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Do you ever get slightly panicked by weekends and holidays?

You look forward to them so much.

And want them to be so special.

But before you know it, the kids are whinging and you’re yelling!

And it’s downright miserable. And you feel you’ve failed. Again.

Not nice.

I find, the single best remedy is just to get outside and have some simple outdoor fun.

It’s like some magical medicine that gets us all smiling.

Because being outdoors give the kids the freedom to run around at top speed exploring and discovering and imagining and building and conquering and whooping to their heart’s content.

And I actually switch off. Properly.

From work. And the house. And my phone.

And actually connect with them.

Somehow London’s lovely woods and parks are balm to my frazzled, overloaded mind.

So more and more, that’s what we do – weekends and holidays.

Just get outdoors as early as we can and hangout.

We come back tired but recharged. With the loveliest of memories.

Not from massive, complicated activities.

Just from the simplest of stuff – climbing a tree, playing hide and seek, picking berries, racing snails or taking a book or crayons out with us and reading or drawing outside.

There’s no planning or pressure or organisation on my part.

We chuck together a last minute picnic of bread, houmous or cheese, hard boiled eggs if we’re lucky, crisps, fruit and cake if we’ve got some.

PLUS a flask of coffee or tea! You do NEED a flask!

And we’re off. Adventuring.

If you fancy some inspiration I share bits and bobs from our adventures on Instagram.

But I’ve also put together this BIG, BIG list of outdoor fun ideas.

It’s not meant to be stuff for you to organise or direct or anything dull like that.

Just simple prompts for outdoor play – including a whole bunch you can enjoy at home in the garden – that we’ve found make weekends and holidays more fun.

And that don’t cost a thing!

101 Outdoor Fun Ideas

1. Go blackberrying with friends

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2. Build a den
3. Build a wigwam
4. Climb trees
5. Make a log seesaw
6. Make a stick sword
7. Paint your shadows on the pavement or in the yard Image may be NSFW.
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8. Make a stick bow and arrow
9. Make a stick wand
10. Play hopscotch on the pavement
11. Play hide and seek in the woods
12. Pick apples
13. Paint stones
14. Make paint brushes from plants Image may be NSFW.
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15. Collect flints
16. Paddle in a stream
17. Catch crabs
18. Make a daisy chain
19. Plant pumpkins
20. Collect conkers
21. Make a stick picture frame Image may be NSFW.
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22. Race snails
23. Raise butterflies
24. Raise ladybirds
25. Make a stick raft
26. Grow radishes (nothing grows quicker!)
27. Grow lettuces
28. Build a train track in the garden Image may be NSFW.
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29. Grow peas (even my picky eater who doesn’t love veg gobbles peas down straight from the pod)
30. Play Pooh sticks
31. Sail paper boats down a stream
32. Join a lavender harvest
33. Make leaf crowns
34. Make flower crowns
35. Make journey sticks Image may be NSFW.
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36. Camp in the garden
37. Build an obstacle course
38. Go on a nature scavenger hut
39. Grow herbs
40. Take paper and crayon and do leaf rubbings
41. … do bark rubbings
42. Take paints to the park and paint a landscape
43. Make a stick maze Image may be NSFW.
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44. Go to a lido (London officially has the best!)
45. Balance on a log
46. Collect pine cones
47. … paint with pine cones
48. Make friends with geese
49. Forage for food on the beach …
50. … and cook it on a camp fire …
51. … tell ghost stories around the camp fire
    

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52. Built a birds nest
53. Follow animal tracks
54. Blow bubbles
55. Go box sledging through the autumn leaves
56. Make forest face mud monsters  Image may be NSFW.
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57. Make shell pictures on the beach or stone or stick pictures in the woods
58. Paint with water pistols
59. Dig for worms
60. Make blossom pictures
61. Feed the ducks
62. Splash in puddles
63. Build a bug hotel Image may be NSFW.
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64. Make leaf masks
65. Make leaf collages
66. Make mud pies
67. Braid grass
68. Create driftwood aliens
69. Plant a tree
70. Grow raspberries
71. Grow blueberries
72. Make a solar oven Image may be NSFW.
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73. Make story stones
74. Make a stick flag
75. Build a beaver dam across a stream
76. Explore a mole hill
77. Sow seeds to attract bees
78. Stay up to spot the stars and say hello to Orion
79. Make a kite – Mary Poppins style – from sticks, newspaper and string
80. Listen for woodpeckers
81. Follow a robin and see where he takes you … Narnia or The Secret Garden?
82. Forage for crab apples – and make crab apple jelly
83. Paint with the rain – !! – on rainy days Image may be NSFW.
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84. Fish for tiddlers with a net – we’ve caught them right here in south London!
85. Find a Gandalf style staff
86. Paint acorns
87. Roll down a grassy bank
88. Dig for fossils
89. Conquer a hill
90. Collect tadpoles
91. Pick elderflowers in spring and make cordial …
92. … and elderberries in the summer for juice and jam
93. Make Christmas decorations from twigs Image may be NSFW.
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94. Have a leaf fight
95. Create a trail with stick arrows
96. Learn to skim stones
97. Blow giant bubbles
98. Play Mother May I
99. Read books … in the garden, the park, the forest, the beach
100. Jump up and down in the mud and slide, slide, slide …
101. On a warm night … sleep under the stars

So there you go, 101 outdoor fun ideas for the whole family.

I do hope you enjoy. Let me know your faves.

And for more thoughts and ideas on simpler – slower! – parenting do sign up for my newsletter …

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