Did you know that the average American child spends only 4 to 7 minutes a day in unstructured play outdoors? Nowadays, kids would rather stay inside to use their devices instead of exploring the world.
How can you change this as a parent? There are a variety of outdoor learning activities that will allow your children to play while positively affecting necessary development.
Keep reading to learn four outdoor learning activities that you can try at home today.
1. Plant a Garden
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One of the best outdoor learning activities for kids is planting a garden. Kids can enjoy playing in the dirt while learning about plant life cycles and photosynthesis.
You can try this outdoor learning activity at home by creating a vegetable garden with your child. Kids will enjoy learning and seeing where their food comes from. Plus, your child might be more inclined to eat their vegetables because they helped grow them.
Schools like Manor Lodge have a variety of outdoor learning gardens that can inspire you.
2. Observe Wildlife
No matter where you live, wildlife is all around you. Your backyard can be an outdoor learning environment to study the wildlife in your area.
Birds and squirrels are among the most common wildlife creatures you’ll see daily. You can help your child create a bird feeder to attract all kinds of species and learn more about them.
During the spring, you can teach your kids about butterflies. If you want to make sure your child gets to see butterflies in their habitat, take them to a buttery garden instead of seeking them out on your own.
While studying butterflies, you can talk about metamorphosis and the transition that these creatures go through to get their beautiful wings. If your child prefers crawly bugs over fluttery birds, seek out insects.
3. Create Art
Outdoor learning spaces are the perfect place to create art so you don’t have to deal with the indoor mess. Bringing artistry to the outdoors can help with creative development.
To get more involved in the outdoors through art, ask your child to paint or draw what they see. If you don’t have the materials for this, try a rock sorting game.
This involves gathering rocks and having your child paint them different colors. From there, you can have your kid sort the rocks by color.
4. Use Chalk to Teach Math
When it comes to indoor vs. outdoor learning, children will almost always prefer learning difficult subjects like math in the sunshine. To make the subject more interesting, use sidewalk chalk.
There are several math activities you can try with this method. Get creative to make math fun!
Outdoor Learning Activities to Try Today
If it’s a beautiful day in your neighborhood, take your child outside for some outdoor learning activities. Learning outdoors can increase cognitive and creative development in children while allowing them to have fun!
These are activities you can try in your very own backyard. If you don’t like these activities, let these ideas inspire you to come up with your own!
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