10 Ideas For Outdoor Play With Toddlers

With summer soon upon us I've been thinking of how we could use the garden more and have already got a brand new sand pit and sensory tray ready for some exciting outdoor activities. I've been brainstorming what thing's we could try and the children have been helping to come up with activities they would like to do. This year we are planning on planting a lot more vegetable using grow bag so the children have easy access to watch them grow as well as making our own nature area. This years all about getting out of the house for us!!

Last year the children were able to experience their first Summer with their own garden. It was lovely to watch them play outside and Little Man to become the little explorer I knew he would be, digging in the mud and searching for sticks to collect. I thought before it would be a nice to share with you what we got up to last year before this years outdoor play ideas.

Towards the end of the summer we made the children a digging area. Little man loved transforming it into an area for his dinosaur's to live in. 

We looked at ways we could help develop P's literacy through out door play, I wrote a post sharing the ideas we implemented many of these were one's which Little Man could join in too. 

During the Olympic's we took the paints out side and rolled out a huge roll of paper for printing. The children loved painting on a big scale. 

We used plants and objects from around the garden to create an ocean for the children's fish to explore.

On hot days we prepared ice blocks for play to help cool us down. We hid item's in the ice and the children were really excited when the flowers or animals started to brake free from the ice. 

We were given a bag filled with brushes of all sizes by our local council on a Childminding Course and these were added to the children's water play box. They loved using these to wash the cars, bikes and windows. 

Mark making in the garden added a new way for P to explore her favourite media's, while Little Man was able to work on his hand eye coordination through using larger tools. 

At the end of Spring the children helped to plan the flowers we should grow in the garden. We used magazine cuttings to make collages of the colours we wanted to use. 

Through out the summer the children played a huge part of what was grown in the garden and this included the planting and watching plants grow. 

Alright we didn't quite have ten so here is an activity we did this year. We went around the house and through the recycling bin to find things which we could use as planters. P loved being responsible for washing out the yogurt pots which was a great way to get her involved in the recycling. 

So what do we have planned for this year? Wait and see :0)