Ideas for Outdoor Play

We love the simple pleasures of playing outside. Take the time to encourage unstructured playtime moments for your kids. But, if you need a little help thinking like a kid yourself - we are here to help. These are our three favorite outdoor play ideas:

Collecting Treasures

My youngest son loves collecting rocks. Every day I find his special treasures in his pockets. As long as it doesn’t weigh him down, who cares?! Together we decide what we will keep and what may go back to nature. What parent hasn’t found a treasure in their child’s pocket?

Building Mini-Universes

A little stick can transform into a character or be used in a pretend battle for the kingdom. Only children know the secret to symbolic playtime when things around them cease to exist and their imagination goes wild. It’s a childhood delight!

Build a Fort

There are forts that look like “forts,” with walls made from dirt and a roof constructed from branches. Then there are forts from my kids, which are made up of “imaginary” elements. Children can spend hours and hours “building” a fort without actually setting up anything real at all. It’s a magical experience. Once completed, their finished fort can become a special, private place in which to spend their days. Many of us still remember the forts we built as kids.

Give kids time outdoors, accept their need to explore, and help them through their bumps and scrapes - which also means washing off their dirty hands and knees when they come home covered in mud! Create simple and clear guidelines in advance to make sure that they’re safe, and then stand back to watch the magic of being a kid unfold!

Written by Ngoc Nguyen Lay, Head Rascal. Mother of two rascals, ages 5 and 7.