The natural environment benefits children in so many different ways, including increases hand eye coordination and fine motor skills, also self awareness and improved sleep, which in turns leads to better behaviour. 95% of young people surveyed by Plymouth University said outdoor learning makes lessons more enjoyable.

Isolation is a big problem with young people and the outdoors allows for them to work together, develop emotionally, increases social interaction and empathy, it also enhances personal skills and cooperation.

Mind says that there are huge health benefits in all age ranges including a reduction in anger, stress, anxiety and an increase in physical fitness as well as, a sense of balance and personal awareness

Here are The Outdoor Guide’s top 100 things to do outdoors with children:

  1. Jump in a puddle
  2. Paddle in a stream
  3. Collect leaves
  4. Find conkers
  5. Make acorn people
  6. Make fairy rings
  7. Find treasure
  8. Make a kite
  9. Sail paper boats
  10. Play pooh sticks
  1. Balance on a log
  2. Make a crown from twigs and leaves
  3. Make a sculpture with stones and pebbles
  4. Build a den
  5. Make some bark rubbing
  6. Listen for birdsong
  7. Identify flowers
  8. Make a daisy chain
  9. Use a buttercup to test if you like butter – reflects under your chin
  10. Collect cones
  1. Make a picture from things collected off the ground.
  2. Play hopscotch
  3. Play hide and seek
  4. Have a game of statues
  5. Climb rocks
  6. Climb a tree
  7. Crawl though long grass
  8. Roll down a hill
  9. Identify tree
  10. Go on a bug hunt
  1. Watch the clouds
  2. Watch the stars
  3. Go for a night walk with a torch
  4. Play shadows
  5. Build a camp fire
  6. Twig weaving
  7. Make musical instruments from nature
  8. Build a stone cairn
  9. Counting games with nature
  10. I spy with nature
  1. Made mud pies
  2. Make a bug hotel
  3. Grow seeds that you find
  4. Grow an oak tree
  5. Plant carrot tops
  6. Plant apple seeds
  7. Make a weather station from plastic bottles
  8. Make a leaf wreath
  9. Make pebble people
  10. Make footprints
  1. Collect litter
  2. Make stick people
  3. Write words and numbers in the mud
  4. Plait long grass
  5. Make up stories in the woods
  6. Listen to the wind
  7. Make windchimes from cones and long grasses
  8. Make a tic tac toe from twigs and counters from stones.
  9. Identify animal paw prints
  10. Make jewellery from nature
  1. Sort objects in nature by shape, colour, size , weight, texture
  2. Make stone rubbings
  3. Jump over puddles
  4. Create imaginary animals from sticks and stones.
  5. Build a bird hide
  6. Make a bird bath
  7. Build a bird nest from twigs and grass
  8. Collect feathers
  9. Make a leaf collage
  10. Make a puddle
  1. Make a twig boat to sail down the stream
  2. Collect rainwater
  3. Create a sun dance
  4. Create a rain dance
  5. Have raindrop races
  6. Create water dams and redirect the water using twigs and stones
  7. Catch raindrops on your tongue
  8. Listen to the sounds of rain
  9. Make tracks in the snow
  10. Play follow the leader
  1. Go on a bear Hunt
  2. Make paint brushes with different grasses and twigs
  3. Make a bird feeder.
  4. Make spider webs from grasses
  5. Make repeated patterns with sticks and stones and leaves
  6. Make pebble monsters
  7. Make the outline of a person in pebbles and dress the pebble person using leaves and grasses
  8. Look for four leaf clovers
  9. Go on a scavenger hunt
  10. Watch the sunrise
  1. Watch the sunset
  2. Make a shadow stick
  3. Make a sun dial
  4. Make a meal for your friendly monster
  5. Make an obstacle course
  6. Have a snail race
  7. Climb a hill
  8. Pick blackberries
  9. Skim a stone
  10. Hold a worm
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