45 outdoor activities for kids in lockdown

Despite lockdown easing our usual boredom busters are still closed, BUT you can still have fun outdoors. Whether it's in your garden, during your a walk or in your local park. To give you some inspiration, we've put together some outdoor activities that'll keep 'em safe AND occupied for hours.

We know British weather is a bit hit or miss, but when the sun is shining, making a sundial for your garden is a brilliant way of combining fun with learning about physics.

The Met Office have a handy sundial template you can print out to make your own. You'll need some card, glue, a compass to find north and south, and a drawing compass to create a circle.

After sticking your sundial together, you just need to find a sunny spot to put it. Every hour, mark the time and the position of the sun's shadow on the card.

A classic game of tag will always go down a treat, or you could play shadow tag if the sun's out to avoid any overenthusiastic tagging injuries.

This is a great way to tire kids out, as they'll use up all their energy running around trying to tag each other. For shadow tag, you just jump on each other's shadows instead of prodding your opponents.

Okay, so it won't be that long of a trail in your garden, but you'll be surprised at how many things you can find.

You could do it in a bingo style, where you ask the kids to collect a few things in particular that you know are in your garden, such as feathers, stones, leaves and twigs.

They can check them off their list as they go and count how many of each they can find.

First things first, close the doors and windows!

On a warm sunny day (remember those?!), there's nothing better than letting the kids loose with water pistols, the hose pipe and sprinkler.

They'll get positively pooped splashing about in the garden.

See our round-up of the best water toys, here.

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If you're not opposed to a bug or two, get up close and personal with the snails in your garden.

You can keep your snail in a clear plastic bottle for a couple of hours before setting it free. Cut a 'door' in the side of the bottle and pierce it to make some air vents. Fill the bottle with damp soil and let the snails slide inside.

Get some lettuce or weeds for the snails to snack on and watch them enjoy their temporary home.

Host your own version of the Olympics in the garden.

The whole family can get out and moving in different challenges. Try an egg and spoon race, a mini football match or sprint races.

If you can get your hands on some pretend medals, even better!

You can buy pretend medals for kids, here at Amazon.

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If you've got a big enough garden, or one with lots of opportunity to hide, a simple game of hide and seek gets the kids out in the fresh air without getting too exhausted.

Take the challenge up a notch by playing the game inside AND outside of the house.

Den building in your garden can be great fun. You'll need something stable to hang blankets, sheets or anything that will act as 'walls' or a 'ceiling' on.

You could even tie them between two trees or use the garden furniture.

If that all sounds like too much faff, take a look at the best outdoor dens you can buy ready to go here.

Making a hanging basket is a great first step for the kids to get into gardening - and you don't even need a proper garden!

You'll need a hanging basket, some moss, compost, and a selection of plants. Simply fill the basket with moss and compost, then plant your flowers and shrubs inside.

Find the perfect place to hang and don't forget to water it regularly!

Lockdown routine has meant a lot of kids are getting restless at bedtime, so why not let the dark sky entertain them until they get sleepy?

Gaze up at the stars to spot the brightest one. You could even download an app which shows you exactly which constellations you're looking at. See more details here at Amazon.

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You don't even need to have binoculars if you're lucky enough to get a lot of flying visitors in your garden.

Take a note of all the different kinds of birds you spot – an ideal activity for your daily walk.

Had to cancel your camping trip this year? Recreate it in your back garden!

Pop up a tent and set up a campfire, if it's safe to do so. You could even have a crack at cooking some typical camping meals – get some inspiration here.

Sunflowers are particularly easy to grow, so they're a great start for green-fingered kids.

Have your kids label their plant pot so they know which flower is theirs. The competition begins to see whose can grow the tallest.

You can buy packs of sunflower seeds from Amazon. See more details here.

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Not having much luck with the bird watching? Invite even more birds to your garden with the addition of a bird house or feeder.

You can buy plain bird houses and spruce them up with paint, or you can make a bird feeder out of almost anything – you just need a a container like an old juice carton or plastic bottle.

Even celeb DJ Annie Mac has been at it!

It's hard for parents to watch kids make an absolute mess, knowing full well they'll have to clean it up afterwards. However, making mud pies is a lot of fun.

Mix some water with mud to create a muddy mess ... um, we mean masterpiece ...

Top tip: set up a sanitising station in the garden so the kids clean up before entering the house.

Recreate Glastonbury by throwing your own festival in your garden.

Pick your playlist, grab some groovy outfits, do some face paint and have a dance!

Going for a family bike ride makes a nice escape from the house.

You'll need to stay close to each other, but remember to keep your distance from others and let pedestrians pass.

Check out the best cycling accessories for kids here.

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Another activity you can bring into your back garden is bowling. Fill 10 plastic bottles up with water – they'll be your pins. You can add food colouring to the water to make them look a bit more fun.

Then, use a ball to knock down as many as you can, just like regular bowling.

Hide bits and bobs around the garden for the kids to find – we're sure they won't mind hunting for chocolate or treats!

You could either set them loose to scavenge or draw them up a treasure map so they feel like real explorers.

No one to play lawn tennis with? No problem! Your child can hone their sporty skills on their own with a swingball set.

