One of the most common questions intentional parents are asking today when it comes to limiting screen time is: “how do I motivate my child to play outside?” And “why won’t my kids play outside?”
We know that we want our kids offline and outdoors, but after years of exposure to screen time, this is often easier said than done. We’ve got empty neighborhood streets, shorter recesses at school, and kids who are more comfortable navigating our smartphones than our backyard.
Let’s change that, Mama!
As a former phone addict who relied heavily on children’s cartoons early on in my motherhood, I am here to tell you that there is hope. You can remove screen time and motivate your child to play outside. It just takes time. Below are some very simple ways to turn the backyards that you have into an oasis for your children. These outdoor play space ideas don’t cost much in time or money. Most are inexpensive, some are free, and others require only supplies that you most likely already have around your home.
What can we do to make children spend more time outside?
If you are itching to get your kids off screens and outdoors try these 3 easy steps first:
- Pull the plug on screen time. Outdoor play simply cannot compete with devices that lure our kids into a state of distraction, hold their imagination hostage, and reward them for longer stretches of scrolling, swiping, and streaming. Eliminate the number one deterrent of outdoor play through a digital detox.
- Require outside play in the same way that you would require your child to brush their teeth, drink water, and eat balanced meals each day. Kids need unstructured play outside just like they need fruits and vegetables. Make it a nonnegotiable, not an option. The more exposure children get to outdoor play, the more they will grow to love it.
- Make your yard a space that your little people will truly enjoy. In my experience as a mom of 4 kids, less is more. It doesn’t take a whole lot to ignite the imagination of a low-tech child. I have a list of ideas to enhance time outside with simple play supplies in my post on unstructured play that you can peruse, but truly, if all your kids have is time in nature and a happy mom who enjoys taking them outdoors, they will thrive.
How can I make my backyard kid friendly?
Here are 12 simple ideas to make an outdoor place space for kids that won’t cost you much in time or money.
Free Space To Dig
Give your child the gift of an imperfect backyard. If you and your spouse appreciate nice landscaping and work hard to maintain lavish gardens and gorgeous stone walkways, choose a spot somewhere off to the back where your child can have free reign to dig in the dirt, build stick forts, stack piles of pebbles, roughhouse with their siblings, and simply explore. Free space to be a kid is step one to making outside fun for kids.
Tree Stumps
We have some stumps from old cut down trees in our backyard. The children use these as tables for tea parties, safe spots to jump across as they avoid the pretend lava on the ground, and lighthouses to watch ships coming back from sea. Old tree stumps, piles of sticks, and logs make for a perfect outdoor play space for kids. Children often prefer natural materials than store bought toys when it comes to free play. I have found that my children stay occupied for hours longer in nature with the bare minimum of supplies than they do after Christmas morning with a boat load of new toys.
Hammocks
To a child, a hammock can become a boat, a plane, a pirate ship, and so much more. They are a delightful spot to read, think, reflect, journal, and even take an afternoon nap. Hammocks can double as swings or provide a cozy spot to listen to the birds chirp after a long day of school or play.
My kids sometimes bring their binoculars and use the hammocks as a lookout. Other times, they take turns pushing one another as high as they can until inevitably a sibling falls in the dirt and then promptly asks to do it again, totally unfazed.
You can grab hammocks cheaply at most stores, online, or second hand at yard sales.
Tiger Grass
This plant grows tall enough to tower over your children and engulf them in the perfect secret hideaway. Many adults plant tiger grass simply for the beautiful look it gives their yard, but children find so much more than aesthetic appeal in this unique plant.
My dad has tall patches of tiger grass all over his yard. Recently, while out and about with one of my sons, he asked if we could make a pit stop to play in Pop Pop’s backyard before we went home. He knew my dad was at work, but he considers his backyard so fun that he desires to go there even when Pop Pop isn’t around to play.
During our little excursion, I had the privilege of getting the grand tour from my 7 year old and discovering all the secret spaces where he enjoys playing. He walked me through the patches of tiger grass as if we were two plane crash survivors exploring an unknown jungle. I was instructed to be stealth and keep it down in his coveted earthy hideout. When I saw firsthand how serious he took his play and how creative he became in the great outdoors, I was inspired to write this very blog post.
Rope
Rope and bungee cords are essential to any outdoor play space for kids. My husband has tied simple knots in thick white rope and twisted it around one of our backyard trees. Tree climbing has become all the more fun to our kids. They pull the rope vigorously as if they are hiking up Mt. Everest.
Rope is inexpensive and very accessible. Grab some at your local hardware store to enhance play in your own backyard.
Mud Kitchen
You can be as simple or elaborate as you want with an outdoor mud kitchen. If you have a handy spouse, they could build a full on commercial wood kitchen for the kids, but this is not necessary.
