100+ Fun Outdoor Activities For Toddlers

By Flossie Ang

Let's go and play outside

Did you know that the average toddler's attention span is four to six minutes? You read that correctly, four to six minutes. That means aside from the roughly twelve hours spent sleeping and the other hour and a half spent eating, parents need to fill approximately ten and half hours of their child's constant, undivided attention. To make this figure more realistic, ten and half hours equals six hundred and thirty minutes each day. If you want to know the math, roughly 126 activities (at 5 minutes each) a day, parents switch between to keep their toddlers attention. No wonder parents of toddlers often feel exhausted, frazzled, and overwhelmed. One hundred twenty-six activities a day is enough to boggle anyone's mind. 

Admittedly as parents, we get bored too. There are only so many times we can sing "Baby Shark" (doo-doo-doo-doo), play with the same spinning toys, or visit the same places before our burnout gets the best of us, and we resort to giving our children an iPad or putting them in front of the TV for entertainment. We are frustrated, tired, and need a break. Therefore, we do what is easy and know what will keep our kids quiet and busy for hours. 

Parents need variety and ideas to keep those activities fresh, exciting, educational, and fun. More importantly, we all need to step away from the TV and iPad and get out of the house. Studies have found that toddlers who get outside have stronger bones, develop healthier habits as they age, have less depression and hyperactivity, act out less at home and school, and are more creative. 

That is where this book comes into play. We have composed a list of over one hundred different activities to get you outside having fun with your toddler.

• The first chapter discusses ten tips to have you prepared for outdoor playtime.

• Chapter two gives you twenty-five outdoor spring activities, from jumping in puddles to painting clay flower pots. Each activity will also have your toddler learning fine motor skills and critical thinking skills. 

• Next, in chapter three, we outline twenty-five summer activities, from ways to make swimming more fun to creating your binoculars to go birdwatching.

• In chapter four, we have tons of fall fun with traditional fall activities like trick-or-treating to ways to get more creative like an outdoor treasure hunt. 

• Chapter five takes us to winter, where we discuss fun things like making snow angels to frozen nature sun catchers. 

• Finally, because it is always fun to bring the outdoors inside, we conclude with ten activities that you can do inside that still contain an outdoor feel. 

Our purpose is to help parents feel capable of providing fun, engaging, entertaining outdoor activities that toddlers and parents can do together. Ultimately, we hope this book gives parents the tools and confidence to turn off the TV and iPad and create memories with their toddlers that are creative and unique. 

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abel Publishing
• Release date: Nov 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201380595

Book preview

Introduction

Congratulations on purchasing Fun Outdoor Activities for Toddlers, and thank you for doing so.

The following chapters will discuss how to have fun outside with your toddler.

Did you know that the average toddler’s attention span is four to six minutes? Yep, you read that statistic correctly, four to six minutes. If you have a toddler, you probably understand how quickly four to six minutes can be; however, let’s do the math to put it into perspective. Aside from the roughly twelve hours spent sleeping and the other hour and thirty minutes spent eating, parents need to fill ten and half hours of their child’s constant, undivided attention. Put into minutes that six hundred and thirty minutes each day, which broken down to roughly 126 activities (at 5 minutes each) a day parents juggle between to keep their toddler’s attention. No wonder parents of toddlers often feel exhausted, frazzled, and overwhelmed. One-hundred-twenty-six activities a day is enough to boggle anyone’s mind.

Admittedly as parents, we get bored too. There are only so many times we can sing your child’s favorite song, play with the same spinning toys, or visit the same places before our burnout gets the best of us. In our frustration, we do what is easy.  We resort to giving our children an iPad or putting them in front of the TV for entertainment. Why? Because we are tired and need a break and electronics is a simple solution to give us a moment of reprieve.

Parents need variety and ideas to keep daily activities fresh, exciting, educational, and fun.  More importantly, we all need to step away from the TV and iPad and get out of the house. Studies have found that toddlers who get outside have stronger bones, develop healthier habits as they age, have less depression and hyperactivity, act out less at home and school, and are more creative.

With your toddler’s health in mind, we wrote this book. We have done the hard part by coming up with over one hundred new exciting ideas to keep toddlers and parents having fun for hours. We divided these activities into different seasons. You will find both traditional seasonal activities, as well as other things that you may have never considered. The point here is to give you options to keep toddlers learning, laughing, and having fun.

We also realize that different parents have different resources and things available to them. Therefore, many of these activities are free and open in both rural and urban communities. But that does not mean you are limited to just these ideas. Yes, parents, being outside helps us become more creative too. Use this list as a starting point, then adapt and grow the activity in whatever way is best for both you and your toddler’s needs,

There are plenty of books on this subject on the market, thanks again for choosing this one! We ensure to provide as much helpful information as possible. Now let’s have new fun outdoor adventures with your toddler. Please enjoy!

Chapter #1: Ten Tips to Prepare You and Your Toddler for a Better Outdoor Experience

Parents trying something new usually cause two polar emotions. The first is excitement. The second is anxiety. Sometimes, with kids involved, these emotions can be even more intense. There are more things that we have to watch and control. We don’t know what to expect. The unknown many times causes us to have more fear, and fear can be paralyzing. When this happens, we decide that it is much easier to stay put and not try new things.

Congratulations, by opening this book, you are giving yourself the knowledge to ditch the fear and gain the confidence, the tools, and the skills to have more fun with your toddler than ever before.  Additionally, you have taken the first step by deciding that you and your toddler will get outside, and you are committed to this decision for both of your benefits. 

Since you have decided to spend some extra time outside, there are certain things that you should always have prepared to make your experience more enjoyable. Most people find new activities frustrating or difficult because they are not ready, especially for the unexpected. To eliminate possible moments of stress and frustration, we have created a list of ten things that will help you feel more prepared as you get outside. If you take the five extra minutes to prepare, you will be less worried. May we recommend using this as a quick checklist for each of your outdoor adventures with time, the list will become second nature habits, and you will not think about things to do for outdoor fun.

1.) Always have spray-on sunscreen available.

We recommend spray-on sunscreen because it is easier to apply. Keep sunscreen in your car and by your back door. Get into the routine of putting sunscreen on each time you go outside, even in the winter, because the sun is still bright. Reapply the sunscreen every thirty minutes for maximum effect. There is nothing worse than a toddler with sunburn, which can be one hundred percent preventable. Be proactive. Use sunscreen and use it often.

2.) Put a hat on your child.

Hats are more than cute accessories on toddlers. They are a necessity. It will help keep the sun off their faces in the warmer season, and in the cooler seasons, it will keep them warmer. Again, we recommend storing hats not only with their coats but having an extra one in the car just in case you forget it. Additionally, the earlier you can teach your child how to wear a hat, the easier it will be in the future. Besides, a toddler in a hat is adorable! Don’t you agree?

3.) Water! Water! Water!

Even in the winter, your toddler will need water when they are outside. Often, toddlers don’t know or can’t tell us that they are thirsty and don’t know dehydration signs. Keeping water close by and taking frequent water breaks is essential. Fill up their cup or water bottle in the morning and keep it close everywhere you go. Additionally, don’t be afraid