Keeping the kids happy out and about

One way to burn off energy during the day is to let your child make some chalk art and turn any outdoor surface into a new adventure.

For extra fun, why not draw a magic door and see where it takes them - across the sea, into space, or even back in time to the dinosaurs!

When you’re heading somewhere, keep them busy by counting things you see together - like red cars, buses or lorries. You could also check which side of the street has odd numbers and which has even numbers?

Guessing games are an easy outdoor activity to make a walk more fun. Think of a number between 0-30 and get your child to guess what it is. You can help them by saying 'higher' or 'lower'. This will help them change direction while they’re counting, without even realising it.

Keep them entertained by using your ‘magic’ finger to write words in the air of things that you see and ask each other to guess what the other person is writing. Make it easy by starting with short, three-letter words - like 'cat', 'bus' and 'red'.

A quick way to cool down tempers when you’re outside is to pretend the lines on the pavement are an obstacle course of hot lava. Get them to skip and jump over the lines and cracks and see who can get the furthest without stepping on any.

If you need to hurry them along, why not pretend that a volcano is going to go off soon.

Keep them happy on a walk by singing counting songs, like 5 currant buns or 10 green bottles.

If the sun’s out (it does happen!) getting your little one to chase a shadow outdoors can be a really fun activity. Can they jump on it or make their shadow dance?

For extra giggles, can they make shadow shapes with their hands and fingers - is it a dog, a bird or a giraffe?

Conquer boredom by building a den in a woodland or local park – it’s a great way to let little imaginations run wild. They’ll have fun balancing sticks, tying branches to form a roof and deciding whether to leave a gap for a door! No big sticks? How about asking them to gather small twigs to make a fairy house instead?

Need to help them beat the boredom when it’s raining? Then get outside and have fun getting their hands dirty making mud pies!

To really get their imagination going, why not ask who they are baking for? Is it for a scallywag pirate on board a ship? Or some hungry teddy bears heading for their picnic?

Kids love water, so what better way to calm them down than by getting them to focus on creating a magic potion? Fill a little washing-up basin with warm water and let them splash and wiggle their fingers through it for some messy fun.

Why not ask them to find petals and leaves to help make the potion extra magical!

When you’re out and about and somewhere like the park, you could ask your child how many children skipping they can see, the number of steps between trees, how many dogs you see, or how many people. Or how many more people than dogs. There’s a whole world out there just waiting to be counted.

A great ball game for kids is to count each time you throw the ball to each other. To mix things up a little, you could try different ways of counting - starting to count in twos (2, 4, 6), and then having a go at counting in fives (5, 10, 15) and tens (10, 20, 30). You could even take a point away when someone misses.

If your little one is feeling antsy, why not get them to look for beasties? Wee explorers will love if you ask them to see what different bugs they can find in different places - search in grass, mud, trees and even cracks in the pavement.

To keep them entertained for longer, you could even ask them to count how many of each creepy crawly they can find.

Another fun game to play outside with a ball is to take turns at keepie-uppies. Start by counting each keepie-uppie. Then start again, and make each keepie-uppie worth two points. Then five points. You could even take a point off each time you drop the ball. You could ask your child to be in charge of keeping score while you play.

Jumpers make fantastic goalposts for a free ball game! Take it in turns to be in goal, and then for every ball that gets through the jumpers add a point. For every ball you miss, subtract a point.

Try taking it in turns to alternate numbers to 30, while rolling or throwing a ball back and forth. Then, if you're up for a challenge, try it backwards and in 2s. Start at different numbers, or if you don't have a ball handy pat your tummy or clap your hands while you count.

Make a fun treasure hunt out of things you find on the ground to get kids to interact with their outdoor surroundings. If they pick up something smooth, they have to find something rough. If they find something heavy, they have to find something light.

The best part – you can play this anywhere!

If your little one is climbing the walls in the house, why not take away the walls by climbing trees instead? What else can they find to climb – steps, logs, or little slopes?

When you get back, chat about your day out, and ask your child to draw a picture of their favourite part. You could help them to label parts of the picture - such as swings, sunshine or grass. If they need a bit of help, get them to trace the outline of the words.

After a day out together, why not get them to wind down by getting them to write about it? To help them, you could start off some sentences they can finish. Why not try these - “The weather was…”, “Lunch was…” “The best part of the day was…”

Talking about your day out together by asking your child to imagine what your day out might have been like if it was on Mars, or if a dragon had come along. Encourage them to use their imagination and write down their own story.