Four-year-olds are at an age where they love to be active and explore their surroundings. They also have a lot of energy and can be quite creative. Here are 15 innovative and creative outdoor activities for 4 year olds that will help them burn off some energy, be active and have fun:
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Fun Activities for 4 Year Olds You Can Do at the Park
1. Picnic in the Park
What you’ll need:
- A picnic blanket
- A picnic basket or bag packed with snacks and drinks
- Your little one’s favorite toys or books
What to do:
Sandwiches taste best when eaten outdoors! Spread out a picnic blanket in your local park and enjoy a lunch al fresco with your little one. Don’t forget to pack their favorite snacks and drinks, as well as some educational toys for kids to keep them entertained.
Always pick up your trash and teach your kids about the importance of recycling.
What kids will learn:
Your child will learn about the importance of being environmentally responsible. They will also get to enjoy some quality time with you in nature.
Related Reading: Easy Activities for Preschoolers [With Tutorials]
2. Ship Captain
What you’ll need:
- A picnic mat or blanket to be the ship
- Pirate and shark costumes (optional)
What to do:
This activity is best played with two or more children. Spread out a picnic mat or blanket to be the ship. Choose one child to be the captain or you can play the captain and give orders to the crew.
The orders can be:
- “Run to the ship”: Where all kids have to run to the ship and stand on it.
- “Hit the deck”: Kids have to lie down on their tummies.
- “Port”: Kids have to run to the left.
- “Starboard”: Kids have to run to the right.
Anyone who makes mistakes while following the captain’s orders has to deboard the ship and become a shark in the water. The sharks may shout ‘shark attack’ and try to tag crew members in the water.
The captain tries to save crew members by shouting orders and helping them return to the ship.
What kids will learn:
This activity helps kids learn about following instructions and working as a team. It also helps them burn off some energy!
3. Fly a Kite
What you’ll need:
- A kite
- Some kite string
What to do:
Flying a kite is the perfect activity for a breezy day. Head to your local park or any open space with plenty of room to run. Let your little one hold onto the kite string while you help them get the kite airborne. Once it’s up in the air, they can run and fly the kite around.
Make sure to keep a close eye on your little one as they fly kites.
What kids will learn:
Your child will learn about wind power and how it can be used to fly a kite. They will also get some exercise running while flying the kite.
Craft Activities for 4 Year Olds You Can Do in the Car While Traveling
4. No-Beads Friendship Bracelet Kits
What you’ll need:
- No-beads friendship bracelet kit
What to do:
Ideal for kids old enough to follow instructions but not ready to play with beads yet, this no-beads friendship bracelet kit is perfect for a car ride. It comes with everything your little one needs to make two bracelets, including the thread, clasps, and instructions.
What kids will learn:
Your child will learn how to follow instructions and make something from start to finish. They will also get to express their creativity by choosing the colors and patterns for their bracelets.
5. Felt Quiet Book
What you’ll need:
- A quiet book (or you can make your own following this tutorial)
- Some felt shapes
- A sharpie marker
What to do:
This is a great activity for kids who are a little bit older and can sit quietly for long periods. Give them a quiet book and some felt shapes. Show them how to trace the shapes onto the felt and then cut them out. They can then decorate the felt shapes however they like.
What kids will learn:
This activity helps kids develop their fine motor skills as they trace and cut out the shapes. They will also get to be creative as they decorate their felt shapes.
6. Origami for Little Kids
What you’ll need:
- Origami paper or square pieces of paper that can be folded easily
What to do:
Origami is a Japanese art form that involves folding paper into different shapes. Many origami projects are simple enough for kids to do. You can find lots of ideas online, including making origami animals, flowers, and even working paper toys.
What kids will learn:
This beautiful art activity for kids is almost like meditation. They learn patience and perseverance, stokes their imagination and creativity, and help with their hand-eye coordination as it requires precision.
Related Reading: Best Indoor and Outdoor Team Building Activities for Kids
Preschool Activities for 4 Year Olds To Do in Small Groups
7. Play Math or ELA Games Online
What you’ll need:
- A smartphone or an internet-enabled device
What to do:
Online educational games are a great way to keep your little ones occupied while you’re traveling. Choose some games that are appropriate for your child’s skill level and let them play away!
When kids are in small groups, they get competitive. You have to teach them how to share, negotiate, and take turns. And they’ll have to learn how to lose some games, too. These are essential skills that will help them succeed in school and beyond.
What kids will learn:
Four-year-olds can play Math games that teach number sense, addition, subtraction, geometry, and measurement games. They can also practice their sight words games and phonics or play alphabet games online together.
8. Kick the Letter or Number Cup
What you’ll need:
- Plastic cups
- A soccer ball for toddlers
- Permanent markers
What to do:
Write some numbers or letters on plastic cups and place them in rows or a circle with reasonable distances between them. Call out a number or a letter and ask kids to aim to kick the cup with that number or letter on it.
Or ask one child to kick the cups, and their team has to call out the number or letter that was hit. The team with the most correct answers in a certain amount of time wins the game.
What kids will learn:
This is a great way to review numbers, counting, or the alphabet with your little ones. They will also get some exercise while they’re playing.
9. Measuring Activities
What you’ll need:
- A ruler or cube or eraser to measure things with
- Things to measure (such as books, cards, desks, etc.)
What to do:
You can make measurements more fun by turning them into a game. Ask your child to find things around the room and measure them with a ruler or other object. They can then tell you how long or tall the object is.
You can also ask them to estimate the measurements of objects before they measure them. See if their estimates were close to the actual measurements.
What kids will learn:
This activity will help kids to learn the basics of standardized units of measurement. They will also learn to make estimations and compare measurements.
