EIGHT IDEAS TO KEEP YOUR KIDS BUSY OUTSIDE WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCING!
Firstly, I would just like to say thank you to all those continuing to work and perform essential duties during this strange time. Your efforts and dedication are admirable and we thank you! And for a lot of us, we are all stuck at home with our children (if we are lucky enough to be able to be). It is always a blessing to have more family time, but it may get old once your children ask for snacks thirty-fives times within the first homeschool hour of the day. You may be asking yourself… What in the world can I do with the kids to keep them busy? Well, move on outdoors and explore! I have listed some of our outdoor favorites that are social distancing approved (in my opinion).
1. Visit a State Park – Within North Carolina, there are forty-one state parks! At this point, we have been to eight of them, and they have all been great and surpassed our expectations! North Carolina also has a Passport Program and a Junior Ranger program! The passport program includes a passport book that is stamped at each park’s office once you visit. If the offices are closed or you would rather not go inside, you can always e-mail the park to be sent a sticker stamp. We had to do this recently, and the stamps came in the mail quickly. Once you visit ten parks, you can have a State Parks staff member sign off and submit through e-mail for a prize!
As far as the Junior Ranger program, Junior Rangers receive patches once the workbooks, which are provided by the visitors center, are completed and verified.
Each park that we have visited has been different and spectacular in its own way. We are really looking forward to exploring more! These parks range from down the street to four hours from Greensboro. Make sure to bring a picnic lunch so you can enjoy the outdoors but still eat! No one needs hangry children while they are hiking!
2. Play Old School Games – Do you remember playing Mother May I, flashlight tag, or kick the can back in the day?? Go old school and teach your kids some new games. It’s a win win situation… quality time with your family and amazing memories from your childhood. Some other ideas for classic games include four-square, freeze tag, monkey in the middle, and red-light green-light.
3. Play with Sidewalk chalk – There are hundreds of ways to use chalk as entertainment. Use it for a homeschool activity and bring some color into it. Draw a hopscotch game so the kids can get out some energy. Write all of the letters and have your kids jump on the beginning letter of the word or letter sound that you say. Do your kids need some creative time?? Have them draw a picture of their dream vacation destination or a make-believe animal.
4. Make an Obstacle Course – Take out all of the toys in your garage and set it up for an obstacle course in your backyard. The kids will run around and get out some energy. If you have slim pickings, it does not have to be difficult. Have them run around the house three times, slide down the slide on your swing set (if you have one), and finish by dribbling the soccer ball into the goal (between two chairs). Another idea is to roll down a hill then run around a bat and follow a chalk line to the slide or basketball net.
5. Create a Nature Collage – If you have a child who loves arts and crafts, like my girls, it’s a great idea to collect things from around the yard and glue them into a picture. You can have them make up a story to share once the picture is complete. Kids have amazing imaginations so look forward to interesting stories!
6. Scavenger Hunts – My mom is the best at coming up with scavenger hunts. She makes one for the kids every time we are in Florida, and it is always a blast. When the kids were younger, she made picture hints for them instead of word or sentence clues. These adorable bags below were a surprise for the girls from my parents to collect their treasures during a scavenger hunt!
If you do not want to come up with your own, there are tons of resources online for scavenger hunt ideas. I purchased this one on Etsy recently for our Disney reveal! The girls enjoyed every minute of it, and it was a really fun way to reveal our surprise trip to Disney!
7. Paint Kindness Rocks – Do you want to keep your kids creative and do a random act of kindness? Well, this idea is the one for you! Enjoy painting and decorating rocks. Once they are ready, take them to a nearby park and leave them for people to find. Hopefully, you will make someone’s day!
8. Go for a Walk – There is nothing better than fresh air. If all else fails, enjoy a family walk in the neighborhood.
We hope some of these ideas help you get through your time at home. Be kind and be safe! And, thank you for wandering along with us!
Tiffany
I love these ideas. We have been going outside a lot these last few days. Chalk and bubbles have been our kiddos’ favorite so far. Also riding their trikes in our backyard versus going to the neighborhood playground that we have.
Jessica Wisniewski
Thank you so much! Bubbles are the best!! Enjoy being outside!
Lucy
these are great ideas! we haven’t painted kindness rocks before but love the idea of it so will be looking into adding it to our list of things to do!
Jessica Wisniewski
Thank you so much! My kids love painting kindness rocks! Hope your kids enjoy it as well!
Robin @ Reinventing Robin
Thanks for the ideas! We should really try a scavenger hunt- I’ve done them before of course, but I don’t think my son has, so it’ll be great fun for him! We love the Junior Ranger program too, it’s such a cool thing!
Jessica Wisniewski
So glad you enjoyed the ideas!! We love the Junior Ranger program – it makes visiting parks a blast of the kids! Thank you!!
April Flowers
Love these ideas! I have a 14 month old so we are always looking for new ideas! So far from your list, We have done the sidewalk chalk and of course daily walks 🙂
Jessica Wisniewski
14 months is such a fun age!! I’m glad this list was helpful! Thank you so much for reading!
kim
Thank you for these ideas. Here in Washington all of our parks and state parks are closed. We have been told to shelter in place. It’s a challenge so I love your idea’s for outside things at home.
Jessica Wisniewski
Thank you so much for reading! And, I’m so glad these ideas are helpful! Stay safe!
Carrie
Great ideas. We actually went to Tonto National Forest on Easter Sunday to poke around, which was something different and fun. The Junior Ranger program sounds great.
Jessica Wisniewski
Sounds like a wonderful Easter! The junior ranger program is great and keeps the kids engaged. Thanks so much!
Kristin Y
Mother May I… what a classic! I always forget about trying the classics with our kids. What a great list of ideas.
Jessica Wisniewski
Agreed – definitely a classic! Hope you enjoy the classics with your kids! Thank you for reading!
Larissa
Thanks for sharing timely ideas- wish our local parks were open in CA but no exploring those here!
Jessica Wisniewski
Thank you for reading!! Hope the parks open soon for you!
Erin
Great ideas! Where are you in NC? We have a place in Pinehurst and all we’ve said during this quarantine is “When this is over we are heading to PInehurst!” We love NC!!!!
Jessica Wisniewski
Thanks so much! We’re in Greensboro so only a little over an hour from here. We’ve heard Pinehurst is really nice!! Hope you get to go soon!
Joanne
Such good ideas…red light green light brings back so many memories of my childhood. How about Ring Around a Rosie or London Bridge?
Jessica Wisniewski
Thank you so much!!!! We always played red light green light! I loved ring around the rose and London bridge!! I may have to try those with my kids soon!
Daniella
I am forwarding this over to my teammates! THis is great!
Jessica Wisniewski
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you found it helpful!
Ashley Wheeler
Love these ideas! Nature collage is awesome – didn’t even cross my mind but a great idea! And I love the idea of painting kindness rocks – we are definitely going to do that soon now! Thanks for the awesome ideas <3
Jessica Wisniewski
Thanks so much for reading! And, so glad you like the ideas!! Enjoy!