Kick the Can + 29 Awesome Outdoor Activities for Kids

Want to get your kids playing outside and away from screens this summer? Check out these fun and simple outdoor games for kids and fun activities the whole family will enjoy together in the backyard.

I've come a long way since 2013 when I first wrote about my struggles in getting the kids outside. We moved to the south from the midwest, in part, to take advantage of the extra months of mild weather. Establishing a more outdoor lifestyle was a big family priority for us. Though I completely supported that endeavor, it was one of the more challenging goals to accomplish for this easily sunburned, bug loathing, snake phobic mama. The solution has been an ever evolving list of ideas for outdoor activities for kids.

This summer will mark our 4th anniversary of southern living and I'm SO proud to report that neither girl seems to have inherited or picked up my seemingly genetic aversion to the outdoors. I've {mostly} successfully sequestered that avoidance reaction and have managed to help raise 2 girls who love nothing more than to head out into the backyard after school in the evenings.

But soon, summer vacation will be upon us. I will be responsible for many more hours in the day for keeping the kids busy and I do not want the default to become staying inside with screen time and air conditioning.

I'm proactively putting some helpers in place to ensure that getting the kids out in the fresh air has the least amount of excuses for avoiding it.

First, because I need a little nudge and because I'm a total List Nerd, I thought it would be a good idea to pull together all my favorite outdoor activities so we never run out of ideas! I'm going to keep it bookmarked on my phone because so many of them can be squeezed in in-between errands while we are already out and about.

30 awesome outdoor activities for kids during summer vacation:

1. Try 3 new parks in your area you've never been to before
2. Outdoor reading picnic
3. Chalk stars on the sidewalk
4. Add rocks to the rainbow rock project
5. Fly a kite
6. Plant a butterfly garden
7. Play bubble tag
8. Sketch session at the local botanic gardens
9. Hike a new trail or greenway
10. Visit a new splash pad or watering hole
11. Scatter seed bombs
12. Hang homemade bird feeders and track the visitors
13. Set up a sprinkler obstacle course
14. Go mini golfing
15. Feed the ducks
16. Take the dog to a dog park
17. Set up a backyard tent
18. Visit the farmer's market
19. Have a backyard board game competition
20. Make and play with your own pinwheels
21. Host a hula hoop contest
22. Have fun with water balloons
23. Go Geotracking
24. Teach the kids kick the can
25. Gather pinecones for art projects
26. Design your own stepping stones
27. Create a fairy garden
28. Learn how to skip stones
29. Set up a water painting station in the driveway
30. Play flashlight tag