top of the list. For this fun and easy summer outdoor activity, all you need is a pair of binoculars.

You can head to your local parks or favorite nature spots to enjoy watching gorgeous birds with your kids. As one of the best outdoor nature activities for kids, bird watching benefits kids in two ways.

First, as a soothing outdoor activity, it helps your kids practice mindfulness and relieve stress. Second, it enables them to get in touch with nature and improve their naturalistic intelligence as well as their naturalistic skills.

2. MentalUP Fitness

Fun outdoor physical activities for kids are a must for supporting kids' physical and mental development. As the physical and mental needs and skills of kids are varied according to their age, they need to be provided with age-appropriate physical outdoor activities and games.

This is where MentalUP Fitness steps in! MentalUP is the right solution for providing with physical education, gymnastic games, fun fitness workouts, and strength exercises for kids.

With MentalUP fitness, you don't have to worry about the weather because even if it is not possible to go out, your children can stay active and enjoy the fun fitness games and exercises for kids. Also, they can utilize MentalUP fitness to relax and relieve stress in nature!

3. Sensory Sand Box

Sensory games and activities are essential for encouraging kids to learn through exploration, feed their curiosity, and support their problem-solving and creativity skills. Especially for toddlers and preschoolers, sensory sandboxes are one of the best summer activities to have a fun beach day.

For this fun outdoor activity, which is one of the best games to play outside, all you need is a box. You can take your kids to the beach with their boxes and give them some sand and items to play with.

If it is not possible to have a beach day, you can also try local parks and playgrounds. As one of the best outdoor learning activities for kids, sandboxes will be your kids' favorite!

4. Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt is a game that needs no introduction. It is one of the best outdoor activities for kids, and it is also one of the most favorite educational activities for kids of all ages, even adults. Also, an outdoor scavenger hunt offers a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family.

You can turn any nature walk into a scavenger hunt for your family members and enjoy the feeling of nature while supporting your kid’s observation skills. All you need to do is make a list of items that your family members can find in natural places.

You can go with bugs, flowers, leaves, or anything you want. Then, hand this list to your family members and let them enjoy exploring the nature around them.

This way, you can also teach your kids botany, plants, and insects. Keep in mind that kids can drift away while looking for the items. So, it is best to keep them in your eyesight.

5. Mud Pies

It is obvious that playing with mud is a favorite for kids of all ages, especially toddlers and preschoolers. Thus, this sensory mud pies summer activity is a great source to foster their interest in experimenting with mud and helping them entertain themselves in nature.

Creating mud pies and mud cupcakes is a great art activity to teach kids about soil, plants, and insects. In addition to that, it is one of the best outdoor art activities for kids to support their gross motor skills, creativity, and hand-eye coordination.

To create mud pies and let your kids relax while improving their skills, all you need is some pie plates and decorative accessories, such as rocks, leaves, or maybe small fruits. Then, it is time to decorate those gorgeous mud pies!

Outdoor Winter Activities for Kids

In the winter, kids are usually restricted to indoor play at home as parents mostly fear that kids will get sick from being outside in the cold, fresh air. Actually, it is not the cold weather that makes kids sick, but germs and viruses. In fact, spending time in poorly ventilated indoor areas makes kids get sick easier.

Thus, outdoor winter activities for kids are essential to provide them with a healthy body and mind in each season. Plus, each season presents its own unique opportunities for kids to explore the world around them and support their learning abilities.

Let's check out these fun and easy outdoor activities for kids that support their social, emotional, mental, and physical development, even when the weather gets cold.

1. Snowman Competition

Listing the outdoor winter activities for kids without snowman building could be a little inadequate. Still, this fun and easy snowman activity is a lot more than a typical one and can be used as one of the most entertaining extracurricular activities for kids.

This activity is a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family, friends, or neighbors. The competition spices up the regular snowman-building process and teaches kids to participate in competitions, and supports their teamwork and social skills.

Divide players into two teams and arrange categories like “the most creative” or “ the biggest snowman.” At the end of the game, the winning team gets a delicious cup of cocoa!

2. Gymnastic Game

Gymnastic game is one of the most effective ways that you can use to help your children be more active. You just need a proper source to learn exercises and let your kids have fun.

After you help your kids to learn the suitable exercises, you can go outside with them and repeat the exercises. It is possible to change the game according to your children’s age and level. There is no winner in this game. So, kids should do the exercises and have fun.

To find the appropriate strength or balance exercises for kids, you can use online sources, but the most important thing is to reach out to a safe one for your children. In these kinds of situations, kids apps such as MentalUP might be your perfect solution with its no ads policy.

3. Leaf Art

If you are looking for backyard fun outdoor activities for kids, leaf art might be the one for you. All you need to do is turn your backyard into an art activity spot and enjoy decorating leftover autumn leaves with your kids.

