50 things to do in the garden

Yesterday we received a letter for Charlie and a letter for Isabel asking them to stay at home for the next twelve weeks as they are most at risk from the coronavirus. So I started to write down some ideas we could do in the garden to keep them entertained and I thought it would be useful to share.

Planting seeds

Making giant bubbles

Blowing bubbles

Going on a bug hunt

1. A bowl of soapy water, sponges and cloths- clean the garden furniture, play houses, bikes, scooters, slides. Anything that needs a wash after the winter.
2. Paintbrushes and water- paint the walls, fences, path, windows using big arm movements.
3. Squirty bottles- spray flowers, vegetables, the grass, the walls.
4. Squirty bottles- Write sounds or words on the walls. Say one and squirt it.
5. Squirty bottles- Write numbers on the walls- squirt the answer to an addition/ subtraction/times table question or do number recognition for younger children.
6. Chalk- Make pictures on the paths, walls, fences. Practise writing words, sounds, numbers.
7. Growing- Create a vegetable patch or use pots. Grow flowers or vegetables. Plant the seeds and encourage the children to take care of them.
8. Play football.
9. Play catch
10. Play piggy in the middle
11. Practise keepy ups
12. Dribble a ball around obstacles
13. Throw a ball to a target
14. Treasure hunt- hide objects, sounds, words, numbers around the garden. Collect and read, make a word, order the numbers.
15. Make a treasure map of your garden. Hide treasure and mark it on the map. Can someone else find your treasure using the map?
16. Riding bikes/scooters
17. Small world play- take your favourite toys outside and play with them in a new environment.
18. Cars- make tracks on the patio with chalks for the cars to go along.
19. Bubbles- Make giant bubbles with string and straws and fairy liquid. Blow bubbles.
20. Lie on your back and watch the clouds, what shapes can you see?
21. Reading den- using chairs and a sheet make a den for reading.
22. Role play kitchen/restaurant- Take real food or play food outside with chairs and a table or a blanket and set up a restaurant.
23. Have a picnic outside
24. Go on a bug hunt around the garden. Talk about all the things you see, where do they live? Can you see their homes?
25. Play hopscotch
26. Play tag
27. Play stuck in the mud
28. Listen to music outside and dance
29. Make mud pies
30. Play with water
31. Make a daisy chain
32. Make perfume or potions with safe items you find in the garden
33. Make an obstacle course to go over, under, around and through
34. Big cardboard boxes- what will you turn them into?
35. Splatter painting
36. Bird watching
37. Den building
38. Syringe squirters- how far can you make the water go?
39. Pipes/tubes/anything plastic to funnel water- can you make water travel from one area to another.
40. Make a giant maze on the ground using sticks.
41. Make a boat that floats using natural resources like sticks/leaves etc
42. Leaf rubbings/printing
43. Make a nature crown and wand finding interesting bits from the garden.
44. Use stones/pebbles/leaves etc to design your own art picture.
45. Races- running, skipping, hopping
46. Play follow the line- draw a wiggly long line on the patio for children to follow- they can walk along it, skip, tip toe.
47. Frozen flowers- collect a variety of flowers, put in a tupperware pot and fill with water. Freeze, then watch as they melt.
48. Shadow drawing- place objects onto pieces of paper. Draw around the shadow they make and colour in.
49. Sun printing art- put leaves and other interesting shaped objects on coloured sugar paper. Leave in the sunlight for the day, then take the pieces away and see the print left on the paper.
50. Make a self portrait using natural materials.