Aimed at all adults keen to develop a child’s interest in nature this book is packed with craft activities and ideas to help get kids outdoors.

On first flick through I thought the content of The Big Book of 100 Outdoor Activities was a bit basic until I remembered that my ‘little one’ is now 9 and we’ve been doing things like this for years!

Put into the context of children aged 3 to 9 years old, it’s an excellent book of outdoor activity ideas, ideal for parents & carers, child-minders, nursery and kindergarten staff and anyone looking for inspiration to entertain children outdoors in nature.

Compiled by Laura Minter and Tia Williams (craft bloggers at Little Button Diaries), The Big Book of 100 Outdoor Activities is a sturdy paperback book with front and rear cover flaps to mark pages you’re working on.

Image of double page spread of contents of 100 outdoor activities book

Outdoor Activity Categories

There’s an introduction, top tips and notes on the items needed to start your outdoor crafting journey. The 100 activities are split into 8 categories, each with detailed step-by-step instructions and photographs: –

  • Wildlife spotting
  • In the garden
  • Messy makes
  • Art and crafts
  • Games
  • Rainy day
  • Food  and drink
  • Play and make-believe

Everything is simple, requiring no specialist equipment and better still, each activity is tried and tested by the authors’ own children.

Image of double page spread of 100 outdoor activities book showing section header illustration for games with red background and boy

Caroline had a good mooch through and together we highlighted the activities we’d like to try.

Favourite Activity Ideas

The nature spotter game is a great idea for fun in the garden, park or on a country walk and we’ve tried the miniature pond activity with an old washing up bowl as well as a bog garden in an old dog bed…

Image of child watering container garden with hose

Newspaper seedling pots are a fun, eco-friendly craft to try and I particularly like the sound of shadow drawing on sunny days, using a roll of wallpaper lining.

Mini gardeners will love using wellies to make plant containers, something we’ve enjoyed in the past, and using old cars and ride-ons is a fun alternative to the wheelbarrow we renovated as a container.

Enjoy creating snails using clay and real, empty snail shells and try the various ideas with flowers, leaves and twigs, like a log table decoration with air drying clay.

Leaf, feather and solar printing will excite budding artist and making a twig marble run is an imaginative nature connection too.

The matchbox bird house is a gorgeous take on our Day of the Dead memory box and there are easy food suggestions like foragers crumble and courgette, carrot and cheese muffins (great for picnics and school lunches).

Being lovers of cuddly toys, the toy camping set, complete with a twig campfire is a particular favourite.

Image of double page spread of 100 outdoor activities book showing toy camping set and photo

I also love the natural dressing-up costume activities, quite like some we did at a pre-school forest school years ago.

To try these and dozens more activities you’ll just have to buy the book!

There’s nothing not to like about this book, it’s jammed with ideas that you and your kids will love, so let’s get more children outdoors – this book is a brilliant place to start.

Buy the Book

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Big Book of 100 Outdoor Activities 

NB Kids of the Wild received a copy of  this book for the purposes of review. All views and observations are my own (and Caroline’s, aged 9).

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