Outdoor play is so important for children of all ages (read here to find out why), and in this mini series of posts I have been running through some varying outdoor play ideas for different age groups of children. Here I am talking about preschooler outdoor play ideas. This age group is such fun as they really start to gain a little independence in their mobility, have opinions, and the outdoor adventure could go in any number of directions if you allow them to lead. These preschooler outdoor play ideas have been successful for us because we have kept them simple and not had high expectations for the trip into the great outdoors 🙂 I hope you enjoy trying them.
Preschooler Outdoor Play Ideas:
- Take a walk but let them choose the way and the route and see where you go 🙂 Make sure you allow plenty of time for this…they can not be rushed on this adventure.
- Collect Shells. This they find really interesting. All the shapes, sizes, and colours.
- Plant seeds or grow plants. Children love to see things growing that they have planted. Tomatoes are quite good, as you can grow them in pots, they grow quite easily, and then they can eat the the produce too. We love growing cherry tomatoes.
- Go for a star walk. Head out into the dark (easier in winter) and look at the stars and chat about shapes you can see.
- “Paint a fence”. Fill a bucket with water, give them a brush and they will happily be engrossed “painting” for longer than you think.
- Mark a path with sticks.
- Make mud pies.
- Fly a kite.
- Play with toy cars in sand or a sandpit. Take your indoor cars outdoors and they will love making hills and pits, and roads for the cars.
- Make some nature art. In the photo ours was done on a beach, but you can do this anywhere using leaves and sticks too (btw…it’s a happy fish!).
- Throw stones into the water and listen to the “music”. Grab a fist full of pebbles and throw them into the water…listen to the sound they make when the fall in.
- Make pictures with outdoor chalk.
- Go on a bug hunt. This was also down as a toddler activity, but for a preschooler you could step it up a notch with a spotter book, or a list of bugs to find
- Watch clouds and see how many shapes you can find
- Roll down grassy slopes. They find this very addictive!
I hope you have found some inspiration from these preschooler outdoor play ideas, and will come back to read about the other age groups 🙂 Let me know in the comments below how you have got on.
