Choose a location that is easily accessible from you kitchen and/or garden. You can use a bin or just surround a pile with a mesh fence. You can start it with leaves, grass clippings and other garden debris. Help activate the compost by adding a shovelful of finished compost or garden soil to your compost […]
Activity Location: Backyard
Mud pie master pie maker
Do you have any pie tins lying around the house? Take your kids outside where there is some good looking mud and bring a mixing bowl and the pie tin. Get your hands in there and glop several handfuls of mud into the mixing bowl). Stir the mud concoction so that you get all the […]
Make a bird bath
Birds love to freshen up after flying all day and they’re great to watch. Use some empty plant pots or even a frisbee as the bath. Take the container out to your yard and let the birds come to you! The best bird baths will have running water. You can turn an old soda bottle […]
Backyard campout staycation
Spend a weekend away in your own backyard. You don’t need a big place for a big adventure. All you’ll need is a tent and your family to join you. Pitch the tent, bring some flashlights, ghost stories and enjoy the time away from the world and with your kids. […]
The smallest bug
Use a magnifying glass to look at the smallest plant or animal you can find. How many legs does it have? Does it have wings? Does it wave at you? […]
What scent is this?
Gather four different objects with different scents, like grass, flowers etc. Place the object close to the child’s nose with his or her eyes closed, and ask the child to smell it and try to identify what it is. […]
Can you find the treasure?
Hide a surprise in the backyard. Make a map and have the kids find the surprise. Draw in trees, bushes and walkways to help them along the way. X marks the spot! […]
Sprinkler run
When it’s hot outside, play in the sprinklers. It’s cool and no one is too old for that. […]
Become a master grass whistler
Want to whistle a tune? Your child can make a grass whistle easily with a blade of grass between their thumbs. You place the blade of grass tightly between your thumbs side-to-side. Go ahead and blow through the hole created between your thumbs’ knuckles and base. […]
Nature scavenger hunt
Make a list of some common things and a few rare ones that can be found outside near your home or in a park. You can includes things like: gum nut, pine cone, flat rock, etc. Pass the list out and give your kids 20 minutes to find as much as they can. […]