Outdoor Play

Outdoor Shape Activities for Kids

May 9, 2022 By Terri Thompson

Whenever the weather is nice, it’s always so much fun to take your learning outside.

You can play, explore, and learn all at the same time.

These fun outdoor shape activities for kids are great ways to play and learn with your toddlers and preschoolers.

Your kids will be having so much fun, they won’t even realize how much they are learning.

Outdoor shape activity collage showing several activities like sidewalk chalk shapes, rock shapes, and water play

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Fun Outdoor Shape Activities

Get moving, explore nature, and get creative with all of these fun ideas.

They’re perfect for anytime of the year and a great excuse to get outside and learn with play.

Outdoor Shape Activities

These fun outdoor shape activities for kids are great ways to play and learn with your toddlers and preschoolers.

Shape Hopscotch Outdoor Game

Learn shapes with a fun sidewalk game when you play our version of Shape Hopscotch.

Driveway Shape Maze

Find your way through our Driveway Shape Maze and learn all about shapes as you go.

Outdoor Shape Hunt

Grab a camera and hunt for shapes when you go on our fun Outdoor Shape Hunt.

Running Circles

Get your wiggles out by running circles and other shapes with our fun driveway game.

Geometry Game

Photo Credit: simpleplayideas.com

Explore big shapes by measuring, walking, and creating them with your body with this geometry game from Simple Play Ideas.

10 Ways to Play with Rocks {Sensory Summer} - Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten

Photo Credit: mrsplemonskindergarten.com

Create shapes with rocks with this fun idea from Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten. (You'll find several other cool rock ideas in this post too!)

Scooping Shapes Bubble Water Play

Photo Credit: www.fantasticfunandlearning.com

Play in bubbles with this bubbly water shape sorting game from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Find & Erase the Matching Shapes

Photo Credit: Hands On As We Grow

Find and erase shapes with water with this fun activity from Hands On As We Grow.

Making Shapes With Acorns Fine Motor Shape Activity

Photo Credit: www.creativelittleexplorers.com

Build shapes with acorns with this simple idea from Creative Little Explorers.

Nature shapes outdoor math activities

Photo Credit: nurturestore.co.uk

Use nature treasures to create shapes with this fun activity from NurtureStore.

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to do all of these outdoor shape activities! Which ones do you think you’re going to try with your kids?

Outdoor shape activities for kids collage showing water play, grass shapes, and sidewalk chalk shapes.

You May Also Enjoy One of These Other Fun Outdoor Activities:

10 Fun Walk Ideas for Families

Driveway ABC Game

Silly Races

You can find all of our toddler activities at this link.

Smaller outdoor shape activities collage showing the different activities talked about in this post.

My Recommended Shape Resources

It’s so much fun to learn shapes through play. You can play these fun outside games or try one of these great shape toys for toddlers. Here are a few more playful ways to learn shapes:

Shape Hopscotch Outdoor Game

May 4, 2022 By Terri Thompson

Shape hopscotch, a fun outdoor shape game, is not a new idea to us, nor is it new to this blog. (I shared it here in the very first months of this blog.)

But, I wanted to share it again for a few reasons.

First, it’s fun and we play it often.

Second, it’s easy to do and it’s a great way to get outside.

And third, both toddlers and preschoolers will love learning with this fun outdoor shape activity!

Two pictures of children playing shape hopscotch with the words shape hopscotch overlayed. You can see the children jumping on shapes drawn with sidewalk chalk on the driveway.

Set Up Your Shape Hopscotch Game

Grab a few fun colors of sidewalk chalk and a bare spot of cement.

Draw several shapes in a line; the same as you would do for a regular hopscotch game.

Get moving and learning with this fun outdoor shape activity, Shape Hopscotch. It's easy to set and so much for for preschoolers and toddlers.

I used simple shapes as a review for my 3-year old, but you could make things even harder by using octagons, polygons, and any number of shapes

Find a couple of rocks, grab the kids, and start playing.

How to Play Shape Hopscotch

For our version, the girls took turns throwing their rock onto the shpaes. They had to hop to the shape closest to their rock.

They practiced jumping on one foot and they also had to name each shape as they landed in it.

