For preschoolers, nothing is more exciting than engaging in fun outdoor activities for 4 year olds. But you know what’s more beautiful? Getting messy and diving into a world of more possibilities with water, paints, mud, and so much more!
We bring you our favorite preschooler activities for playing outdoors- from balloon tennis, water gun target, play dough, and more!
10+ Outdoor Activities for 4 Year Olds to Educate, Re-energize, and Entertain
1. Bug Hunt
Provide a container with a lid to your 4 year old and send them on bug hunting expedition. To make it more challenging, you can write down a list (with photos) and ask your toddlers to look for those specific bugs.
For every bug that they find, put a mark on the list.
2. Riding to the Numbers
For these fun outdoor activities for 4 year olds, you require ride-on toys like bikes, scooter, and more. mark some number, letters, or shapes on the driveway or pavement and ask your child to ride to the one you call out.
If you have more than 1 kid, you can compete which child gets to the target number first.
3. Play Floating or Sinking
Fill a basin with water and place it outside. Then, give your 4 year old various items to put in the water. The aim of this game is to see which items float on water and which ones sink.
Later when you’ve separated the items, check out the characteristics of the item, noting down the similarities in each pile.
4. Create Art Bark Rubbings
To play this game, you need some chunky crayons and sheet of paper. Put your paper over a tree bark. Then, pick your crayons and rub the sheet of paper to make some prints.
Remember, you don’t have to stop at one tree… you can move from one tree to the next one so you can have diverse print results. In the end, you can use your favorite print as a wrapping paper for your friend’s birthday gift.
If there are no suitable trees, you can make prints out of coins and still get excellent results.
5. Mud Painting
Take some mud and put it in a bowl. Then pour water on the earth and mix to make a mud puddle. Now lay pieces of paper on the ground and using a paintbrush or fingers, let your child paint whatever he wants.
To make the activity more challenging, you can print out some simple drawings and ask them to paint them. The kids will then participate in choosing the best drawing.
6. Leaf n Grass Art
These types of outdoor activities for 4 year olds will bring your toddlers closer to nature. The game is simple, the kids will gather leaves, grass, flowers, and seed pods from the backyard. Then, using safe glue, stick the natural treasures on a paper to make an art collage.
You can also print out some photos and ask the children to decorate them using these nature treasures.
7. Avoid Mr. Crocodile
Get some newspaper sheets and place them randomly to signify stepping stones. Then, to make a huge island, take several sheets and arrange them at the center of the stepping stones.
The aim of the game is jumping from stone to stone until you step on all the stones. But whenever you say ‘crocodile!’ your child has to get into the island really fast.
8. Balloon Tennis
Blow up some balloons and teach your child how to hit the balloon towards you- then you hit the ball towards your child.
Also, you can use the washing line as the net where you have to throw the balloon over. As your child gets the hang of it, you can make some ‘rackets’ and try playing it like professionals.
9. Treasure Hunt
Treasure hunts never gets old and are, especially fun outdoor activities for 4 year olds. For this, you’ll provide clues inform of pictures, letters, or words to tell where the next clue is until they find the treasure.
You can make the game worth it by hiding something that your child loves at the end of the clues. For instance, you can hide some snacks that you can share to crown the amazing time you spent outdoor.
10. Cleaning Something
No matter the size of your home, there’s definitely something your kids can help to clean. just organize a no toy afternoon and handle some of the following cleaning tasks:
- Planting flowers
- Washing the vehicles
- Sweeping
- Watering
- Weeding
- Collecting fruits
- Cleaning windows
- Walking the dog
- And so much more
11. Create a Backyard Carwash and Clean Some Toys
Cleaning toys in the backyard is not only fun but will also make 4 year olds feel like grownups. I mean, being able to do things that adults do to real cars is amazing!
For this outdoor activity, you’ll need a bucket of water, soap, sponges, and some dish towels. You’ll begin by putting some soap in the water and stir to create bubbles. Then, pick a sponge and get cleaning.
After cleaning, dry them properly and leave them to dry so that so water remains in the crevasses.
12. Play Listening Lion
This amazing activity for toddlers is ideal for calming them down and taking a break from running all over. The game is simple; you and the kids will lie on your backs and close your eyes, just like a tired lion that needs some rest.
In this state, listen to what’s happening in the surroundings. After some time, open your eyes, sit back, and discuss everything you heard.