10 Tips to get kids playing in the great outdoors

Get back to nature and come up with some ideas to get your Wide Bay Kids outdoors. Here are 10 tips to get kids playing in the great outdoors!

#10 – Let’s Eat Outside

I simply can’t resist a picnic, even if it’s just a hunk of unsliced bread and a bottle of water. Mmmm… it just tastes better outside. Grab some food, ask me to come, I’m there!

#9 – There’s Treasure There

What could be more fun than finding something? I don’t care if it’s a new flower in bloom, a worm, a sparkly rock, or a yellow or red, autum leaf. Let’s go find it!

#8 – Let’s Chuck It

Carrying and throwing suitably weighty items seems like fun to me. Invite me to toss rocks into a pond and watch the ripples, chuck logs around, or throw leaves in a stream/creek and watch them float away. My arm is ready!

#7 – Cooking in the Dirt

As an adult I prefer a campfire to a mud pie, barbecue to leaf stew, but all were good when I was a kid. Show me how to bake those stick chips in our makeshift outdoor oven. I’ve got my apron on and I’m ready!

#6 – Something to Climb On

Here’s your shoes, let’s climb that rock. How do I get up there? How do I balance? I don’t want smooth plastic or metal. Give me something from nature, with nooks and crannies, and texture. I love rock walls, stream banks, tree trunks, grassy hills. I’m behind you.

#5 – I’ll Hide Behind

Critters like shelter, wood piles, bushy shrubs, giant grasses, secret places. I do to. Hide and Seek is a favorite game. Clearings between shrubs make a den, or hide-out – much nicer than a custom-built playhouse. You might hear me, but I won’t see you.

#4 – See Water Sparkle

Sunshine and water are a winning combination. A watering can, a hose, a bucket, a bowl, an old basin or pan, cups, ladles, feet, hands, creeks, rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, boats, floats, fountains, waterfalls, I touch and watch them all.

#3 – Watch that Critter

What kind of critter is that? What does he eat? Where does he live? How fast can he climb, walk, crawl or run?

#2 – You Can’t Catch Me

Maybe I can run like the wind through that park, or field, fly a kite, watch a bird soaring, find shapes in the clouds and wish I could touch them.

#1 – I Want to Be With You

Open the door and go outside. I want to be with you – I’ll follow. Who’s that special person I want to be with? Or am I the person others want to be with? Give me a choice – chores or outdoors. Suddenly I found my shoes!

What gets you outdoors? Do you potter in your garden, walk to school, watch the birds, hike, swim, forage, take care of the chickens, rake the leaves, or sit out on the deck for lunch? What got you outdoors when you were a kid?

10 Tricks to Get Kids Outdoors is by Alison Kerr and we found it at The Grass Stain Guru .  We have adapted it here for kids living in the Wide Bay.