The Best Free Outdoor Family Activities

Yard Work

• Make yardwork fun with your children. You can let them plant flowers, fruits and vegetables. Assign each child a task, such as digging, sowing, planting or watering the plants. Focus on keeping them up by weeding and watering them on a regular basis.

Fort

• Make a fort with your children in a secret hide-a-way. Use sheets or light blankets and drape them over lower tree limbs or branches to make a tent. Then you can enjoy a cookout dinner, have a bonfire, roast marshmallows and chase fireflies.

Bug Search

• Find an area in your community where you can find plenty of insects, plants and animals. Try to catch and identify whatever you find, whether butterflies or other flying insects. Some insects or animals common to find in fields or swamps are frogs, tadpoles, lizards or worms. Take pictures and make a collage once you return home.

Chalk Drawings

• Use chalk to draw pictures in your driveway or sidewalk. Draw a hopscotch or four-square board. Have a contest with family members to see who can draw the most detailed or largest picture.

Hide-and-seek

• Play hide-and-seek. Take turns being "it" and finding each other. As an alternative, chase each other around the yard.