Top 5 Outside Activities for Toddlers During SIP

Quarantine has made everyone a little stir crazy. No real routine, no actual plans, just a lot of “well now what”? With all of us stuck in the house I knew I needed to find something for us to do outside in our backyard to save my sanity & get the kids some fresh air! So I started brainstorming…

Here’s my Top 5 Outside Activities for Toddlers During Shelter in Place:

Painting the Patio:

My kids love to put everything in their mouths, chalk included. So I ordered THESE paint brushes from Amazon, filled up two solo cups with water, and let the kids go to town painting the patio! They loved it! The brushes are big, and had a wide enough handle that Emmie had no issue using them too! Best part: no mess to clean up afterwards! 

Imagination & Art with Chalk:

Just because they try to eat it, doesn’t mean it’s off limits! Target has THIS set. 50 pieces for $5? What’s not to love? We ordered a second set to keep in the trailer for camping trips too. Let the creativity flow! 

Gardening:

We’ve been talking about starting a vegetable garden for a while now, and now that we are sitting at home with our “to do” list staring us in the face, we figured why not just do it? The kids loved playing in the dirt and watering the plants so we got them their own garden! We have some left over wood from our vegetable gardens so until we get our act together to build the kids their own boxes, we bought a few cheap plastic pots from the local hardware store and filled them with some dirt. Oliver and Emmie love to take care of their soon-to-be flowers with THESE gardening kits from Amazon too. It includes kid-sized gloves, a few tools, and a cute tote to carry their gardening supplies in! This is an activity that I love for toddlers. Other than learning about nature and the environment, they are learning about caring for something other than themselves. Watering his garden has become one of Oliver’s daily chores and has given him a little sense of responsibility.

Backyard Water Park:

We don’t have a huge yard and with the heat of summer coming we knew we needed a way to entertain the kids and cool them off at the same time. A sprinkler was not a possibility as we have two Mastiffs who would get way too excited. And two 180lb dogs running and jumping around two toddlers is a recipe for disaster. Everyone loves a good kiddie pool and we happened to have THIS one laying around from last year. Plus Target had THIS slide both kids and parents love. It folds up which makes it super easy to store. Pair all that with a little water and some bath toys (HERE), we had one hell of a backyard water park! The kids loved it, and the dogs even got in on the fun! Cheap and easy entertainment! You can find more info about our Backyard Water Park HERE!

Playhouse & Pretend Food:

For Emmie’s birthday we decided to get her a playhouse! We had been looking for one that was durable and looks better than the plastic ones. Shout out to Costco for having THIS one on display on our weekly shopping trip! Full disclosure, it was a process to assemble… But it was totally worth it and the final product was awesome! The little table is where they’ve insisted on eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus the storage for all their outside toys is super convenient. Both kids love this playhouse and we find them in cooking all day (best pretend food HERE, size is perfect). It’s so fun to watch their imaginations at play! 

Pull up a chair, grab a cocktail, and enjoy watching the kids run around somewhere other than the living room! Cheers!