It’s spring time and the lambs are gambolling in the fields, buds are on the trees, the air feels warmer and you can finally get out of the house and enjoy some time outdoors in between showers. Here are 50 of the Best Spring Activities for Kids, guaranteed to put a spring in everyone’s step!
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When Spring arrives, it seems to brighten up our lives, with the arrival of baby animals, pretty flowers, and nature springing to life.
Here are some fun activities to do with your children during Springtime – and don’t miss our FREE Spring activities checklist so you can keep track of your progress!
50 of the Best Spring Activities for Kids
#1. Enjoy Nature in Your Garden
Who knew there was so much in our own backyards? Check out these fun nature activities for kids to do in your own garden.
#2. Go on a Daffodil or Bluebell Hunt
Head to a nearby park or forest and go on a daffodil or bluebell hunt. It’s nice to leave the flowers growing for next year but have some fun seeing who can spot the first daffodil or bluebell, and who can count to 100 flowers!
#3. Make a Spring Wreath
Use this DIY tutorial to make a spring wreath that features flowers made from paper pulp egg cartons.
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#4. Make Edible Nests
These Chocolate Nests are really simple to make. Kids love decorating their nests with the eggs, and even though they are a treat, they do have some extra fibre in them!
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#5. Visit a Pet Farm
This is the perfect time of year to visit a pet farm. After the long winter, the kids will love to run around the farm, taking in all the delights of spring. Feed a bottle to a baby lamb or cup a baby chick in your hand.
#6. Go For a Spring Walk
Head out for a family walk together and see what signs of spring you can find together. It could be buds on trees, new flowers appearing, baby lambs or the sound of a cuckoo. Why not try our Sound Scavenger Hunt for a hunt with a difference!
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#7. Paint Spring Pictures
Get out the art materials and paint some spring pictures together. Ask your child what they think they can see in Springtime and choose one or more things to paint. Maybe they would like to do a spring scene with lots of Springtime things in it. Rainbows are fun to paint too.
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#8. Play Bunny, Bunny, RABBIT!
If your kids have plenty of energy to burn, this is the game for them! As you’ve probably guessed, this is an spring variation on the classic duck, duck, GOOSE game. Here’s how to play:
- Sit the kids down in a circle;
- Select one child to be “it”;
- The “it” child walks around the outside of the circle patting each player on the head and saying “bunny” until they want to say “RABBIT”;
- Both the “it” child and the RABBIT must hop around the circle trying to reach the vacant spot;
- Whoever doesn’t make it to the spot in time is then “it”.
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#9. Grow Eggy Cress Heads
Plant some cress in empty egg shells to grow eggy cress heads! Cress is an absolute cinch to grow – you don’t even need soil or potting compost, since cress will grow in kitchen paper or cotton wool.
You don’t need a pot or container because for this project you can use an empty egg shell as the container!
#10. Press Flowers
If you have a flower press then you’re all set. If not you just need some sheets of paper and some very heavy books.
- Go out and search in the garden or nearby park/woods for some different flowers.
- You don’t need many just a few flower heads.
- Put them between the sheets of paper and halfway in the pile of the heavy books or in the flower press and tighten it.
- After a few days the flowers will be neatly pressed and have dried out.
- You can use these to make pretty pictures or cards.
#11. Get Colouring
Print off some fun Easter colouring pages for the kids to colour or paint. Then hang them up around the house.
#12. Read Some Classics
Paddington Bear, Wind in the Willows, Swallows and Amazons, Five Children & It are all classic stories to read with your children.
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#13. Watch a Chick Hatch
If you’re lucky enough to live near someone who has hens ask them if you can come see chicks hatch. If not, here’s a video of a baby chick hatching!
#14. Watch a Fun Movie
There are some fun Easter movies you can enjoy with your child or pick something from our 101 Terrific Tween Movies list.
#15. Crack Some Jokes
The old ones are the best!
Q: Can February March?
A: No, but April May!
Q: What season is it when you are on a trampoline?
A: Spring-time!
Q: What flowers grow on faces?
A: Tulips (Two-lips)!
