Making Outdoor Activities Second Nature This Summer

Outdoor activities for preschoolers offer tons of benefits, including being great for their bodies, emotions, and brains. Plus, they help kids develop a love for nature. Being outdoors lets your child use their senses to soak up the sights, sounds, and textures of nature. Denver Preschool Program has rounded up some simple and enjoyable outdoor learning activities for this summer. Which ones are you looking forward to trying the most?

• Go on a nature color hunt – Help your child identify colors with a sensory-filled scavenger hunt outdoors. Whether at your neighborhood park or in your backyard, this is a fun way for your child to learn about the textures, smells, and colors of different items in nature.
• Plant a garden – Gardening is a great way for your child to practice organization, learn about different plants, and help with sensory development. Playing in the dirt, smelling different flowers, and making patterns with seeds or plants are all fantastic ways for your child to sharpen their senses in a relaxed and cozy setting.
• Play number games with chalk – Using different colors of sidewalk chalk, write letters and numbers and have your child hop or skip to each number or letter that you call out. This is a fun way to improve counting and letter recognition while developing gross motor skills.
• Design a backyard obstacle course – Foam pool noodles, hula hoops, buckets, and ropes all make great objects for a fun outdoor obstacle course. Your child will have a great time crawling, jumping, and running around from beginning to end. Encourage them to use their imagination to create their own play area, and join in the fun to boost their physical activity and coordination outdoors.
• Learn with bubbles – Catching, counting, and creating different shapes of bubbles are all great ways to help your child learn and have fun with bubbles. The Colorado Department of Education offers these great bubble activities to try this summer. 
• Adventures with bugs – From hunting for bugs in your backyard to recognizing unique bug sounds, insects and creepy-crawlers offer lots of ways for preschoolers to use their curiosity outdoors. You can even purchase a butterfly garden kit or bug box to observe insects close up and then release back into nature.  

There are so many benefits to outdoor learning and play – the possibilities are endless! Just spending time together outside is fantastic for your child’s physical and mental well-being, creativity, senses, and focus. It’s also a wonderful way for the whole family to take a break from the usual routines. However you decide to enjoy the summer, Denver Preschool Program wishes you and your family a happy and healthy season ahead.