spring activities Archives

6 Great Outdoor Activities for Spring

I’m so excited about the beautiful weather we are having lately. I want to get outside and do fun educational things with the kids. Here are 6 great outdoor activities for you to consider.

#1 Tennis

I’ve written about what a great family activity this is, but I wanted to mention it again. Go to your local park’s or schools’ courts and have fun. Pick up racquets at a garage sale or buy used from a local club. We have also gotten private lessons for our family outdoors at a very reasonable cost. You can count it as P.E. hours!

#2 Four Square

After tennis, this is my favorite outdoor game to play with the kids. Here are the official rules. We use sidewalk chalk on our driveway. Once again, P.E. hours. 🙂

#3 Hiking

We love to hike any time it isn’t really cold. Spring is a perfect time to hike before it gets really hot. Fortunately, there are a number of great hiking trails near where we live. It’s great exercise and so inspiring to be in God’s creation. You can study wildlife and plants on the way and count it science. Even better, do some drawings of what you find and count it as art, too.

#4 Gardening

Anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t garden. But I want my kids to have the experience of planting and caring for plants with the hope they will inherit their dad’s green thumb. This is a great time to teach the kids about plants and yes, counting it as science.

#5 Birding

I took an ornithology class in college because I absolutely love birds. We enjoy watching the birds at our feeder all year, but we have an opportunity to see more species when we venture out. One thing I learned is that cemeteries are excellent places to look for birds. Bring your bird book or app. Look at old headstones or the grave sites of famous people in your area and you’ll get history time in, too.

#6 Reading

Whether you are reading to your children or everyone is reading independently, spring is a great time to take the books outside. Scholastic shares this list of read alouds for spring that would make good options. You can count this as language arts or any subject that you’re reading about.

There are more outdoor activities than I can list, so I want to direct you to the Homeschool Days Hop.

An InLinkz Link-up

What’s your favorite outdoor homeschool activity?

Week 10: The Bring on the Spring Challenge

If you’ve been overwhelmed by winter, you probably can’t wait for spring. Personally, I’m desperate for it! No matter how excited we are about spring, if we don’t plan for it, we’ll find ourselves disappointed that we didn’t do many of our favorite things. We can change that with just an hour of our time this week. (Note that we will plan for Easter later this month.)

#1 Research ideas

Google, Pinterest, and your homeschool support group are great places to look for spring activity ideas. Discuss your must-do activities with your family. Is it time to plant a garden? Take a long-distance field trip? Make mud pies?

This Spring Bucket List has some ideas for you.

#2 Make a bucket list

You can create your own printed list using this subscriber freebie (the link to all freebies is sent in subscribers’ first email). Keep your list short so you can check them all off and so kids can help make your list. Use a laminating machine and you can reuse your list every year.

#3 Add ideas to the calendar

Cute bucket lists do us no good if we don’t make time in our schedules for these activities. That’s especially true for events that are more fun with friends. Sign up for support group field trips or plan a day out with other families. You might want to have a rain-out date ready. Add them to your calendar or to-do list and treat them like any other important date.

#4 Gather supplies

If you’re finally going to plant a garden, fly kites, or go for a walk in the rain, you may need to gather the materials to make it happen. Today’s the day to shop or to add needed items to your list. Let the kids think of what you need and even make your shopping list. Have a preschooler? Make a picture shopping list using sales flyers or the internet.