#16. Go for a Family Cycle
Pop on your helmets and hop on your bikes and cycle one of your favourite routes.
#17. Do Some Baking
Bake some cookies or buns together and decorate them with using brightly coloured icing sugar. Here are easy peasy recipes for baking with kids and some easy cookie recipes kids can easily master.
#18. Play a Game
Play board games or card games together.
#19. Make Finger Print Bunnies
Messy but lots of fun! Use your thumb print, dipped in paint for the head, and your other finger prints to form the rest of the body for your bunny family keepsake.
#20. Plant Seeds
Every child loves gardening, there’s something about squishing your fingers into the soil and of course the watering after you’ve planted the seeds is so fun.
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#21. Make Paper Plate Birds
Make some cute birds from paper plates, and let the kids have fun with painting and decorating. Here are more ideas for paper plate crafts for kids to help inspire you!
#22. Make a Homemade Bird Feeder
And for the real birds, how about making a homemade bird feeder?
#23. Go on a Ladybug Hunt
Grab your magnifying glasses and a plastic tub and head off outside for a Ladybug Hunt. When you find one carefully put it in the tub so you can count its spots.
You might want to make a Ladybug Chart showing how many ladybugs with different numbers of spots you find.
When you are finished, gently let them go.
#24. Paint Some Butterflies
One of the easiest and most fun art projects with any age child is to take a piece of paper, fold it in half, open it and put lots of different splashes of paint into the centre of your piece of paper. The more colours the better.
Fold the paper again and gently run your hands along the fold to flatten the paper. Then open out and see your beautiful butterfly.
Once the paint has dried, draw on antenna and eyes and a smile!
#25. Watch a Butterfly Being Born
Now that you’ve painted butterflies how about the real thing? If you don’t happen to have a chrysalis lying around, here’s a video to watch together showing a butterfly being born.
#26. Splash in Some Puddles
There’s something about spring and rain showers and puddles. Get on the wetgear and welly boots and go outside for a good old splash in the puddles around your house and neighbourhood. (You can always run a bath to warm and clean everybody afterwards!)
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#27. Make a Hungry Caterpillar
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Get the kids to help make an edible caterpillar for lunch.
You will need some grapes or apple slices to make the body, a cherry tomato or strawberry slice for its face, and either edible googly eyes or raisins for the eyes.
Then enjoy reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar afterwards!
#28. Go on a Scavenger Hunt
Download our free nature scavenger hunt and send the kids off to find fun things outside – this is great for all those springtime walks.
Alternatively try our free Easter scavenger hunt and go on the hunt for lots of seasonal items.
#29. Play Bunny Tag
Kids get a ton of exercise when they play bunny tag.
- Pick one child to be the dog chasing the other kids, who are the bunnies.
- The bunnies hop away from the fast-walking dog.
- If they are caught, they crouch down and use their arms to make bunny ears atop their head until the game is finished.
- The last bunny caught becomes the dog during the next round.
#30. Fly a Kite
Sometimes the old ideas are the best. Spring time is often a breezy time perfect weather for heading out with a kite to a nearby park or hill.
#31. Make Oobleck
Have fun with goop by making oobleck, the classic science experiment that both kids and adults will enjoy.
Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid that acts like a liquid when being poured, but acts like a solid when a force is acting on it. If you grab it, it will ooze out of your hands!
#32. Hold a Pancake Party
Whip up some pancake batter, grab some delicious toppings and host a Pancake Party for Pancake Day!
Here are simple pancake recipes and some great ideas on how to make pancake shapes for kids (and adults!) to enjoy.
#33. Make Thumbprint Shamrock Cards
This is an easy-to-make project from Childmade to create Thumbprint Shamrock Cards. All you need is card and a green stamp pad. If you have a valentine heart stamp, they used that to make nice shamrocks out of 4 hearts.
And what about this cool suggestion: dip your stamp into glue and then into glitter and stamp onto the card. Hey presto green glittery hearts!
#34. Make a Terrarium
- Using a large glass or plastic container with a wide mouth, spread some potting soil or dirt on the bottom then add little plants and bits of grass from outside with the roots still on them.
