03 Jun Nature Play Days Activities
The Environmental Education Association of Indiana has created a project called ICAN (Indiana Children and Nature Network). This project is dedicated to get kids to spend more time outdoors for their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
You can visit indianachildrenandnature.org/icanplay30.html to join the pledge to play outdoors for at least 30 minutes every day!
Out of ideas of what to do outside? Here is a list of fun activities to encourage kids to spend more time outdoors.
- Explore a park. Can be any park: nature park, state park, even your neighborhood park. Make a game: find new bugs, collect leaves/flowers, using ABCs find something for each letter.
- Talk a walk around your neighborhood. Slow down and enjoy the breeze or smells in the air.
- Use nature to create art. Make people out of leaves, paint with flowers, create a potion from nature items, make kindness rocks to leave everywhere you go.
- Climb trees, rocks, steps, stumps. Climbing is a great skill to help kids learn how to balance.
- Build with nature: use rocks, sticks, grass, leaves, flowers.
- Have a water fight! Squirt guns are always fun to use, water balloons, cups, maybe even use leaves to hold water.
- Get dirty! Dig in the dirt, play in sand, add some water and make mud pies.
- Visit a StoryWalk® at a park near you. We have a StoryWalk® at Hummel Park.
- Paint or use chalk to make art on the sidewalk.
Written by Mercedes M., Youth Services Librarian
