Spring is here and our kiddos are ready to get out of the house! We've rounded up 10 activities to get them outside and build their motor skills while you're at it!
Nature Scavenger Hunt (Fine and Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: A scavenger hunt encourages toddlers to use their eyes, hands, and bodies to explore the outdoors. Searching for specific items in nature helps develop their observation skills, while picking up objects strengthens their fine motor abilities.
How to do it:
- Create a simple list of items for your toddler to find, such as leaves, pinecones, rocks, flowers, or sticks.
- As they explore the yard or park, they’ll practice bending, reaching, and grasping objects, which improves both their gross and fine motor skills.
- You can even turn it into a treasure hunt where each item found becomes part of a "nature treasure chest."
Bonus Tip: Add a challenge by asking them to find objects of specific colors or shapes!
DIY Obstacle Course (Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: An obstacle course is a fantastic way for toddlers to engage their bodies in various physical movements like crawling, jumping, and climbing. It helps develop balance, coordination, and body control.
How to do it:
- Use everyday outdoor items like pillows, pool noodles, cones, jump ropes, or chalk to create an obstacle course. For example, have your toddler jump over a rope, crawl under a table, walk along a chalk line, and climb on a small slide or hill.
- Time them and encourage them to complete the course faster each time, or make it a fun race with a sibling or friend to boost motivation.
Bonus Tip: Use sidewalk chalk to draw lines, shapes, or paths that they have to follow, adding a creative twist to the course!
Throwing and Catching with Soft Balls (Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: Throwing and catching is an excellent way for toddlers to develop hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and strength. Playing with soft balls helps improve both fine and gross motor skills.
How to do it:
- Start by gently tossing a soft, lightweight ball back and forth with your toddler. Focus on getting them to track the ball and catch it with their hands.
- As they improve, encourage them to throw the ball toward a target, such as a hula hoop or an open bucket.
- You can also create a game where they throw the ball into the air and try to catch it, or roll it along the ground and chase it.
Bonus Tip: Make it more exciting by using colorful balls or beach balls, which are easier for little hands to grasp.
Chalk Drawing and Tracing (Fine Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: Chalk drawing allows toddlers to practice their hand control, grip, and creativity while enjoying the outdoors. Drawing on the ground also gives them more space to experiment with large movements.
How to do it:
- Give your toddler a piece of sidewalk chalk and encourage them to draw shapes, lines, or even simple pictures. This helps them work on fine motor skills like grip and control.
- Draw large shapes or letters on the ground and have your toddler trace over them with their chalk, helping them practice hand-eye coordination and attention to detail.
- For extra fun, draw a hopscotch board and have your toddler jump from square to square while practicing their balance and coordination.
Bonus Tip: You can make the activity educational by asking your toddler to draw things like animals, family members, or favorite toys.
Balloon Volleyball (Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: Balloon volleyball is an exciting way to help toddlers improve their hand-eye coordination, reaction time, and large motor skills. The slow float of a balloon makes it easier for toddlers to track and hit, which builds confidence.
How to do it:
- Blow up a balloon and create a "volleyball court" by stretching a piece of string between two objects (like chairs) or using a rope.
- Encourage your toddler to hit the balloon over the "net" using their hands. You can even make it a team activity with other family members or friends.
- To modify it, try keeping the balloon in the air without letting it fall to the ground, which requires jumping, reaching, and dodging.
Bonus Tip: Use a large beach ball for bigger hitting or add an inflatable beach ball to make it more challenging as they improve.
Water Play (Fine and Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: Water play helps toddlers practice their motor skills while keeping them cool in the summer heat. Pouring, splashing, and scooping activities are not only fun, but they strengthen their small and large muscles.
How to do it:
- Set up a water table or fill several containers with water in the yard. Give your toddler cups, spoons, or funnels to scoop and pour water.
- Set up a “splash zone” where they can run through sprinklers, jump in puddles, or play with a hose. This helps develop their coordination and balance.
- For more structured play, fill a small pool with plastic toys or balls and encourage your toddler to gather or toss them, helping with hand-eye coordination.
Bonus Tip: Create a “fishing” game by attaching a toy fish to a string and letting your toddler "catch" it with a small net or scoop.
Hop like a Bunny (Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: This simple but energetic activity helps toddlers practice hopping, jumping, and balancing, all of which are important gross motor skills that contribute to their physical development.
How to do it:
- Encourage your toddler to hop like a bunny or jump like a frog in the yard. You can use different animal movements to make it even more fun.
- Set up a jumping challenge by marking starting points on the ground with sidewalk chalk or small cones and ask your toddler to jump to each one in sequence.
- To add an extra challenge, ask them to hop over small obstacles like soft pillows or sticks.
Bonus Tip: Turn it into a game by pretending you’re all animals hopping through a jungle or a garden to boost their imagination!
Puddle Jumping (Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: Jumping over puddles helps toddlers improve their leg strength and coordination. It’s a simple, exciting activity that combines movement with the joy of outdoor exploration.
How to do it:
- After a rainstorm, take your toddler outside and explore the puddles together. Encourage them to jump in and out of the puddles or hop over them without getting their feet wet.
- For added fun, you can race to see who can jump the furthest or count the number of puddles they can jump over.
- This activity is great for balance and encourages large body movements like jumping, bending, and stretching.
Bonus Tip: If your toddler loves water play, let them jump in a shallow kiddie pool to practice jumping and landing with control.
Tree or Flower Planting (Fine Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: Gardening is a relaxing and creative way to develop fine motor skills while teaching toddlers about nature. Digging, planting, and watering plants helps toddlers build hand strength and coordination.
How to do it:
- Provide your toddler with small gardening tools (like a child’s shovel or rake) and let them help dig holes in the soil.
- Encourage them to plant seeds, water the plants, and even decorate plant markers. These activities involve a lot of small hand movements, which help improve their grip and dexterity.
- For older toddlers, you can introduce more complex tasks like gently patting the soil around a newly planted flower or vegetable.
Bonus Tip: Make it a learning opportunity by explaining how plants grow and how to take care of them.
Outdoor activities provide endless opportunities for toddlers to engage their fine and gross motor skills. Whether they’re hopping like bunnies, playing with water, or exploring nature through a scavenger hunt, these fun, creative ideas will keep them active, engaged, and learning. Plus, the natural world offers plenty of space for imaginative play and discovery, making it the perfect setting for growth and development.
Bubble Popping Fun (Gross Motor Skills)
Why it’s great: Popping bubbles is a delightful way to improve your toddler’s coordination, balance, and motor control. Chasing and popping bubbles requires quick movements, jumping, and reaching, all of which help build their gross motor skills.
How to do it:
- Blow bubbles and encourage your toddler to chase and pop them with their hands. The unpredictable nature of where the bubbles land will help them practice quick reflexes and improve their running and jumping skills.
- You can even introduce different sizes of bubbles to make it more exciting. The larger bubbles encourage more reaching and jumping, while smaller bubbles challenge them to react quickly.
- For added fun, create a "bubble station" with different bubble wands and encourage your toddler to try popping bubbles using different methods (like clapping, stomping, or jumping).
Bonus Tip: Use a bubble machine to create a constant stream of bubbles, making it feel like a bubble-filled adventure, and watch your toddler’s joy as they run and leap to pop them!
we hope you enjoy these ideas that we rounded up using the help of ChatGPT