- Give them a little water then cover with the jar lid or cling film and an elastic band.
- Place in a sunny spot and spray lightly with water every week and watch the plants grow.
- You could measure the growth every week to see how quickly they grow.
#35. Make a Valentine’s Heart
Make something special for the sweet person in your life. This simple heart-shaped collage is very effective as a decoration for St. Valentine’s Day, and suitable for toddlers and children of all ages to make.
Better still, it can be made entirely from recycled materials (except for the glue)!
#36. Make a Bug Chart
Go on a Big Bug Scavenger Hunt and when you have collected all your bugs try making a bug chart. How many of each different type of bug did you find?
#37. Take a Trip to the Woods
This is a lovely time of year to take a trip to the woods, and enjoy the new growth of Spring. With walks, orienteering trails and bike routes, the time will be sure to fly by! Don’t forget to bring a picnic and waterproof picnic blanket if it’s warm enough to enjoy the fresh air. Somehow food always tastes better outdoors!
#38. Make a Spring Photo Project
Take out camera or phone and ask the kids to spot signs of spring and help them take photos. Download the photos and print them off to make a Spring photo book or album. The kids can get creative with a design for the front and back covers!
#39. Make a Spring Sensory Box
Make a spring sensory box for your child to enjoy. You’ll need rice and fun spring-themed items such as a little painted bird house, glittery eggs, chicks, plastic eggs, silicone flower cup cake cases, bunnies, pipe cleaners, etc.
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#40. Dig for Worms
Worms love cool, dark places and the evening time is good for finding worms or after a rain shower. You’ll need clothes that can get dirty, a shovel or spade and a container to put them in (don’t forget air holes)
When you’ve finished looking at your worms, release the worms in your compost pile and garden beds, they help make the soil even better.
#41. Upcycle Welly Boots
Gather any old welly boots your children have outgrown. Poke a few drainage holes in the bottom of them and then fill them with some compost. Choose which flower seeds you would like to plant.
Place them along your path or outside your front door. Your kids will love to see their old wellies blooming!
#42. Playdough Time
Watch how to make playdough here and make some model figures for each member of the family.
Alternatively, design your own version of the Easter Bunny, an easter basket or a whole selection of Easter eggs!
#43. Catch Tadpoles
#44. Go Camping
Weather permitting, camping is great fun and a chance to “become one with nature”. Many fond memories are created sitting around a camp fire telling jokes or scary stories and watching the stars at night.
#45. Take a Day Trip
Take a day trip to a historic town or to a local attraction that you’ve never visited before. Get some inspiration with our 10 days outs with the kids for under a tenner.
#46. Grow a Carrot Top
Growing carrot tops from carrots takes no special equipment and results will be seen in a matter of days. Make sure you explain to your child that you aren’t growing actual carrots, but a new plant from the carrot.
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#47. Blow Some Bubbles
Blowing bubbles should lead to giggles! Use different blowers for a range of bubbly fun.
When all the bubbles are used up, why not try making your own bubbles using washing-up liquid, sugar and water.
#48. Plant Sunflowers
You can make your own paper pots from waste paper or newspaper. Use a large bean tin as a template and roll up the paper pot, using a little tape on the bottom.
Plant one seed per pot and plant them out, pot and all, when the plant is about 20-30cm high. Check more tips here on how to grow sunflowers successfully.
#49. Make Sunflowers
While you are waiting for your sunflower seeds to grow, why not make your own paper sunflowers?
- Use yellow construction paper and draw outlines around your hands. You will need a few to make the petals of the sunflower.
- Make stems and leaves from green card or paper.
- Stick your beautiful sunflowers together in a row on a big sheet (make sure you write your name beside yours!).
#50. Try Potato Stamping
This is a fun and quick craft project for kids. Cut potatoes in half (let Mum or Dad do this bit) and then cut out an indented shape on each half. For example, a leaf or a star or flower shape.
Then dip your new stampers into paint and onto your paper to make fun prints.
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Have your say! What are your favourite spring activities for kids to enjoy? Leave a comment below and let us know – we’d love to hear from you!
About the Author: Jill Holtz
