Who doesn’t love spring?! Given the kind of winter that has gripped most of the country, everyone is ready to welcome a more green and flowering time of year. Perhaps cabin fever has taken over and your whole family is ready to get out in the fresh, warm spring air.
In case your creative ideas for what to outdoors have been hibernating for winter, here are a few to get you started. Here are 31 things to do with your kids this spring:
- Plant a garden– Include your kids! Have them help map out a garden design and plant vegetable seeds – experts tell us the more involved our kids are in getting them to the table, the more likely they are to eat them!
- Observe and record trees budding.
- Visit a new park– Is there a park nearby you have never visited? Nothing like a never-been-climbed-on playground to jumpstart outdoor play!
- See baby animals– Whether at a zoo, farm or even a local store supplied with chicks, this is a great time of year to “ooh! and ahh!” over baby critters. Take a look at our downloadable Baby Animal Names for a quick, fun vocabulary lesson.
- Look for spring constellations.
- Find a new hiking or walking trail– Remember all last summer when you said, “We should really go check out that trail!”? Well, now’s the time to get it on the calendar and go exploring!
- Do yard work for a neighbor.
- Get the bikes ready to go– If your bikes were dormant all winter, check the tires, adjust seats (kids can really grow from one bike season to the next!), and ensure everyone has a properly fitting helmet. Kids love turning their bikes upside down and adding oil to the chain while working the pedal – truly a hands-on physics lesson!
- Build and fly kites– Flying kites is great fun, good exercise, and a super discussion starter about the mechanics of flight both for birds and planes. Click here for plans to build your own kites.
- Research various traditions around the world– Do your kids know why some families dye eggs at Easter? What is Passover? Have fun researching these and other springtime customs and traditions.
- Create a model of the water cycle using natural items.
- Track the weather– Talk about the ultimate spring board for math and science learning! Track the weather for an entire month, including temperature, precipitation, cloud formations, and wind speed (or just whether or not it windy). For math skills, younger kids can make graphs, older elementary kids can make fractions, and middle school and older can explore probability and equation for converting Fahrenheit to Celcius. And “the sky’s the limit” when it comes to discussion of weather patterns, fronts, and why it rains!
- Plan your summer– Traveling? Kids going to camp? Spent some time as a family dreaming and planning about the warmer months to come!
- Dissect and discuss parts of a flower.
- Sit outside and write poetry- Have your kids find a comfy spot outdoors. With a notebook in hand, have them write as many descriptive words and phrases for what they see around them. Use these to create spring-themed poetry. Be sure to send a copy to a grandparent or other relative – they love it better than , well, the flowers in the spring!
- Create beautiful spring inspired artwork.
- Have a yard sale– Of course this first means some major spring cleaning which is good on so many levels! Let the kids have a lemonade stand at your yard sale to learn about money and making change.
- Track the times the sun rises and sets– Discuss why the length of the days change, the tilt of the earth and its revolution around the sun.
- Keep a journal about what is growing in your yard- Note what changes each day or week. A video journal could be very effective as well.
- Go birdwatching.
- Start an insect zoo- Gather a few insects in containers that are both safe for the insect and allow kids to observe their buggy friends.
- Research an important historical event that happened during spring and reenact it in your backyard.
- Have a brain“storm” – During inclimate spring weather, grab your rain boots and umbrella, and think of as many songs about and metaphors for rain as you can.
- Think of your favorite book you read during the winter, and create a play or musical based on it to perform in your backyard.
- Box City- Gather a bunch of boxes (stores are the best source – free and plentiful!) and let the kids design houses by stacking the boxes as they wish. When it grows old, re-purpose or recycle the boxes. This is one of my kids’ all-time favorites!
- Get reacquainted with old backyard standards – Kickball, badminton, and hopscotch, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, jump rope, hide and seek, kick the can – all low tech and so much fun!
- Pick up trash in your neighborhood.
- Family Fitness Challenge– Create a fitness plan for you family whether it’s walking together 3 evenings a week, doing 100 jumping jacks each day, or seeing who can plank the longest. Create a poster or chart to keep your challenge in front of your family.
- Build a fairy house– Use moss, leaves, twigs – whatever you can find outside to create a little house for a whimsical creature.
- Put together care packages for the homeless- With the warmer weather may come those seeking help in public places. Teach your kids compassion by putting together items (such as hand sanitizer, restaurant gift cards, granola bars, fruit, and information about helpful services. Money is not recommended.). Have these packets on hand in your vehicle when you come across a need. Of course only an adult should distribute; a child should never approach someone they do not know.
- Visit a farm.
No doubt this has sparked some great springtime ideas of your own! Go for it! You and your children will be better off for the effort – body, mind, and soul!
Happy Spring!