Learning Activities for 4 Year Olds To Do During Camping
10. Build a Campfire
What you’ll need:
- A fire pit
- Matches or a lighter
- A chalk
What to do:
Building a campfire is a great way to teach your little ones about fire safety. Show them how to collect wood and sort them into twigs and bark (to be used as tinder), short sticks (for kindling), and larger logs (to be used as fuel for the fire).
Then, demonstrate how to build a teepee or log cabin fire. Draw a circle three to five feet around the fire pit and move all the children there. Finally, light the fire and let it burn for a few minutes before adding more wood.
Some of the campfire activities to enjoy with 4-year-olds include telling stories, singing songs, toasting marshmallows, and making s’mores.
What kids will learn:
This activity will teach your little ones about fire safety, including how to build a fire and how to extinguish it. They will also learn about the different parts of a campfire, Leave No Trace principles, and not collecting wood from living trees.
11. Play Capture the Flag
What you’ll need:
- A flag or something to be the team’s treasure
What to do:
All the children (and adults) in the camp should be divided into two or more teams. Each team must have a flag or a treasure to hide and a designated area where they can hide it. Members need to try to steal the other team’s flag and protect their own flag.
If the opposing team finds the member in their team, they can tag the member and keep them in their ‘jail’. The other team members have to come and tag their players to rescue them while trying not to get tagged themselves.
What kids will learn:
An excellent teaching strategy to focus on teamwork, this activity will also help them to develop their problem-solving and strategizing skills.
12. Go Bird-Watching
What you’ll need:
- A pair of binoculars
- A bird book or app
What to do:
One person should be the ‘leader’ and guide the group in spotting different birds. The leader can use binoculars to help spot the birds and identify them using a bird book or app. Once a bird is spotted, everyone in the group can take turns looking at it through the binoculars.
What kids will learn:
This activity is a great way to teach your little ones about different types of birds and their habitats. They will also learn how to use binoculars and identify birds by their appearance and call.
Related Reading: After-School Activities for Kids to Stimulate Their Minds
Painting Activities for 4 Year Olds When You Are Amid the Nature
13. Leaf Paper Art
What you’ll need:
- Dried leaves and flower petals
- Dried flower petals
- Googly craft eyes
- Glue
- Sketch pens
- Chart paper of different colors
What to do:
Use sketch pens to draw different faces on a chart paper. Now, let the kids stick googly eyes and dried leaves and flower petals on the paper to make it look like a real face.
Faces made of a collage of dried flower petals and leaves look gorgeous. You can also create DIY twig frames for these artworks and put them up in your home.
What kids will learn:
This activity teaches children how to dry leaves and flower petals and use them creatively to make art.
14. Painting with Nature
What you’ll need:
- Pine cones, buckeyes, rocks, and collectibles with different shapes, colors, and textures
- Paper
- Paints and brushes
- Craft items
- Glue
What to do:
You can paint what you collect, stick craft items to them, and decorate them. Or you can dip them in paint and roll (or slide) them on the paper to make patterns. This activity can get quite messy, so be sure to do it outdoors or on a large sheet of paper that can be hung up to dry.
An excellent Fall activity, this one will allow your little ones to experiment with different colors and textures.
What kids will learn:
Help your little children befriend Nature by introducing them to the various colors, shapes, and textures that can be found in it. This activity will also allow them to explore their creative side and have fun with the paints.
15. Make Colors from Natural Ingredients
What you’ll need:
- Natural sources of color
- Paper
- Brushes
What to do:
Explore the outdoors to collect ingredients from which you can draw juice that you can use as color for your painting. For example, strawberries, raspberries or rose petals can give a lovely pink color, while beetroots give red color. Blueberries can be crushed for purple color and many leaves can give you different shades of green.
What kids will learn:
This activity will teach your 4 year old about the various colors that can be found in Nature. They will also learn how to extract these colors and use them for painting ideas. This is a great way to introduce your little one to the world of art, tell them the difference between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’, and make them resourceful (as they learn to use what they can find).
Related Reading: Best Mindblowing Science Activities to Try With Your Preschoolers Today
Benefits of Educational Activities for 4 Year Olds
With toddlers and preschoolers, you don’t have a ‘stop’ button to turn off their desire to learn. Even when they’re not in school, kids this age are always trying to soak up new information like little sponges. This is why educational activities need to be ongoing everywhere, whether you’re at home, running errands, or on vacation.
The world is their school, and with the outdoor activities for kids, you can teach your children about life, nature, colors, shapes, and so much more without even realizing it.
Outdoor activities are important for kids of all ages, but they’re especially beneficial for 4 year olds. This is because four is a transition year for many kids. They’re moving from the playful world of toddlerhood into the more structured world of elementary school.
During this transition, it’s important for kids to have a balance of both structured and unstructured playtime. Outdoor activities provide the perfect opportunity for unstructured play. They allow kids to explore, use their imaginations, and be physically active in a way that’s fun and non-threatening.
At the same time, outdoor activities can also be used to teach kids important life skills, such as how to follow directions, cooperate with others, and solve problems.
Conclusion
Try these innovative and fun activities for kids to help them learn about the world around them. This will not only help them explore but also have a lot of fun to make their time outdoors awesome. These outdoor activities are perfect for curious minds and little explorers!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the most simple activity that can be done outside with preschoolers?
One of the simplest outdoor activities that can be done with 4 year olds is exploring nature. This can be done by going on a nature walk, looking for bugs, or collecting leaves and flowers.
Can you suggest some ball games for little children?
Yes! You can play catch, practice target games, or dribble with a ball. For preschoolers, you should ideally use a very soft and lightweight ball.
What are some water activities that can be done with 4 year olds?
Some water activities that can be done with 4 year olds include filling up buckets of water and dumping them out, spraying each other with water guns, or playing in a sprinkler.
