Outdoor play

Benefits of outdoor play, and ideas for extending the time outside. Activities and more...

11 Pins

Home Child Care, Region of Waterloo

an orange slide in the middle of a playground with blue poles and red caps on it

Safety should always be #1 priority. Here are some tips on what to look for: *Always inspect the area and equipment before you let children play. (debris, broken equipment, etc) *Check for any potential hazards on the playground, but also ensure that children are dressed appropriately for play (shoe laces safely tied, coat and hoodie strings pulled out or tucked away safely, etc). *Remove necklaces, drawstrings, bracelets, scarves or any clothing that can get caught on the equipment.

Located in Waterloo Park. Waterloo Park offers an opportunity to go for a walk and see many beautifully decorated trees and objects in the park. There are also free trolley rides and plays. Find all the details @ http://www.wondersofwinter.ca/

people are walking around in front of a large building with a water fountain on the side

Outdoor Winter Rinks

Outdoor skating is great fun for kids and adults, during which they get physically active. There are many outdoor rinks throughout Kitchener-Waterloo. Following list will take you to all of the outdoor rinks available so you can find the one closest to you: https://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/OutdoorRinks.asp

the nature scavenger hunt for kids to practice their writing and spelling skills with pictures

Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt List

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Gratis Printables

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Free Nature

Scavenger Hunt For Kids

Earth Day Activities

Printables Free Kids

Scavenger hunt is a great way to get children moving. This activity promotes all areas of development and is appropriate for school aged children. For younger children, you can use pictures instead of words and create a smaller list.

two young boys laying in leaves with their hands up to the camera and smiling at the camera

Pile Of Leaves

Unstructured Play

Preschool Crafts Fall

Jumping in leaves or playing hide and seek in leaves piles is the greatest fun in the fall. At the end of the day, encourage the children to make a leaf collection or bring the leaves indoors for an arts and crafts activity. You can paint them, glue them, decorate, use them as decoration or make a collage.

two small children are standing in the grass and looking at leaves that have fallen on them

Happy Hooligans

Fun Outdoor Activities

Outdoor Education

Leaf Crafts

Outdoor Classroom

Outdoor Activities For Kids

Fall Crafts For Kids

Nature Play

Outdoor Learning

One way to make use of fallen leaves is to create a maze. You can get the children to help make it.This will surely get them moving and playing while they improve their gross motor and cognitive skills.You can even do a race, so their physical activity will improve as well.

a person wearing pink rain boots splashing water onto the ground while standing in front of yellow umbrellas

Singapore With Kids

Daughter Activities

Rainy Day Activities For Kids

Rainy Day Activities for Kids

Jumping in puddles is a gross motor activity appropriate for all ages, including adults. Ensure that you have spare clothes available for children, and that everyone is dressed for the weather, including rain boots, coats, umbrellas, layers. Don't forget that you need to be bundled up as well. One of the most common reasons that children's outdoor time is limited is because the adults in charge of their day are too cold and want to go indoors. Make sure that you are warm, dry and get jumping!

some rocks are laying on top of each other and one is gray with white stripes

Whenever you are outside make sure that you bring with you a rock or two. Playing with different textures, sizes, weight, shapes etc. all promote different areas of development for children. Rocks are an open ended material that can easily be used outside and inside a daycare. You can use them for art, literacy, numeration, geometry, different sorting games, decoration, crafts etc. Add some buckets, and children could potentially use the rocks for sorting (size, colour).

snowflakes on the ground with someone's mitts and gloves in it

Painting With Markers

Snow Painting

Eye Dropper

Snow Activities

Winter Activities For Kids

Snow Art

Painting Snow

Snow Fun

Preschool Arts And Crafts

Creating art in the snow is an amazing way to get children to express their artistic side and spend time outdoors. To paint in the snow you can use various tools. The most fun are spray bottles filled with water/food colouring mix. Another tool to use is evergreen branches dipped in colour or use buckets with water and food colouring mix and clean paintbrushes.

a black and white photo with the words nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and the full use of the sense

Nature Deficit Disorder

Children are spending less time outdoors, and unfortunately more time indoors. Children are considered hyperactive, they deal with depression at an early age, they are unable to concentrate, etc (Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Richard Louv). Some believe that the relation between these disorders and lack of time in nature are related. On this board, you will find several ideas for quality play in nature that will help children enjoy the outdoors.