Now that school is almost over & going outside will be our saving grace, it’s time to start planning fun things to do with the kids at home. Our extra time together at home has given us more opportunity to teach our kids to appreciate our environment. That means celebrating the people, environments and wildlife that make our planet unique. Its been so refreshing to appreciate the beauty we have right in our own back yard.

Here are 10 outdoor fun things to do with kids at home:

1. Start a vegetable or herb garden. This helps them learn how plants work and what they need to grow.
2. Build a bird house/feeder and cultivate little bird watchers
3. Go Fishing or start learning important skills needed to make your fishing trip successful. We did this with the help of our friends at Just Add Nature Kids and it was hours of fun. These outdoor play and discovery kits provide much-needed family fun, and all you need to do is add nature.
4. Create an Earth reading list to read about ways to help the Earth be better each day.  
5. Collect fallen leaves and paint them.
6. Observe animals in their natural habitats. Many Zoos and Aquariums like the Houston Zoo (live cam) and the San Diego Zoo (cam options) are running live cams so that we can keep up with our favorite animals from right at home.
7. Go to your favorite hiking trail and have a scavenger hunt for things only found in nature. Or pick up trash in an effort to keep it clean.
8. Turn a household item into a gardening tool. Example: go from milk jug to watering can by punching holes in the lid with a sewing needle.
9. Complete a fun science project related to pollution
10. Plant a tree or two. We are planning to plant three new trees in our yard soon; orange, lemon and avocado.

Learning Fishing Skills

We were happy to learn tricks & techniques that we would need to have a successful fishing trip right at home. Just Add Nature kits are fishing adventures in a bucket & they are available at Walmart for just under $8. There are three different kits – but I think the kids’ favorite kit was the Yum Dinger.  It included Yum Training Dingers (plastic worms), training hooks, a digging tool for the kids to find their own live worms and a critter bucket  (be prepared to get a little dirty).  

The kids spent hours learning different rigging (hooking) techniques, while talking about the types of fish they hoped to catch and looking for live critters. Yes, they were actually looking for worms and grasshoppers while in the yard. LOL! It was so great to spend time and bond with them over something to simple.   

Follow the Just Add Nature Facebook page for fun videos with fishing tips and tricks guaranteed to hook your little ones in. And make sure to grab a kit or two for them from Walmart or Walmart.com.

Our backyard has been such a great escape for my family over the last few weeks! What outdoor activities have you and your family been doing?  

Be sure to check out my indoor activity list to have fun at home as well.