Easy Outdoor Crafts for Kids
These easy outdoor crafts for kids will teach your children all about nature in their own neck of the woods. Just how well do your kids know their neighborhood? What kinds of trees and plants are around your house? What does your community do with recyclable containers?
Follow the links below for easy outdoor crafts to help your kids discover what their natural environment has to offer. They might even be inspired to start a local improvement project to make your living space look nicer, or to join a recycling program to keep your area green!
Nature's Paint Box
Use the natural pigments found in flowers, leaves, and berries to create colorful pictures.
Recycled Container Instruments
Strike up a band of rhythmic instruments made from recyclable bottles, cans, and butter tubs.
Cattail Place Mats
Go hunting for cattail leaves and turn them into pretty place mats for the kitchen table.
Keep reading to learn how your kids can create brilliantly colored artwork from the earth's natural pigments.
For more fun kids' crafts and activities, check out:- Easy Crafts for Kids
- Easy Indoor Games for Kids
- Easy Outdoor Games for Kids
Nature's Paint Box
Nature's paint box is a fun and easy outdoor craft that will inspire the inner artist in kids of all ages. Who needs to buy paints and markers when nature has a free supply of coloring tools for you?
What You'll Need:- Leaves
- Bark
- Flowers
- Rocks
- Soil
- Sticks
- Berries from the lawn or garden
- White paper
- Fine sandpaper
The colors you see in flowers, leaves, and berries are from chemicals called pigments. Pigments also give color to paints, markers, and crayons. You can use natural pigments to create colorful pictures.
Step 1: Find a variety of flowers, leaves, and berries outdoors. Rub them on the paper to make marks.
Step 2: Experiment to see what kinds of colors you can make, then make a picture with them. Try bark, dirt, sticks, or rocks to see if they will make marks as well.
Step 3: After you have experimented on white paper and learned to make pictures, try making pictures on fine sandpaper. The colors will come out more strongly, and you will have an attractive picture to frame and put on your wall.
Keep reading to learn how your kids can turn recyclable bottles and cans into a band of musical instruments.
For more fun kids' crafts and activities, check out:- Easy Crafts for Kids
- Easy Indoor Games for Kids
- Easy Outdoor Games for Kids
Recycled Container Instruments
Celebrate recycling and the joy of music with this easy outdoor craft for kids. Gather your family and friends in the yard or the park and strike up a band of recycled container instruments!
What You'll Need:- Clean plastic bottles, coffee cans, and butter tubs (all with lids)
- Uncooked pinto beans
- Uncooked rice
- Masking tape
- CD player
- Favorite CD
How to Make Recycled Container Instruments:Step 1: Clean out all of your empty plastic bottles and coffee cans with lids. Step 2: Put a handful of uncooked beans and rice inside each one and tape the lids shut. Step 3: Now that you've found a way to give old things new life, give your new percussion instruments a shake and listen. Step 4: Just add your favorite songs, and you've got a musical tribute to recycling!
Keep reading to learn how your kids can turn fresh cattails into naturally beautiful place mats for the table.
For more fun kids' crafts and activities, check out:- Easy Crafts for Kids
- Easy Indoor Games for Kids
- Easy Outdoor Games for Kids
Cattail Place Mats
Native Americans used cattails in many ways, and so can your kids in this easy outdoor craft. If cattails grow abundantly near your home, pull some up. You can use the fresh leaves to make these pretty cattail place mats.
What You'll Need:- A place to gather fresh cattails
- Large piece of corrugated cardboard
- Thumbtacks
- Safe scissors
- Glue
Step 1: Lay some long leaves side by side on a large sheet of cardboard.
Step 2: Thumbtack one end of each leaf to the cardboard to hold it in place.
Step 3: Weave more leaves in and out. Trim the leaves.
Step 4: When you finish weaving, trim the ends with scissors and let the mat dry. Dab glue under each cut end. This will hold the mat together.
For more fun kids' crafts and activities, check out:- Easy Crafts for Kids
- Easy Indoor Games for Kids
- Easy Outdoor Games for Kids
Recycled Container Instruments by Maria Birmingham, Karen E. Bledsoe, and Kelly Milner Halls.
Cattail Place Mats by Maria Birmingham, Karen E. Bledsoe, and Kelly Milner Halls.