Outdoor Activities for Families – 75 Great Ideas for Every Day

Keeping children busy is an art in itself, because they love and need variety all the time and you should offer it to them. These ideas for outdoor activities for families are suitable for the whole year and any weather.

Children are curious by nature and often they are so full of energy that mum or dad (or in my case godfather) are very busy keeping them occupied. Parking the children in front of the TV, PC or game console should only be the exception and is neither imaginative nor conducive to the child’s development as a permanent solution. So what are some good alternatives?

There is an extensive list of ideas for kids’ activities in the rain on Greatime. From the playground around the corner, to collecting pine cones on a walk in the woods, to a visit to the circus, these ideas provide inspiration for a variety of outdoor activities for families.

75 Ideas for Fun Outdoor Activities for Families

Most of these 75 ideas for outdoor activities don’t cost anything, but some require extra toys or equipment. The list is roughly divided by season, although some things can of course be done all year round. There is also a small extra list for activities that cost admission.

Outdoor Activities for Families in Spring

1. Go to a special playground (adventure playground / water playground / forest playground)
2. Picking meadow flowers for a bouquet
3. Weave a necklace or hair ornament from daisies
4. Visit a game preserve or zoo and feed the animals with food provided
5. Watching ducks and native animals in the park (and painting afterwards)
6. Take a trip to a farm
7. Strolling through the pedestrian zone and playing I see something you don’t
8. Taking part in a scavenger hunt with other children
9. Frolicking in the ball pool at Ikea
10. Making a dandelion soup (split the stems and put them in water, then they curl)
11. Exploring the treasures of the forest on a walk (What is already in flower? What animals will I discover?)
12. Watching beetles, butterflies, snails
13. Make a forest nature trail together
14. Sowing vegetables, flowers or herbs
15. Picking wild garlic (beware of the risk of confusing it with lily of the valley!)
16. Paint and play heaven and hell with sidewalk chalk
17. Play hula hoop and rubber twist
18. Go on a picnic
19. Print out tulip, daffodil and primrose counting cards and let the child count and draw in the garden
20. Playing rubber mitts

Outdoor Activities for Families in Summer

1. Harvesting and snacking on fruit
2. Build a cave from branches
3. Build a course in the garden and play jury
4. Play football with natural objects
5. Build a tree house (with the help of adults)
6. Create and make your own barefoot path
7. Make giant soap bubbles
8. Playing with marbles using plastic flowerpots as obstacles and goals
9. Throw long distances, e.g. with balloons filled with rice
10. Playing hide and seek
11. Playing catch
12. Playing with a ball and practising catching at the same time
13. A treasure hunt in your own garden, a park or forest
14. Building a big castle in the sandpit
15. Draw lines with sidewalk chalk and have the child do a skill slalom
16. Spread a blanket on the lawn, lie down and look at the clouds and interpret them
17. Take a night hike
18. Sleep under the open sky and camp in the garden
19. Watching the sunrise from a beautiful vantage point
20. Collecting flat stones and skipping them on the water

Outdoor Activities for Families in Autumn

1. Participate in a street parade or street fair
2. Jumping through puddles with wellies
3. Collecting pine cones, acorns, chestnuts and colourful leaves
4. Flying a kite
5. Taking part in a lantern procession (e.g. for St. Martin’s Day)
6. Ride on a soapbox
7. Practising somersault, flik-flak and other “acrobatics” on the lawn or a blanket outside
8. Make a campfire (in a designated, permitted spot), roast marshmallows and stick bread and tell the children stories
9. Have a forest rally
10. Hang birdhouses (build from natural materials and) so that the birds can find food in winter

Outdoor Activities for Families in Winter

1. Visit a children’s and youth library
2. Go sledging
3. Build a snowman
4. Build an igloo (if you live where the snow stays longer)
5. Making your breath visible in winter and playing dragon spitting smoke
6. Have a snowball fight
7. Take part in a torchlight hike
8. Go to a nice indoor swimming pool
9. Go ice skating
10. Go skiing or snowboarding

Ideas for Outdoor Activities That Are Not for Free

1. Visit a zoo
2. Visit an aquarium
3. Visit a children’s theatre, e.g. a puppet theatre
4. Go to the circus
5. Going on a carousel at a funfair
6. Taking a trip to a theme park
7. Visit a bouncy castle or trampoline hall
8. Visit a castle
9. Go to an ice cream parlour
10. Go to the cinema to see a children’s film
11. Visit a museum for children (many museums also offer special children’s tours)
12. Visit a tropical house
13. Visit a bird show at a falconry
14. Geocaching
15. Nature in your city tour (In Berlin, for example, the Freilandlabor Britz e.V. offers a great, monthly changing programme with guided tours for children to observe and get to know animals, e.g. amphibians or bats, and great workshops, e.g. on edible flowers and leaves, wild herbs in the city, and much more).

You are looking for more insipriation for children’s activities outside or at home? Take a look at our other ideas for a family outing or our overview of family games. You can also find general tips on our website for activities with children, with friends or as a couple with your partner.

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