Fun Things to do Outside in your Backyard. Making truly great memories, contrary to what you may have seen on social media, does not necessitate travel, stress, or pricey supplies. Indeed, many of life’s best memories will be created easily and stress-free in your own garden.
Fun Things to do Outside in your Backyard
They’re early-morning meals on the veranda and late-night board games under the sky. They’re the ones who catch fireflies, create s’mores, and, most importantly, make these times shine. You’ll find easy yet entertaining things to do outside in your backyard that will awe your children and simply bring your family together to produce smiles and laughter to last a lifetime. List of 12 Best Fun Things to do Outside in your Backyard.
1. Plant a Food Garden
Although seeds are always available to buy, we are fortunate to have numerous free seed sources here in East Tennessee.
Seed exchanges are currently available at several local libraries. These exchanges enable you to obtain free packs of heirloom seeds for growing vegetables, fruits, and flowers in your own yard.
After the plants have developed, simply save some of the fresh seeds & return them to the library for others to utilise.
If that seems like too much labour, you may always try sowing seeds from grocery store veggies. Just make sure the seeds are thoroughly dry before planting them.
2. Discover the Stars
While East Tennessee organises a number of free public stargazing activities, there are times when you just want (or need) to stay at home.
You can DIY your own stargazing party with these free printable constellation cards, & you don’t even need a telescope. Don’t forget to bring snacks!
3. Go on a Treasure Hunting Adventure
Everyone, young and old, enjoys the prospect of unearthing buried wealth. A fun backyard search may bring the imagination to life.
Simply bury a tiny trinket in your yard or place it beneath a rock or flower pot. Then make a map and have your children try to find it.
You can also complete this game like a scavenger hunt. For this strategy, you will create a list of clues and scatter them over your yard. Each hint will take your children to the next.
For instance, one hint could be “Your next clue will make you giggle; discover it where birds bathe.” Of course, the final clue will take them to the buried wealth.
4. Get Creative With Outdoor Chalk Photos
With a charming sidewalk chalk background, you can take your family photos to the next level. With simple options like youngsters clutching chalk balloons, umbrellas, or flowers, there’s no better time than the present to take a few charming photos.
5. Experiment with Bubbles
Experiment with various types of DIY bubble wands to take your bubble-blowing enjoyment to the next level. For example, try twisting pipe cleaners into various shapes to find which one works best.
You may also try out different culinary items such as spatulas and whisks. Perhaps you have a strip of mesh or perhaps an old fishing net that would be suitable for the job. The possibilities are virtually limitless.
A simple experiment like this is an excellent approach for children to exercise their scientific reasoning skills without even realising it.
6. Forage for Wild Food
Many typical edible weeds, such as dandelion, plantain, and chickweed, can be found in backyards throughout East Tennessee. While most people try to eradicate these weeds, why not appreciate them instead?
Of course, you should never eat anything if you don’t know exactly what it is. The dandelion is one of the most easily recognised plants, so it’s a good place to start.
For some dandelion dish ideas, check out this list of dandelion recipes.
This is now the foraging book we have, and I highly recommend it if you want to venture out to different plants. It contains a plethora of images of each plant as well as excellent cooking ideas for everything.
7. Create a Backyard Obstacle Course
Make a fantastic obstacle course out of random items from your backyard that will keep your kids entertained for hours.
While we’ve all seen great online videos of parent-created ninja warrior courses, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Honestly, as long as it’s moderately oaky-ish, your kids will definitely enjoy it!
8. Paint Garden Rocks
Paint some garden pebbles to brighten up your backyard. If you don’t want to keep the painted rocks for your own home, you can leave them throughout town as part of the kindness rock movement to brighten someone’s day.
9. Enjoy a Backyard Picnic
You can eat your lunch outside with no extra effort. Simply take the food you were about to eat outside and cover it with a blanket or towel. Nothing on this list is more straightforward than this!
10. Investigate with a Magnifying Glass
Up close, everything appears new and intriguing, including flowers, rocks, bugs, leaves, and more! Observing objects in different ways will also assist your children in developing critical scientific thinking skills.
11. Dust off the Old Yard Games
This tried-and-true concept is one of the simplest ways to have fun outside.
If you like Ladder Ball, Kan Jam, or the more conventional Croquet, why not learn the game by participating in a fun family tournament? As the saying goes, practice makes perfect!
If you don’t have any yard games, consider resurrecting old favourites like outdoor hide-and-seek and soccer.
12. Get Creative with Outdoor Nature Crafts
There is a no less expensive way to become crafty than by using natural objects from your own backyard. Check out our nature craft ideas here.
13. Camp in your Backyard
Camping in your backyard is a great way to get some practice in for your next camping trip, test out new gear, or simply enjoy being outside. It allows you to see a new side of your house because most of us aren’t out there late at night in the stillness.
Please remember that you should still follow good camping habits such as not putting food out. There will be critters out foraging at night, and you don’t want to be surprised by rats, raccoons, coyotes, or even bears.
14. Have a PhotoShop
Do a photoshoot in your backyard to be creative. We recently did one in which Jacob tried on runway outfits, and years ago, we got Holi Powder and shot a shoot in our garden with our friends. Do you even have any ideas that you’d want to try?
15. Set up a Home Gym
Set up an outdoor area in your backyard if you enjoy lifting, CrossFit, yoga, climbing, or pilates. During the first year of quarantine, a few of our friends built home walls in their backyard, and I’m sure you exercised at home as well. It’s great to have a dedicated room at home for whatever activity you enjoy.
16. Lawn Games
Lawn games are a terrific way to pass the time in your garden with friends, especially if you have a beer in your hand. We haven’t included any yet, but corn hole, ladder ball, kan jam, huge Jenga, and spikeball are on our list. What more should we add to our list?
Pro Tip: My backyard is all concrete, which we prefer, but for some of these games, we’ve considered acquiring a turf grass rug.
17. Outdoor Lounge Area
Every year, we set a reading target for ourselves. We don’t read a lot, so it’s normally not a large number, but we’ve been thinking that if we have a dedicated reading room, we might spend more time doing so. On Pinterest, I’ve come across some stunning outdoor reading nooks. But, until I can create my own space, I’ll relax in our stand-alone hammock and read a book.
Additional Fun Things to do Outside in your Backyard
List of 39 More Fun Things to do Outside in your Backyard:
- Water Balloon Fight
- Forage for Food
- Create an Obstacle Course
- Build a Fairy Garden
- Create a DIY water wall
- Look for shapes in the clouds
- Build a bug hotel or birdhouse
- Use a stick to draw mud pictures
- Go camping
- Make s’mores on the grill or fire pit
- Create DIY concrete stepping stones
- Use water to paint designs on your fence
- Run through the sprinkler or spray each other with the hose
- Catch fireflies
- Play board games under the stars
- Scary Stories
- Draw with Chalk
- Blow Bubbles
- Hopscotch
- Build a Bird Feeder
- Stargaze
- Investigate with a Magnifying Glass
- Hunt for Bugs
- Trampoline
- Plant a Butterfly Garden
- Have a cooking lesson on the grill
- Watch the birds
- Build mud castles
- Watch Clouds
- BirdWatch
- Paint Nature (Sticks & Rocks)
- Look for Animal Tracks
- Watch the Sunset
- Go Puddle Jumping
- Have a Scavenger Hunt
- Create Land Art
- Make a Fort
- Tree or Leaf Rubbings
- Flashlight Tag