Just collect some leaves in the fall and keep them for this fun outdoor activity for kids. You can let your kids color them with some paint and brushes and print them on white paper.

This activity will help your kids practice their large motor skills, learn about shapes and colors, and improve their observation and recognition skills. Plus, arts and crafts projects give relaxation and mindfulness to kids, so it is also good for stress management. Therefore, you can use this as one of the best after-school activities for kids.

4. Treasure Hunt

Playing a treasure hunt in the snow is one of the most fun and easy outdoor activities for kids. Kids can play with this fun outdoor activity all the time, and you can spice it up with “hot” or “cold” clues.

Just get an item that you want kids to find and hide it under the snow. You can give them some clues about the items’ place or hand them a treasure hunt map.

The winter treasure hunt game will foster your kid’s problem-solving and creativity skills and motivate them to crack mysteries.

5. Snow Painting

Snow painting is one of the most beneficial outdoor art activities for kids. This activity boosts kids’ creativity, art, and imagination skills and helps them practice mindfulness and being in the present moment.

You can hand some colors, brushes, and accessories to your kids and let them decide what to create. You can also turn this fun and easy activity into a family activity and create art pieces in the snow with your family members. We are sure that it will be one of the favorites for kids of all ages!

Outdoor Group Activities for Kids

Outdoor group activities for kids contribute to kids’ development in many ways. They teach kids teamwork, allowing them to become mature and responsible. Also, it affects their social, emotional, and communicational skills.

These activities mostly include physical activities that enable kids to exercise while having fun. By participating in outdoor group activities for kids, they can become more friendly, caring, giving, and understanding.

Now, let’s dive into the most exciting outdoor group activities for kids!

1. Sidewalk Chalk Story Telling

This sidewalk chalk activity will help you turn your sidewalk into a spot radiated with art and creativity and help your kids practice their artistic skills in a fun way with their friends.

You can gather your kids and their peers to start this fun and easy outdoor activity and hand them some colorful chalk. Then, ask them to create scenes from their favorite stories and let their imagination kick in to illustrate these scenes.

This sidewalk chalk activity will provide a therapeutic experience for your kids and contribute to their imagination, communication, and social skills.

2. Nature Walk

Clearly, going on a nature walk is one of the best outdoor nature activities and co-curricular activities for kids of all ages. A nature walk is both simple and practical as kids can experience different environments and play various games and activities with their friends.

This nature walk activity actually doesn’t need an introduction. It’s all about finding some natural spots where kids can observe different kinds of plants, animals, and insects. You can also organize a nature walk for your family or spice the walking up by using running games for kids occasionally during the activity.

Whether your kids participate in the nature walk with their friends or family, they will be encouraged to observe with all their senses and practice their focus and attention skills.

3. Backyard Obstacle Course

Turning your backyard into an obstacle course is a great way to challenge your kid’s balance, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving skills. As one of the most effective outdoor physical activities for kids, an obstacle course helps kids socialize and compete with each other.

You can use pool noodles, jump rope, water balloons, buckets, or anything you can think of to create a challenging obstacle course.

Then, you can ask your kids and their friends to divide into two groups and let the competition begin. The group that finishes the obstacle course first gets the prize!

4. Tap on the Shoe

This activity is a highly physical outdoor activity for kids of all ages. The activity is great for kids to exercise and spend their energy while having fun with their friends and peers. Even toddlers and preschoolers can play tap on the shoe.

To start the game, kids need to form a large circle and try to tap the next person’s shoes. The tapped player exits the loop until only two kids are left. Then, those kids compete to be the winner.

There are only two rules in this game: players cannot leave the tapping spots or touch another player with other body parts.

5. Water Balloon Musical Chairs

This outdoor activity is great for turning the classical musical chairs game into a challenging water balloon game. The activity is great for helping kids practice their concentration and gross motor, self-regulation, and listening skills.

To start the water balloon party, you need some chairs, a water balloon, and some entertaining music to put on. Then you can place the chairs outside and have the kids sit in a circle.

The next step is to turn on the music and ask them to pass the water balloon to the next player until the music stops. Whoever is left with the water balloon when the music stops is out.

Why Is Outdoor Play Important?

Outdoor activities and games are directly related to kids’ physical and mental health. Spending outdoors with beneficial activities and games contributes to kids’ physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development.

By checking the list below, you can understand why outdoor play is important for kids of all ages.

Physical Benefits

• Advances kids’ motor skills
• Helps them have a lower body mass index
• Provides them with better general health
• Improves their muscle strength

Social Benefits

• Improves kids’ communication skills
• Raises their self-awareness
• Helps them to appreciate nature and the environment
• Improves their relationships with peers

Emotional Benefits

• Helps kids practice all five senses
• Fosters their independence skills
• Teaches kids to self-reflect
• Builds resilience

Intellectual Benefits

• Enhances brain development
• Supports interpersonal skills
• Expands their learning space
• Sparks their interest in different topics