For these two, the hopping on one foot was a much bigger challenge than naming the shape.

Shape Hopscotch Variations

You can mix up this game any way you want!

If you’re playing with toddlers, just have them jump (or run) to each shape and then name the shapes as they stand in them. If they’re just learning their shapes, you can call out the name of the shape. This is such a fun and active way to learn shapes!

You can also call out a shape and have your kids run to that shape.

Practice your gross motor skills by hopping, standing on one foot, skipping, etc. The possibilities are endless.

The best part is that it gets you outside and gets your kids moving!

Have you ever played shape hopscotch?

Find more shape activities here:

Get Crafty: Shape Collages

Shape Hunt

Driveway Shape Maze

10 Shape Activities for Toddlers at Hands On As We Grow

12 Shapes Themed Sensory Bins for Preschoolers at Fun With Mama

Fun Toys for Learning Outside

It doesn’t take fancy toys to learn outside. In fact, a package of sidewalk chalk is about all you need. But, if you want to kick it up a few notches, here are some fun tools and toys for learning outside.

10 Fun Walk Ideas for Families

January 24, 2022 By Terri Thompson

Going on a walk is not only good exercise, it’s also a lot of fun.

And, it’s a easy and simple family fun idea.

It’s so easy to just grab the kids and go on a simple neighborhood walk. You get exercise, burn some energy, and breathe fresh air. But, sometimes you want to mix things up and if you want to add a little variety to your neighborhood walk, here are 10 fun walk ideas for families.

Add some learning ideas, explore nature, and more. So, let’s get outside, get moving, and have some fun with our family.

Fun Walk Ideas for Families

Here are 10 fun ideas to add a little variety to your family walks. They’re great for kids of all ages and the adults will have fun too.

1. Go on a counting walk. Count the number of trees you see or count the parked cars. Come up with a few things you see routinely on your walks and have the kids count them.

Two young girls in pink hoodies taking a walk in the woods with a sunbeam shining down.

2. Take binoculars and look at your neighborhood up close! Find all the tiny things you usually don’t notice. Look up in the tops of trees. What do you see? You may need to take it slow on this exploration walk, but I guarantee you’ll find things you never noticed before. This is also a fun idea for a walk in the park or local nature center.

3. Make it a scavenger hunt. Look for something big, something tiny, something rough or something smooth like we did in our backyard scavenger hunt.

Simple backyard scavenger hunt on a clipboard with a pen.

4. Play “I Spy” while you walk along. “I spy something brown and green and taller than a house.” Whoever guesses first gets to come up with the next clue.

5. Go on a color hunt. See how many different colors you can find. You can have a casual color hunt or take our Rainbow Color Hunt outside to see what you can see.

More Family Walk Ideas

6. Take your camera. Document all the things you see on your walk, then turn it into a book when you get home or print out a few favorite photos. Don’t forget to take a few selfies with the kids!

7. Bring a bag and look for nature treasures like we did when we went leaf collecting. Use your nature treasures in learning activities the rest of the week.

Young girl with a small brown paper bag she is using to collect fall leaves.

8. Go on a listening walk. How many different things do you hear on your walk? Here is a fun idea for a listening walk along with a printable checklist.

9. Stop and climb a tree! If you don’t want to climb a tree, stop and examine a leaf, smell a flower, make a snow angel or jump in a puddle. In other words, enjoy the experience!

10. Find a new-to-you place to go for a hike. Your walk doesn’t have to be around the neighborhood! In case the idea of taking young children on a hike makes you nervous I have some simple tips to make it easy on everyone.

Two young girls examining the bark on a tree

Even More Outdoor Fun

Check out this article on finding the balance between outdoor safety and adventure from Teach Preschool. So, why not climb a hill and run back down it!

What is your favorite fun walk ideas for families?

Photo collage of the images found in this post: young girl taking a photograph, scavenger hunt sheet, girl collecting leaves.

Find More Outdoor Ideas in One of These Books

We’ve got a small library of books at home to help inspire us to get outside together. Here are some recommendations you may want to add to your home library.

Backyard Color Match Game for Toddlers

May 24, 2021 By Trisha

Looking for a fun toddler activity to get them moving and learning?

