Make Your Backyard The Most Fun Ever

1. Just Add Water
Nothing says summer like a frolic through the sprinklers. Host a jump-off, where kids can think up creative ways to jump through the spray, with a high kick or a ballet twirl. For younger children, try some water play by pouring some water onto any low table and watching them splash and spatter the cool water - or create a sensory bin by filling a large clear container with different objects of different shapes, sizes and colors. They’ll be bobbing for them for hours.

2. Give Old Toys New Life
Pull out some old favorites and reimagine their second life as outdoor toys. Train sets work so well on the patio, or any hard surface, and children will love accessorizing the set with objects they find outside: tiny flowers for trees, grass for green hills, you get the idea Plastic trucks are great on garden duty, stacking cups are perfect sand toys, cooking toys become a “barbecue set,” and so on.

3. Set Up an Art Station
Find a shady spot and settle into crafting projects. Tap into this year’s tie-dye and reinvent some plain white clothes into colorful creations. Coloring books, paints and paper, and classic camp crafts like lanyards will also do the trick. A simple change of scenery will ignite their creative minds.

4. Go Camping!
Set up a tent in your backyard, and have the kids bring in blankets and pillows to make it extra cozy. Cook hotdogs and s’mores over the barbecue, and watch the stars come out together.

6. Stock Up On Chalk
It’s a summer classic for a reason: Chalk is versatile and can be used in a hundred different ways. Have kids lie down flat on their backs while you trace their silhouette. Then let them decorate with their features, hair, eyes, and clothing. It’s a chalk self-portrait! 

Take hopscotch to a new level by having kids suggest different challenges, like hopping, or whistling, or spinning round and round. Draw big circles with titles like 3 fat leaves, 5 twigs, or 4 yellow flowers and send kids on a scavenger hunt; whoever fills their circles first wins.

7. Host an Outdoor Movie Night
Pop up some popcorn, pile some pillows onto an outdoor couch or lay out a picnic blanket, and set up a movie projector and a screen to stream a family favorite after dark. (Or, just bring your laptop outside and queue up Disney+.) If your kids don’t have the attention span for a full movie yet, an episode or two of their favorite show works, too.

8. Build a Playhouse

Invest in a wood playhouse for the backyard and kids will have space for summer reading, an ice cream store, or a superhero's secret lair for years to come. Some come equipped with slides, swings, or even flowers in sweet just-their-size window boxes.

9. Paint Rocks

Collect smooth, palm-sized rocks on a walk through the neighborhood and bring them home to paint with summery designs in washable kids' paint. Then, place them around town as a cheerful surprise for neighbors. You may have a local Kindness Rocks Project Facebook group where you can share photos.

10. Dine Al Fresco

Get kids involved in making a dinner meant to eat outdoors. There is something for everyone to do: shuck corn, help chop summer veggies, and shake up a batch of vinaigrette while you fire the grill. Set the table together – school-aged kids can make place cards with everyone's name, while minis can create simple flower arrangements in bud vases or glass jars and mix and match the tableware with their choice of tablecloth, napkins, and placemats. 

11. Try Backyard Yoga

Bring an iPad or phone along with yoga mats or beach towels to the porch or backyard and follow along with a kid-centric yoga video (we love Cosmic Kids) to start an early summer morning before the day heats up,

12. Create a Kids' Art Station

Summer is the perfect time to tap into kids' budding artistic spirit. You can keep the mess to a minimum and hose everything and everyone down at the end of any especially enthusiastic play sessions. Make mud pies with a mud kitchen or bring an old easel outside along with tempera paints. For an on-the-go art station,pack a bag with a pad of paper, colored pencils, and watercolors.

13. Look for Bugs

With a magnifying glass or bug catcher with a built-in magnifier, you can get a closer look at what's lurking in the grass. Take a photo or encourage kids to draw a quick picture in a notebook and let them go. Use a guidebook or app like Seek to identify the species and see who can see the most species over the summer.

14. Go Stargazing

Kids love it because they get to stay up extra late during summer to catch a constellation. Go out with little to no moonlight, and the sky isn't cloudy. If you live in a city, find an area away from light pollution. Bring a telescope or binoculars for a better view and an app like Night Sky to help you decode what you see. NASA and AMNH have excellent resources to get started.

15. Wash the Car

While it feels like a chore (and most certainly is), soapy water is like a siren song for toddlers. They can't resist. Hand them soft clothes or sponges to dip into water and practice making circles as they clean the car. Rinse the car (and kids) off with a gentle hose. You'll need to wash along with them, but they'll have pride in their ability to help and love the sensory experience. They could also wash glass doors or dolls in a small tub of water.

17. Go Birdwatching

Start with a book like Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig or Ruby's Birds by Mya Thompson, then head outdoors. Older kids may enjoy trying to learn about specific types of birds with a field guide like an Audobon Guide. For younger kids, focus on counting birds in different places like trees, the ground, or the air, or listen to bird songs. Keep a birding center with a journal, binoculars, and a checklist or field guide for a quiet summer morning. Challenge kids to wait, watch, and listen.

18. Make a Scavenger Hunt

Make (or print a free version online) a scavenger hunt based on your backyard or neighborhood. It can be as simple as finding a bird, a rock, or something green, or more complicated depending on their interest. Have kids see who can find the most things throughout the day or time them.

24. Get Climbing

From Lily & River Little Climbers for the littlest crew to TP Toys six foot UFO climber and Eezy Peezy's climbing towers, there is a structure for every type of monkey in the family. Climbing structures help kids build balance, strength, endurance, and confidence. 

25. Blow Up a Bounce House

While they're an investment, a bounce house is serious fun for a range of ages, and something kids don't ever get sick of playing with. If you've ever considered renting one for a birthday party and have a place to keep it, it might be more economical to buy one you can use again and again. We've even used one in a playroom on a rainy day, and kids from 2-8 lost their minds.

26. Run Through a Sprinkler

It's a classic for a reason. Whether you go for a silly spinning turtle, a splash pad style sprinkler, a spinning ball, or a giant inflatable T-Rex there is a sprinkler to suit any kid. Most are under $50, making them a fun alternative to a kids' pool that doesn't involve standing water, and no mosquitoes thankyouverymuch.

28. Plant a Pollinator Garden

Restore nature's floor with a kit from Modern Sprout: one includes non-invasive wildflower seeds that attract butterflies, and another is pizza-inspired with basil, cherry tomato, and oregano seeds.

29. Cruise In a Mini 2-Seater

Go big or go back inside with one of Freddo's 2-seaters that look almost just like the original. Choose from an excavator, monster truck, or convertible.

30. Perfect Your Jump Rope Game

Inspired by novelist and teen mom, Diana Abu-Jaber, get kids into the old school joys of a jump rope.