Fun Things to do Outdoors with Your Family

Spending time with you family is vital for building healthy relationships with each other. Starting spending time with your kids when they are young will strengthen your relationship, get them physically active, and teach them how to have fun without video games or T.V. The follow are ideas for fun things to do with your kids out doors that don't cost much money; if any at all.

1. Walk quietly "like a fox", and see how close you can get to a rabbit or squirrel.
2. Watch birds and then imitate them, study how birds move differently.
3. Collect bird feathers and try to find out which type of birds they belong to.
4. Look at different spider webs and see what types of spiders make them. Make your own spider webs at home with cotton gauze.
5. Look for animal signs: tracks, poop, feathers, matted down patches of grass, nibbled plants, scratches in tree bark...
6. Make crayon rubbings of leafs
7. Collect rocks and find out which types they are, and why rocks have different colors.
8. Start a nature art book or scrap book.
9. Make simple bird houses out of milk cartons and watch birds come to eat.
10. Make wind chimes out of things such as sea shells, sticks, etc.
11. Catch smells into jars; such as dirt, grass, sea water and then blind fold each other to see if you can tell what you are smelling. This works good with things you can find in your house too.
12. Go cloud watching
13. Make a treasure map, seal it in a wine bottle and throw it in the river.
14. Play sports
15. Go on adventurous walks
16. Go swimming in a lake

Or in the winter...

1. Go snowshoeing
2. Have a snow ball fight
3. Make a small ice rink in your back yard with water and packed down snow
4. Go tobogganing
5. Build a snow man
6. Build a snow fort
7. Make ice cream the old fashion way

Put 1 cup of milk or cream, 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla in a small coffee can and seal it with tape. Place this coffee can in a larger coffee can and fill it with rock salt. Seal this can with tape as well. Go out side and kick the can around in the snow for twenty minutes to half an hour, open the cans and you will have ice cream! (just make sure no salt gets into the small can)

As you can see there are tons of fun things to do out doors with your kids and family no matter what the weather is. Doing some of these activities can also be fun for parents and remind them of their own childhood. So get dressed and get ready to have a good time.

Posted in: Leisure, Lifestyle, Outdoors, Recreation, Tips