Head to the backyard for an active color match game for toddlers. It’s a great way to learn colors while practicing gross motor skills.

Backyard Color Match Game for Toddlers

This toddler game is all about running around and having fun, so you’ll need quite a bit of space. We played the game in our backyard. It will also work inside as long as you have enough room to move around safely.

Supplies Needed

Colored place markers (one for each color you want to practice). We used large balls, buckets, and a cone.

Objects/toys of different colors. Make sure the color of these objects match the place markers. We had 2 of each color (one for each child). We used small balls, toy ducks, cups, etc.

How to this color matching game for toddlers

Spread the colored place markers (balls, buckets, cones, etc) around your playing area. The farther they are away from each other, the more running your kids will do.

Start by practicing the names of the colors.

Call out a color and have your child run to it.

Can you find the orange cone?

If more than one child is playing be sure to talk to them about how to touch the place markers. (My toddler wanted to pick everything up.)

Say: “Run to the green bucket and touch it with your hand.”

Once you have named all of the colors, it’s time to introduce the color matching.

Ask your child to choose a small toy. Then, ask him its color. “What color is the duck?”

Have your child take the toy to the matching colored place marker. “Can you take the yellow duck to the yellow ball?”

Get your little ones moving with this fun Backyard Color Match Movement Game for Toddlers. They'll run, have fun, and learn a lot!

Continue matching the small objects to the place markers.

Be sure to say the colors each time.

Backyard Match Game for Toddlers #2

Ready to mix it up a little? Our second game practices colors and following directions. Once you’ve finished the color match game, try this one. Leave all of the toys matched up.

The goal of game 2 is to move the toys around.

Call out a color and a toy. Then name a colored place marker. “Can you place the green frog on the pink bucket?”

The game practices colors and following directions.

You can also use it to practice positional words like on, in, next to, etc. “Can you place the blue duck next to the orange cone?” “Put the pink ball inside the green bucket.”

More Color Games for Toddlers

Here are some more fun color games that you can have on hand both indoors and outdoors to learn about colors through play. They’re so much fun!

Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Words

May 12, 2021 By Terri Thompson

Can I make a confession? I almost didn’t post this sidewalk chalk spelling idea because I thought it was too simple.

But, then I realized that we’re all looking for simple ideas. And, when we’re practicing spelling words, we really don’t need to get too complicated.

So, if you’ve got beautiful weather and your kids just want to be outside, have them spend a few minutes writing their spelling words with sidewalk chalk.

Set Up Your Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Activity

All you need to do for this activity is to make sure you have sidewalk chalk and some concrete to write on. That’s it. No prep needed.

You can use your driveway, the sidewalk, a back patio, or even a brick wall!

Our driveway is usually quite colorful when the weather is nice because of all the learning activities, games, and artwork we do!

Go outside to practice spelling words with this simple outdoor learning activity: sidewalk chalk spelling words. It's easy and fun!

Write Your Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Words

To do this simple outdoor learning activity, have your child write out all their spelling words with chalk.

They can write them big or small, all one color or in every color in the box.

They can get creative and add swirls and other embellishments or write the words in block letters. Anything goes!

You can even do a practice spelling test ouside!

(And if they write them big, they can always walk their spelling words too!)

Remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated to have fun with your spelling words. You can simply just get out the sidewalk chalk and write some sidewalk chalk spelling words.

Outdoor Play

Fun Outdoor Shape Activities

You May Also Enjoy One of These Other Fun Outdoor Activities:

My Recommended Shape Resources

Set Up Your Shape Hopscotch Game

How to Play Shape Hopscotch

Shape Hopscotch Variations

Find more shape activities here:

Fun Toys for Learning Outside

Fun Walk Ideas for Families

More Family Walk Ideas

Even More Outdoor Fun

You may also like one of these family fun ideas:

Find More Outdoor Ideas in One of These Books

Backyard Color Match Game for Toddlers

Supplies Needed

How to this color matching game for toddlers

Backyard Match Game for Toddlers #2

You May Also Like One of These Color Games for Toddlers

More Color Games for Toddlers

Set Up Your Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Activity

Write Your Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Words

You May Also Like One of These Fun Ways to Practice Spelling Words:

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