Let’s face it. There will be days when the sun will be searing but there’s no camps or playdates booked. Your house full of kids may be filled with the refrain “We’re SOooo Bored!”.
Here are some simple yet super useful ideas that will keep the children busy whilst keeping them outdoors. Why not enjoy these fun projects as a whole family too?
Getting kids involved in DIY helps them in the following ways:
- Cutting and painting helps with hand eye coordination
- Working numbers when measuring and gauging materials
- Following steps
- Creativity in decorative projects
Paint with Purpose
Let go a little and find some easy safe ways for the kids to paint, get creative and help you refresh the place at the same time. No child has ever said no to getting a paintbrush and a real paint can.
Prepping The Paint Space
Get them out in the open, and into some old clothes.
Spread out some drop cloth or old fabric on the backyard or outdoor paving/ balcony away from precious furniture.
Source some smaller size paint brushes. (you don’t want them to get too much done too quickly or spread it around too far either)
Proper DIY Paint Jobs
If you have older kids, get help with some jobs you’re already doing like the garden walls or fencing especially if they’re older kids and bribe them if you have to. Door frames, garden trellises, gates, doors and window frames may also need a touch up.
Justbe sure to get the masking tape on those edges to help the kids avoid any messes
If you are particular about getting these done the right way then give them smaller projects to do that won’t impact your good work.
Beginner Projects
Start them with water-soluble paint if you’re afraid of their ability to get paint on everything including themselves.
Small items can be brought back to life with a fresh colourful coat. Upcycle the following:
- Wooden playroom or nursery furniture in bright colours
- Old chairs (non-antiques of course) or occasional tables that need a fresh coat
- Old indoor plant pots
- Wooden picture frames than can be recycled into a feature for their bedroom
You could even give them small outdoor projects using weather-proof paint.
- Garden gnomes that need a touch up
- The family pet’s kennel
- Garden benches
Stencil Art
You could give them stencils - make them yourselves with cutout cardboard or buy them. Allocate the kids a blank wall outdoors as their designated play area and let them have a go with some spray cans.
Creating the stencils themselves can be a great way of generating creative activities for them indoors on a rainy day - Here’s a great blog for gardening stencil ideas.
Spray Can Art & Graffiti Party!
Turn your Stencil home-event into a Wall Art extravaganza.
Make sure the kids have safety goggles, old clothes and a decent mask on to protect them from the chemicals.
Let them have a framed area to express themselves with ‘Graffiti” or free wheel a la Jackson Pollock on a set canvas like the back of the shed or a graden wall you’re willing to spare.
Use a canvas and let them frame their work if it is a small piece.
Need ideas? Check out this pinterest board of graffiti wall art ideas for your garden
Treehouse, TreeForts & Teepees
For the more experienced parents with a handy older kid interested in woodworking, consider building your own treehouse, playhouse or tree fort.
We found some Free Playhouse Plans to work from right here.
If you don’t have a suitable tree, a simple playhouse pergola style on the ground or a fort on stilts with some canvas covering, might just do the trick anyway
Make Your Own Teepee
The urge to camp outdoors during those summer playdates and sleepovers is strong, so why not get the whole party involved and make your own Teepee! Possibly the most efficient way to shelter for camping nights and a great playhouse in the day.
You need a sturdy canvas you can cut out - approximately 15 x 30 ft. You’ll also need 12 long wooden l lodge poles (3 feet longer than the covering canvas) that you can smooth down with sandpaper and treat with linseed & turpentine for protection.
Here’s a great blog on How to build your own Teepee.
Make A Fairy Garden
The little girls (and even boys) might want something on a smaller scale. You could use crafting clay that can be baked, or any leftover materials to create a DIY fairy garden.
- Give the kids a patch of the garden that’s their own
- You could use clay baked to create DIY fairy garden installations like a mini house, well, toadstool. With some woodworking smarts and leftover wood, you could create some interesting fairy doors of your own, little bridges or furniture. Recycle old toys as well
- Get them to use large smooth pebbles and shells they may have brought back from the beach to create fairy paving stones. Glass pebbles are grest for simulating running water or a pond.
- The actual fairies and some other accessories can also be sourced in many of the thrifty Euro-stores.
- Try to plant some small flowering plants or miniature shrub species and get the kids involved inthe gardening too.
Here’s some inspiration: 25 Enchanting DIY Fairy Garden Ideas for Your Backyard
Make an Insect Hotel, Bird House or Bird Feeder
For the nature lovers and pollinator friendly gardens, why not build your own insect hotel or bird feeder to encourage the wildlife in your garden to stick around.
Your birdfeeder or DIY birdhouse needs to ideally be suspended high up where cats can’t get at them.
Here are some great Homemade Bird Feeder Ideas.
Facilitating insects like bees and ladybirds could also be good for helping your garden grow healthier and rid your plants of pests naturally.
Insect Hotel Must-Haves
What you really need is a sturdy wooden frame you can mount on a garden wall.
The frame should ideally be at least half a food in depth. It should be filled with natural materials that create negative spaces, nooks and crannies for the insects to crawl into - holes, cracks, Seed pods with holes, decomposing materials, hollow tubes and grids for different types of insects.
To encourage even more of the pollinators to gather, it's a good idea to plant wildflowers nearby.
The Wildlife Trust has a great list of instructions in: How to build a bug mansion
Backyard Mini Golf Anyone
Include the kids by making them help design the course in the first place. Here’s a great example of a course designed by 6-9 year olds.
Think about any leftover DIY materials or old furniture to recycle? Have you got lots of leftover plywood or pallets left over from a previous project or delivery? Why not recycle the pieces to create ramps, obstacles and putting greens for a mini golf course!
Source some synthetic grass to cover your ramps and surfaces - perhaps use the offcuts from your own backyard or front yard projects.
Check out these outdoor DIY Mini Golf Designs.
Make a Time Capsule
Why not mark a special year or occasion with a time capsule? Let the kids decide on what they would like to share with their future selves.
For example it is a great idea to mark the advent of primary school or secondary school in the coming September with a summer time capsule containing the memories from their childhood including a note to their future self (A message in a bottle!).
You‘ll need to build or recycle a wooden box or large glass container. Bes ure to labelthe date clearly inside it. Just don’t forget where you put them and put an alert in your calendars to exhume those amazing memories when it’s a good time.
Here’s a nice intro to creating one and another step by step instruction on how to create a time capsule.
Ready to get those kids busy working?
Shopping list
Stop by our website product catalogue to catch an overview of the supplies and brands available:
Paint projects
- Paint ideally water-soluble paint for indoor projects
- Spray can paint in assorted colours
- Small paint brushes
- Dropcloth or old sheets
- Paint trays
- Turpentine for cleaning and thinning
- Cardboard
Playhouse & Teepee
- Plywood
- Nails & Hammer
- Canvas or water resistant fabric
- Wooden Poles ( For Teepee)
- Pocket knife
- Sandpaper
- Linseed oil
- Outdoor paint
Fairy Garden
- Crafting Clay and assorted waterproof paint or acrylic paint
- Ornamental pebbles
- Leftover plywood or wood cut-offs
- Nails & Hammer / super glue
- Mini shrubbery, bedding plants
Mini-Golf Course
- Old artificial turf , green carpet or synthetic grass offcuts
- PVC piping, Spare tubing
- Plywood or MDF, scrap 2″x4″ wood
- Saw
- Deck screws
- Industrial Staples, staple gun
- Hammer and nails
Have you more essential tips to add? Share them
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