Tips for Making Backyard Play More Fun

I'm excited to share that next week I'm the featured ambassador for the Nature Rocks organization. Nature Rocks is a wonderful movement that encourages families to spend more time outdoors, connecting with nature. It's an idea that my family tries to live out each and every day. So for the next two weeks, I'll be posting some of my tips for enjoying time outside with kids. Be sure to like Nature Rocks on Facebook and follow them on Twitter, where they'll start sharing my tips beginning next week. If you're new to Arrows Sent Forth, you can read more about my family and I here.

Today's tip is to make backyard play more fun.

Seems pretty obvious. Yet I see far too many families (many of whom line my own street) that get stuck in a rut of boring playtime outside. And by July they never venture past their air conditioned doors. So remember to mix it up! Here are a few ideas:

1. Bring your favorite inside toys outside! Big Arrow loves to bring Lightening McQueen outside and together we play hide and go seek with him. Or he shoots him down our little slide. We've had outdoor picnics with play food. We sometimes color on our patio table. And our paintbrushes and a cup of water often join us in the driveway for some summer time "painting."

2. Make natural elements toys! Big Arrow often digs with shovels and tractors in a small patch of gravel we have along our house. Instant (and cheap) sandbox. We have pretended to fish with sticks, made towers with rocks, and sprinkled grass like fairy dust.

3. Get crafty! With the popularity of sites like Pinterest, it's very easy to discover nature-inspired crafts. Not only can you find many of the supplies you'll need right in your own backyard, but you can often assemble your crafts outside as well. That sure makes clean up a lot easier!

       A few I want to try with Big Arrow:

• Leaving brightly colored rocks around town to brighten a stranger's day.

Source: colormekatie.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

• Grow some plants.

Source: mistyhorizon2003.hubpages.com via Nicole on Pinterest

• Make a nature-inspired collage.

Source: adventuretykes.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I pin a lot of nature-inspired craft ideas on my Toddler Activities board on Pinterest. If you need more inspiration, you'll find lots of ideas on the Nature Rocks website.

4. Let them be. Big Arrow tends to have the most fun outdoors when I just let him wander around the yard and use his own imagination. Not only does this mean I get to relax, but it is truly a delight to see what he dreams up to fill his time outdoors. He has dug for buried treasures, gone on "hikes" along our back fence, and pranced along the sidewalk to the music that plays inside every 2-year-old's head.

About a year ago, I wrote another post about Nature in our Backyard that expands upon some of my thoughts. I'd love to know how you make backyard play more fun. Please leave a comment!


Next up: On Tuesday I'll be posting about exploring the natural elements in your yard and neighborhood more deeply.