With the pandemic, our backyard has become our entertainment. This week’s topic was chosen by my 6 year old daughter. According to her, ‘”The key is, that it might take a little bit of money”. But it’s a lot of kid fun in return!
🌳Zipline
There are lots of options on lengths, seats and colors. It was definitely a two person job to install. It’s a fan favorite!
🌈Rainbow Saucer Swing
Have a tree? You’re set! Or you can use an existing playset. I enjoy this one myself. Lay down and relax, maybe for a minute(you know what I mean parents). This style has a seat like a trampoline and is super comfy!
🏠Playhouse
Over a month, but our builder completed our playhouse(I mean apartment). I took pieces of our favorite playgrounds and designed them in. My girls are having a blast! And it’s built to last them until they move out, so I hope. I’m so excited I have to overshare.
🌲Hammock
A present for my birthday. Sometimes I get a break. I like to cuddle and talk about nature with my girls. It’s also another comfy spot to read.
⛏Digging Hole
My husband always wants to fill this hole in, but I won’t let him. My girls love digging for worms, creating earth stew, or just getting a little dirty. It’s crazy how a simple experience can be so much fun!
🍂Nature Stew
Grab a big bowl and spoon and add water halfway. Let them create their own hearty stew. My girls decided that mud was important. Be ready for some creative mess.
🌸Nature Perfume
Forage grass clippings, flower petals or anything earthy. Add water, cap up, shake up and smell. I love the creativity in this one.
🐛Bug catching
My girls love all things in nature. Bug hunting has been a great adventure and we have been learning as well. We research the type of bug, name, what they eat, etc.
🐸Toad and Frog Catching and Feeding
I loved catching them as a kid. I’m so happy my girls do too. American toads love to hide under trees and bushes and also like damp areas. We recently fed an American toad 3 worms! The excitement on my middle daughter’s face was priceless!
🌱Gardening
We have had gardens in the past, but with the extra time, we have focused on more. Our girls love feeling the leaves, watching changes daily, and trying new veggies(yes, I said that!).
🦋Pollinater Garden
Mainly to attract our favorite butterflies, but also for the bees! We love to add flowers and feed them sugar water(hummingbirds too).
🖌Mud Painting
Dirt, water, paintbrush and paper. Throw in a water bottle to spray the water with and you’ll have some happy kids.
👟Stepping Stones
Not only are they fun to walk on, they also help to practice balancing skills. They also make nice seats and a perfect place to find all kinds of bugs and worms. Add chalk on top for cool designs. Use an old plastic food container to collect worms for fishing, it really makes them proud to use the ones they found.
🚗Car Track
I’ve shared this one before, but worth mentioning since it only costs about $13. Many hours can be spent here and it’s fun to decorate with chalk too.
🍁Nature Station
Repurpose those old Melissa and Doug wood crates, use baskets, old bowls, old kitchen utensils, and a baster(fan favorite!). Fill them up with rocks, shells, pinecones, and anything else you choose from nature. Let their minds imagine.
🧚🏻♀️Fairy Garden
You can have the kids forage supplies from nature, which is a great activity in itself. Use an old bottle and create a fairy house of your own. My youngest has been into Trolls recently, and decided ours was Troll Village. So we brought the troll toys out for more fun.
👍🏻Bubbles
Buy those bubble guns, you need a 2 minute break.
🎥Drive-In Movie with Box Cars
The process of creating cars from boxes is a fun experience. They are great for races on tile or wood floors. Then taje them outside with snacks and make a Drive-In Movie Theater.
🐷Mud Puddles
Wear some black clothes and let them go crazy! My oldest took a bucket of mud puddle water and dumped it on her head. Let the kids be kids.
💦Water Table
Or as I like to call it, watergun refill station so Mom doesn’t have to help as much. And it great for splash balls and other toys like water blasters. And using it for it’s functional purpose too. Super Soakers for the win!
💧Slip and Slide
It’s kind of funny watching my kids at this age(6, 4, and almost 2). It can be a splash pad, stage, catwalk, and inflatable slide.
💦Pool
It really doesn’t matter the size. Kids have fun with whatever they can play in. Add in an inflatable donut or unicorn and you’re set!
💧Sprinklers
These have come a long way since I was a kid. The wiggly sprinkler is my youngest’s favorite. The rainbow is more for my older girls. The rainbow is going to make our regular slide a water slide on the next hot day.
🌴Sand box
Go ahead, bring some toys out from inside. It makes it a whole new experience. My daughters love bring their dinosaurs, cars and whisks for baking. We add rocklet chips(small rocks).
🌳Tree Climbing
One of my favorite things to do in my backyard when I was a kid. It builds motor skills and muscles. Why not? I’m a big kid.
✏️Rock Drawings and Chalk Drawings
My daughter found out that a small rock will draw on other rocks. Also, drawing on rocks and trees and other nature are also fun.
🔥Fire Pit(Camping Optional)
I put off getting a fire pit until quarantine kicked in. Having more time on your hands definitely makes you rethink and say yes to things. How can you resist this golden marshmallow? And it pairs well with a campout with ‘Jungle Breakfast’. What is Jungle Breakfast? You hang up bags in trees with granola bars, applesauce squeezies, mini boxes of cereal or whatever else you want while the kids are asleep. Then, when they wake up they hunt for the bag with their name on it. My girls love it!
🙌🏼More ideas for fun
Hula hoops, wagons, kid wheel barrels, 4 square balls, soccer nets, mini basketball hoops, T-ball set, mini trampoline, mini yard tools. You can make obstacle courses and then let them create a design themselves.
📍Technically not the backyard, but still in the yard.
💦Old Fashioned Car Wash
My girls love the carwashes you drive through. But, they have been wanting to hand wash. It was a fun activity and we got some help in the process. Watch out for the ornery kids though, I got sprayed with the hose. And lots of giggles and memories too!
🟥Magna Tiles Outside
A change of location for toys brings them new life.
I hope this will give you some ideas to break up the monotony of those long days. Enjoy!