Outdoor Play Ideas

Scoop the Leaves

  • Start with a big pile of leaves (or sand or packing peanuts). Place two large containers about 20 feet away from the pile.
  • Create two teams. Have them line up. Give the first child on each team a pail.
  • The first child scoops a pail of leaves, runs to her/his team's container, pours in the leaves, and returns with the empty pail. Children take turns, and the first team to fill its container is the winner.

Snowball

  • Children sit in a large circle around a medium-size ball. Tell children that the ball is a big snowball. They must keep the snowball from rolling out of the circle, but only their feet can touch the snowball.
  • One child sits in the middle and tries to push the ball out of the circle, using only her/his feet.
  • If the ball gets out, the center child chooses another child to sit in the middle and start the game again.

Wind in the Trees

  • Children stand tall and still like big trees. They raise their arms as branches and their fingers as leaves. Choose one child to be Wind.
  • Wind slowly walks through the trees, then runs, and then slows down again. Trees sway and leaves fall.
  • Wind chooses another child to play Wind, continuing the game as long as the children want to play.

Variation: Trees stand with arms raised and fists closed. One child plays Rain and another, Sun. Rain runs through the trees, making a raining sound. Sun walks through slowly, arms outstretched. Slowly, the trees' fists open, showing the new leaves.