Children will make their own mud kitchens out of second hand kitchen utensils. Allow your kids to have old mixing bowls, spoons, and spatulas that you can spare or grab them a set you’re your local thrift store. Watch from the sidelines as your kids “go to town” in the backyard making imaginary delicacies out of leaves, rainwater, sticks, and stones.
Picnic Table
A backyard picnic table is something that many adults own anyway, but children can get lots of good play use out of it if they are permitted to use their imagination and incorporate it as part of their outdoor play space. Kids might want to sit on the benches and row their way across the ocean, stand on the table and make announcements to their club of siblings, hide underneath and keep watch for bad guys on the prowl, or walk across the wood and jump off the imaginary pirate’s plank.
Zipline
We have a makeshift zipline at one of the grandparent’s houses that has provided hours of backyard fun for our children, but you can purchase an outdoor zipline for kids very reasonably online. This is a great way to add a little adventure to your backyard.
With a zipline, not only will your own kids be entertained, but their peers will be begging to come over and play at your house. Instead of sending your kids over to friend’s homes to play video games or view screens that you have no ability to sensor, make your backyard the place that all the friends want to be.
Tree House
What child doesn’t dream of having their very own tree house? When I was a young girl, my dad made me the coolest outdoor play house complete with a trap door leading to a hidden second level. He is a very creative carpenter, but you don’t have to be a handyman to make your kids a tree house.
Kids get inspired to play outdoors with the humblest of supplies. If all you do is safely wedge a flat board into a tree that kids can use as a lookout or sit and dangle their feet from, that will still enhance their outdoor play. Whether you build a wooden ladder to climb up or hang a rope for them to slide down, your children will love their tree house for years. In my opinion, there’s no way to make a backyard more kid friendly than with a simple tree house.
Swings
When you go to the playground, swings are usually among the most coveted attractions. Despite all the other things to do, you will often see kids waiting in line for a turn on the limited swings available. No childhood is complete without time spent on swings.
When it comes to making your own backyard kid friendly, there are so many options. You can put up tire swings, rope swings, wooden swings, playhouse swings, large spider web swings, and flying saucer swings. If you have several trees and several children, grab a couple different types of swings, prop up a lawn chair for yourself, and enjoy the happy view as your kids glide through their air and jump off as high as they can with glee.
Trampoline
One of the best gifts we have ever been given was a $200 trampoline from Walmart. It cost less than most electronic devices markets to kids and it has provided our children with so many hours of outdoor entertainment. On the trampoline, they bounce, do flips, burn off energy, and make up all sorts of imaginative games that bring a smile to my face as a Mama.
Balance Beam
There’s no need to invest in an expensive backyard balance beam. You can keep it very simple. DIY balance beams are easy to make. You can use large sticks, a log, tree stumps, or a piece of scrap wood. However you go about it, be sure to include this fun backyard amenity to encourage your kids in outdoor play.
Should kids go outside every day?
Absolutely! Getting your kids outside every day is a gift worth giving them, but any amount of time outdoors will benefit kids. Aim to do more than you did last month and continually grow the hours your family spends in nature.
Here are some of the many benefits of frequent outdoor play:
- Resilience
- Endurance
- Happiness
- Creativity
- Less boredom
- Mental clarity
- Strong muscles
- Academic success
Seasons ebb and flow in family life, literally and figuratively. You may find it harder to get outside with your children during the cold winter months or after you’ve had a new baby. I know that I have. There have been days where my kids have played outdoors for four hours and days where we haven’t made it outside at all. Be encouraged. Small steps can add up overtime to big results. Get your children off of screens and used to outside play little by little.
If your kids currently hate the outdoors start by:
- Reading picture books outside together for 15 minutes a day
- Having kids do their homework on your porch with a snack
- Taking a walk around the block a couple days a week
- Grilling dinner in the backyard and eating at the picnic table
- Inviting friends over for a cookout or game of backyard sports
How many hours of play should a child have everyday?
Many of today’s children are spending hours in front of screen but no time at all outside. Ideally, kids would get a minimum of 3 hours of outdoor play most days of the week.
Screen Time Is Ruining Outdoor Play For Kids
While today’s kids are likely to have a TV in their bedroom with endless streaming options and a smartphone in their pocket with unfettered access to the world wide web, most of them are unlikely to be allowed to explore the local woods, creek, and playground without adult oversight. I want to protect my children just as much as the next Mama Bear, but something in this equation just doesn’t seem right to me.
Why are we okay with our kids navigating the virtual world for hours on end but not the physical one outside our doorstep? If we took a step back and evaluated the impact of excessive screen time on developing young minds, perhaps we would encourage our children to scale the trees in our backyard rather than climb the levels of a video game in their dimly lit bedrooms.
