5 Ideas for Fun Garden Activities

For those lucky enough to have a garden, this is a great resource for entertaining and teaching children on weekends, holidays and summer evenings while having fun too. It doesn’t always have to be bright sunshine either, most kids will love to get out and explore or play in the garden at any time of year. These are five great ideas for activities that your kids and any friends they have over will love.

Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

Creepy Crawly Collecting

Ok, not everyone will enjoy this one, but if your little ones are curious about bugs, insects and all sorts of creepy crawlies you can find in the garden they might. Set them a task to find a set number of spiders, worms, ladybirds or others but without disturbing them too much. Give a bit of guidance to look under rocks and leaves, which can bring up a lot of activity especially after it has rained. Alternatively, get them to create a mini habitat from an old margarine tub filled with grass and leaves to keep any ladybirds in they find (only for an hour).

Expressive Painting

There are all sorts of things that can be painted in the garden, from large rocks to plain plant pots. Brighten up the garden and let your kids have fun by providing them with some paints or chalk and let them loose on these items. Even if it’s raining they can still paint outside by creating a makeshift cover by hanging large tarps sheet over their ‘studio’ which will keep everything dry. At the end of the day they can form a little open-air art gallery you can all admire.

Backyard Acrobatics

All you need is a spare length of rope, two trees or poles a few metres apart and a bit of space to hold your own gymnastics competition. Tie one rope between the two poles/trees for a tightrope (adding an extra one above to hold onto if required) and use any patch of grass for the floor routines (such as handstands, somersaults and more). Then simply be a fair but encouraging judge!  

Kick the Can

Everyone knows how to play hide-and-seek, but this is a more active variation on that classic where you only need an old can. One person or team are on while everyone else goes and hides. They then try to find everyone else and if they tag someone they are caught and must go stand near the can. Meanwhile, the others hiding can release anyone caught by kicking over the can, with the game ending once everyone is caught.

Chalk Treasure Hunt

This one is great for children learning to read and/or count. With a bit of chalk, draw out a few circles on the floor and write a number of items next to each one. Your kids then have to collect the right number of these and put them in the circle. Choose things like leaves, twigs but make it specific such as ‘three thin leaves’. Say whoever gets them all first wins if you/they want to make it a competition.

There are many more fantastic garden activities out there, but these are five good ones to start. Which are your children’s favourites?

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