The fun ball game can also be played in a pair – an ideal garden set up.

Prop up a ladder and get some bean bags to play this game in the garden. Write points in multiples of 10 on different bits of paper, then tape each sheet to a step on the ladder.

All players have to stand back at the same distance and aim bean bags through the gaps to see who can earn the most points. Bonus points if it lands on the ladder step!

Dried paint makes great messy fun that'll also brighten up your day, literally.

Powdered paint is designed to be thrown about, so get some old clothes on and start having your colourful paint fight.

Top tip: put some goggles on the little ones so it doesn't get in their eyes.

Quoits is a garden game favourite that never gets old.

See who's the best thrower in the family by trying to land your hoops on the posts.

You don't need a fancy quoits set either - just push a stick into the ground, and use hairbands or even loops of string for the rings.

A picnic is a simple idea, but it makes a nice change of scene for meal times. If the weather's looking good, why not try taking lunch outside one day?

Kids could also throw their own teddy bear tea party.

A classic game of 'don't let the balloon touch the floor' can be taken up a level by using rackets, but hands are just as good.

Have a game of balloon tennis or balloon badminton in the garden.

We've got loads of arts and crafts ideas for your kids, many of which are just as easy to do outdoors - making for a much easier clear-up.

Set up a paint station, or arts and crafts corner in the garden. Fresh air is a great way to feel creative.

Look under rocks, plant pots, behind bushes and on flowers to spot some mini beasts and bugs.

If you've got a magnifying glass, it'll help the kids get an even closer look at the bugs, where they can learn about their anatomy and skeletons.

You can buy special bug hunting kits. See more details here at Amazon.

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Ahh, we remember playing hopscotch for hours ... well, your kids can, too. It's one of those outdoor games that entertains for ages, and will use up their bundles of energy without them realising it.

What are you waiting for? Draw a hopscotch on the ground and get hopping.

This doubles up as a craft activity AND fun garden game.

Cut the centre out of a few paper plates and decorate them. Then, get a cardboard tube and stick it on a square cardboard base.

Voila – you've got a simple DIY game of garden hoopla.

First of all, the kids need to collect a bunch of pebbles and stones from the garden, or out on your daily walk. Then you can paint spots on them to make them into dominoes.

Simply set them out on the lawn to play!

Or any kind of race, to be honest! Whatever items you've got in the house can make a race a bit more exciting.

Put a washing basket on your back to have a 'snail' race or try a classic three-legged race.

Mix it up with different challenges, too, like running backwards.

Want a way to have fun and practice literacy skills? Create a story out of painted stones.

There should be a mixture of characters, places and objects for the story to work. Once they're all dry, children should arrange the stones on the ground or a table outside to tell everyone else their story.

What other stories can be created by rearranging the order?

All you need is a skipping rope and some outside space!

Skip solo, in pairs, or as a family if your rope is long enough. Plus, it's a great cardio workout for us adults.

Another way to use painted rocks and pebbles is by making garden pets out of them.

Ladybirds are a nice, bright and easy design to do on a rock, but they can create whatever animal they can. Afterwards, the kids could have a game of hide and seek with them, where they try to find their new pets.

Who doesn't love bubbles?!

Make blowing bubbles into a game where they have to pop or blow the most.

We've spotted plenty of drawings on the pavement during the pandemic.

Get some colourful chalk to make creations in your garden or on the pavements during your daily walk. You could try drawing around each other's shadows on a sunny day, too.

It is an ideal time to get the kids into gardening. We've rounded-up some great buys to get them started, here.

Plant flowers, fruit and veggie seeds or start with simple cress. The little ones can help water the garden, pull out weeds and dig holes for pots.

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The beauty of an obstacle course at home is that it can be made up of pretty much anything.

Get some pillows, pans, books or balls to arrange around the garden. You could even use leaves, twigs or plant pots if it's not a windy day! Make the rules for each part of the course and time how long it takes 'em.

Put some music on, sit outside and string some daisies together ... ahh, sounds peaceful, doesn't it?

This activity idea is a good pick for when it's time to wind down.

Children can make masterpieces with water on the pavement by loading up a water gun and firing it at the ground, but in a design. It'll be a challenge for them to 'paint' something that's clear enough to guess what it is.

Painting with water won't work on a very hot or sunny day as the water will dry off too quickly, so it's best for a cloudy one.

Lie back and look up at the sky – what can you see? Make stories out of what you think the clouds look like.

It might be that a potato is chasing a dinosaur that's holding an umbrella ... the kids will find it hilarious.

Melt some marshmallows on an open fire outside, always with adult supervision, of course.

Then slide them off onto a biscuit, top with chocolate and gobble them up! We have an easy recipe to follow for s'mores here.

Get some card as a base for the crown and then stick bits and bobs from the garden on with glue or tape.

Leaves, grass, flowers and small pebbles would all make a nice addition to the majestic fairy crown.

The kids can follow in David Attenborough's footsteps by creating their very own nature documentary.

They could record what they spot on their walks, from birds to bugs, or present the nature show 'live' from the back garden.

Make music with anything you can find in the garden – twigs, plant pots, empty containers, stones and pebbles.

Bang them together, hit them with sticks, or fill them with water to see how that effects the sound.