Great Outdoor Activities that Work the Body and the Brain

Written by Natacha V. Beim

With the warm weather finally upon us, there are plenty of fun outdoor activities for our little ones to enjoy! Here are a few ideas that will benefit not only your child’s growing body, but will also develop their intellect and imagination.

Smart outdoor activities for babies

Playing with sand - Sand play provides your baby with great sensory experiences, which set the path for learning to write. It also teaches them pre-mathematical concepts, such as measurement, weight and even addition and subtraction. Sand play encourages scientific thinking, and with the addition of scooping and pouring, you can enhance all of those skills!

Playing with water - Similarly to sand play, water provides great stimulation for the senses. It also creates a number of opportunities for your child to reason, by observing the temperature of the water, by mixing sand or dirt into the water, observing if objects float or sink and by manipulating its course with their body. Even a tiny puddle of water provides endless experiences, hours of fun and great opportunities to

learn. Always stay at arm’s length, however, as children can drown even in a puddle.

Exploring the grass with their bodies - Babies love to feel and explore with their entire body. Help your baby walk on the grass with their bare feet. To add more sensory stimulation, go from a soft blanket, to cool grass, or dirt and mud if you dare,

and walk over different textures. Remember to talk about how each one feels; even if your baby can’t put it into words yet, this is still great for their language and science development.

Smart outdoor activities for toddlers

Building with mud or sand - Take sand play a step further by introducing your child to tools they can use to build with. Appropriate tools include spoons, pails, shovels and containers of different shapes and sizes. Your child will learn early mathematical concepts by working with various shapes and weights; they will also learn science and creative thinking while comparing results and techniques as they discover the

best way to build their structures. As a parent, you can enhance their learning by talking about their observations whilst they are playing. Bring a friend for added social skills.

Observing insects - For a mere two dollars, you can buy plastic aquariums with perforated lids at pet shops and dollar stores. Bring them along with you and help your child carefully collect bugs to observe for the day. Discover with your child

what the insects need in their habitat and what they need to eat. Encourage them to take photos and/or draw their observations. This teaches them science, reading and writing. You can further enhance their learning by reading about insects. This exercise is twice as much fun when you find tadpoles instead of ants!

Collecting shells - If you are able to go to the beach this summer, this is a great chance to explore the ocean with your child, from dipping your feet in the water, to looking for crabs and shells. Look at sand with a magnifying glass, collect water to look at it later under the light, look at the plants that grow in the water and group your treasures by types. For added adventure and learning, make a treasure map and follow

the clues with your child until you find it together. Nothing is more delightful than digging out a buried treasure chest (these can also be purchased at the dollar store and filled with anything you like), and the treasure hunt’s added treasures are increasing reading, writing and math skills!

Smart outdoor activities for young children

Building a fort - Use rocks, branches and other natural elements around you to build a fort together. Figuring out how to build enhances your child’s reasoning and mathematical skills. While weaving string, leaves and other elements together are wonderful for fine motor skills and are precursors for writing. Explaining the process out loud adds vocabulary skills, and doing it with a friend adds another level of complexity and social development.

Make a mini-habitat for your favorite toys - For example, one day at the age of four, my son spent over six hours outside playing with his dinosaurs. We found a garden of tall grasses and leaves, which was the perfect habitat for 20 of his dinosaurs. He made them a lake, a volcano, a hiding place and even a place to sleep. Days like this are wonderful opportunities for dramatic and imaginative play, which is crucial in any discipline.

Plant a garden - Gardening teaches your child about science and about life, and gives them a great amount of responsibility. It also teaches them about food and where it comes from (if you plant vegetables, for instance), this can also lead to good nutritional habits. Start from the very beginning by growing roots on an avocado, a potato or an onion, and plant them in glass jars to allow for better observation of the roots as they grow.

There are endless activities that your child can both enjoy and learn from; these are just a few examples. Spend time outside, rain or shine, and discover the world around you from your child’s perspective.

Good tips to keep in mind are: always talk with your child about what they are experiencing, and re-capture it again once you are inside. You can do this by drawing what they saw or by making up a story with those new elements, looking at the photos and exchanging thoughts and questions, and taking those experiences a little further in as many ways as you can. If your child is interested, start a journal where every day, you can either draw or write about your outdoor experiences. This will be something that will not only extend their learning greatly, but also become a treasured keepsake throughout the years.

Have a wonderful time outside!