With endless screen time choices at this generation’s fingertips, the pleasant sounds of kids simply being kids have vanished. Despite our modern tendency to give our kids a screen instead of a bucket of chalk, we all know that unstructured outdoor play is essential for a healthy childhood. Most of us have fond memories of riding bikes through our neighborhoods, building forts out of sticks, climbing trees without supervision, and walking to a friend’s house up the street to see if they could come out and play. Unfortunately, if your neighborhood is anything like mine, you’ve noticed that yards today are eerily void of children playing.
Free screen free family bingo to help you connect with your kids WITHOUT screens:
Outdoor Play Used To Be The Norm For Kids
Back in the day, sending a child outside to play was a common practice for mothers. Outdoor play was not competing with a virtual world that had the power to hack one’s brain and dispense damaging amounts of dopamine.
When is the last time you heard…
- Kids bouncing basketballs up and down driveways, shooting hoops, and heckling one another with good natured banter?
- Ringing bells and honking horns on a child’s bicycle as they cruise through the neighborhood on mission?
- Preschoolers jumping into crunchy piles of autumn leaves with glee?
- The thump of boots hit the ground as children propel down a tree they spent all afternoon climbing?
- Excited siblings taking on adventurous personas and shouting instructions to one another as their imaginations run wild in the back yard?
- The shriek of a child who needs a Band-Aid after a rollicking morning of outdoor play? At first, the child may sound as if they are in true peril. But after a dab of peroxide and a bandage sporting their favorite superhero, you will inevitably hear the slam of the door behind them as they race right back to the tire swing and soar through the air as a happy as a bird.
These are the joyous sounds of childhood. Just a few decades ago, these noises were quite normal. While lots of kids were allowed to ride their bikes long distances from home at younger ages, many children were not allowed to sit indoors whining for TV time or complaining of boredom.
What do kids like to play outside?
There are lots of structured games kids can play outside such as soccer, hopscotch, cops and robbers, and tag. However, I have found that most kids like to make up their own games outside. When given time and space in nature with siblings or peers, children do an incredible job of coming up with their own storylines, personas, games, and protocols.
What do kids do when they go outside?
- Climb trees
- Collect rocks and other nature findings
- Dig in the dirt
- Hide and make forts out of natural materials
- Run around
- Examine worms, caterpillars, and various insects
- Pick grass and flowers
- Pretend to cook with natural materials
How can I make my kids busy in the backyard?
Go outside with them but do your own thing. The goal is not to purchase a bunch of outdoor toys or entertain your child yourself outside. The objective is to get kids comfortable with nature. Most of this work should be done independently by the children with mom nearby for security at first. Their independence should increase over time as they get used to being offline and outdoors.
If your kids complain of boredom outside and ask you what they can do, know that you are not alone. I’ve been there! It took a couple of months off of screens and immersed in nature before my kids regained their imaginations and got used to independent free play, but now they need no help at all in making their own fun.
Here are some ideas to encourage independent play when your kids complain of boredom outside:
- Set a timer for fifteen minutes and require your children to play without asking you for ideas. Most likely, they will get lost in their own fun well past the end of the timer. If not, provide popsicles and read them a lovely story after their free play session.
- Do something near them while they play. Work in your garden, water the plants, read a book in the lawn chair, or play fetch with the dog. Be nearby but don’t critique their play.
- Invite peers over for a day of outdoor play. Provide drinks and snacks, eliminate screens, and require outdoor play.
- Get them started. Jump on the trampoline, pretend to be a pirate, build a stick fort. Play with them for a couple of minutes and then wander off to a different section of the yard while they continue to play independently or with siblings.
How do I entertain my child outside?
The idea that we need to entertain our children is a modern one and it isn’t boding very well for us as a society at large. Thanks to excessive technology use in the early years, we have kids who expect a constant stream of entertainment. These children are struggling in the mundane, normal, day-to-day aspects of reality. Instead of entertaining your child outside, simply take them outside and get them used to their environment. Invite them to dig in the dirt and plant seeds in your garden. Have them harvest veggies beside you and pick flowers to arrange on the dining room table. Get them a child sized rake to work beside you in the fall and a snow shovel for the winter. Make the outdoors a normal part of everyday life and minimize the amount of entertainment they are getting from screens. Nature is teeming with interesting things to be discovered by children who have the appetite for it.
Outdoor play ideas for kids at home
- Write on sidewalks and driveways with chalk
- Shoot Nerf guns at empty soda cans propped on tree stumps
- Kick around a soccer ball with siblings
- Play basketball with neighborhood friends
- Take turns pushing one another around in a wheelbarrow
- In the summer, run through the sprinkler and slip n’ slide
- In the fall, make an outdoor fort out of sticks and leaves
- Set up a volley ball net to play
- Paint on canvases in the grass
- Play flashlight tag in the evening
- Jump on the trampoline
- Jump rope
- Blow bubbles
- Catch fireflies
- Race siblings
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