40 Things To Do Outside With Your Family Rather Than Hibernate
So here’s 40 Things to Do Outside With Your Family, instead of letting hibernation kick in for the year:
- Go for a family bike ride.
- Do a nature scavenger hunt.
- Make homemade bubbles and watch them blow in the fall breeze. (Thanks, Kimba!)
- Make chalk people by tracing the outline of your child’s body while he lays on the sidewalk/driveway.
- Make s’mores on the grill or over the fire pit.
- Play hide and seek in the dark. (Daylight Savings Time works in your favor for a game before bedtime!)
- Plant bulbs that you’ll be able to enjoy in the spring.
- Paint with sidewalk chalk paint.
- Celebrate the shorter days by taking in a sunrise or sunset together.
- Drink apple cider or hot chocolate outside.
- Deliver baked goods to the neighbors.
- Jump in a giant pile of leaves.
- Take a hike at a local park.
- Make crayon rubbings with leaves.
- Draw pictures in the frost in the morning.
- Collect pinecones to decorate for the holidays.
- Race around the block.
- Play at a park playground. (You might even have the whole park to yourselves!)
- Throw things: a football, frisbee, bean bags, etc.
- Play in the mud.
- Feed the ducks.
- Play tag.
- Gaze at the stars and learn about constellations.
- Read a book outside on a picnic blanket.
- Go watch airplanes take off at a local airport.
- Visit the zoo. (There’s plenty of indoor areas to warm up and the animals are more active than in the warm summer months.)
- Climb a tree.
- Make a pine cone bird feeder. (Thanks, Myra!)
- Rake leaves.
- Give geocaching a try and find a treasure. (Thanks, Alyssa!)
- Collect a variety of seeds (acorns, walnuts, etc.) and talk about the life cycle of plants.
- Go on a photo walk and take pictures of animals, plants, clouds, and things around you.
- Look for insects and worms.
- Skip rocks at a creek, pond, or lake.
- Plant a tree.
- Clean out the garden or landscape.
- Look up at the clouds and tell what you think the cloud formations look like.
- Collect as many colors, shapes, and sizes of leaves as you can find.
- Make shadow animals with flashlights on the garage door or on the side of your house.
- YOUR TURN!!! What do YOU enjoy doing with your kids outside?
Love this list! And I’m glad you’re enjoying the book.
It’s on my list to buy too after you told me about it!! Great recommendation!
Hey Jen! We usually do this inside but with some nicer fall days we moved this activity outside which made clean up much easier! We make oobleck – the kids love it and you could always read the dr Seuss book before or after.
Ummm, Nick would be the first to admit that he is a geocaching nerd! Soo… if you all want to go sometime it would make it more fun for me 😉 hehe!
When it’s just rain w/out the lightening and thunder …my kids love to dance in the rain and puddles. Thanks for this list … I read an article the other day about geocaching…what a neat idea! Something we might try sometime so thanks for the link.
I was just looking at this book on amazon – I couldn’t stop thinking about it after our talk about it at breakfast after Relevant. I need to buy a few copies for gifts too!!
I am such a hibernator and by the time February rolls around, serious seasonal depression. I literally printed this off for later!
Definitely a great list! These activities can be enjoyed with our family! thanks for sharing!
Geocaching is the best. My kids, and I, will hike much farther just to find those things. We also like to climb trees, play football, watch clouds and make up things we see in them, and get our garden ready for winter.
If it snows we love to make snowballs, go sled riding, make a fort, make a snowman, etc.
I love pulling my kids around the yard in our sled and letting snow melt in our mouths. Pure bliss.
We recently made homemade rockets which we launched at the park! Fun. I’ll have to check out your link for bubbles – the kids always love bubbles!
I love the list as well! One thing I’ve done this fall that was on the list was to plant bulbs. I can’t wait until spring to see how they work out! The Geocaching suggestion from everyone also sounds like great fun!
What a wonderful list! Another thing you can do is make your own kites and let the children see whose is the highest!!