Sometimes, winter can be rough on us parents. If our kids aren’t stuck inside and stir crazy for it, we’re dressing them in all the necessary gear to go outdoors … and often watching them peel off layers as we prepare their siblings. When spring finally comes around, it’s a huge relief that those tasks are finished — at least, until next winter.
To that end, it’s hard to determine what the best part of this season is because there are so many great options to choose from. Try incorporating the following seven activities into your springtime schedule and see just how much fun you can have:
1. Sketching With Sidewalk Chalk
You probably remember whipping out the container of sidewalk chalk and drawing all over your driveway as a kid. Your little ones will find the same joy, whether they’re drawing pictures, tracing each other or outlining the playing field for four square, hopscotch or around-the-world basketball. After it rains, they get a blank canvas once again.
2. Making a Bird House
Just like us, animals emerge in spring after a long winter. Once the weather’s warm, they start having babies, which we can catch a glimpse of in our backyards or during trips to the park. Needless to say, both kids and parents love this. You can put your little ones on bird watch after building an avian habitat together.
It doesn’t have to be an expensive or extensive process — you can spend an afternoon building and decorating your birdhouse. Then, you just have to wait for a mama bird to land and lay eggs. When she flies away, you and your kids can check on the eggs and enjoy the baby birds once they hatch.
3. Playing in the Rain
It’s another classic childhood memory — running out into the rain, splashing in puddles and sometimes even shedding your raincoat in favor of getting soaked by the warm raindrops. If it’s too cold, strap your kids into their wellies and jackets and let them play outside. On a hot spring or early summer day, they won’t need the layers and can run free in their T-shirts and shorts or even their swimsuits. They’ll remember it for a long time.
4. Hosting a Playground Crawl
Grown-ups like to go on pub crawls, wherein they visit every bar or club in town on a single night out. You can have the same fun with your kids, minus the pubs. Set up a weekend playground crawl and visit all the best parks in your neighborhood or town. You could make the crawl season-long, too, giving your children a checklist to mark off after they see every play place on the list. It’s up to you, but one thing is for sure: Outdoor play opens up children’s imaginations and allows them to be creative and curious, all of which you want to cultivate from an early age.
5. Growing a Garden
Just as your kiddos will love to watch baby birds hatch in the birdhouse they’ve built, they’ll also feel so much pride in watching seeds grow that they’ve sown. So, plot out a small corner of your yard or garden beds where your kids can dig and plant seeds. Add daily waterings to their chore list, if they have one, although you should oversee and make sure they’re not overwatering their blooms. Then, wait and see how excited they get when a flower pokes through, or when they can pick a fruit or vegetable they’ve grown themselves. Spoiler alert: It’s incredibly adorable.
6. Blowing Bubbles
Some activities are fun no matter how old you are — and blowing bubbles is one of them. You can buy premade bubbles or whip up a batch at home with dish soap and sugar. Then, head outside with your kids and start playing. See whose bubble lasts the longest without popping, or count who pops the most orbs within 15 seconds. Of course, you can also just blow bubbles and watch as they dance around and enjoy the beautiful weather … whatever works for you and your little ones.
7. Take Springtime Pics
Finally, you’ll want to remember how much fun you and your family have this spring, so make sure to take lots of pics. You can find local parks, flower fields and creeks where nature has come back to life and painted a gorgeous backdrop for portraits. Pose your kids together, take solo shots or even hire a photographer to capture all of you. It’s the best season, and you’ll want to remember it for years to come.
Get Out There
As you probably noticed, all seven of these activities have to do with being outside — and that’s precisely what spring is all about. So, head outdoors and find your fun, whether it’s one of our ideas or something you and your kids come up with on your own. Either way, it will be just as sweet as the season itself.
