Want to keep your toddler busy this summer with fun and easy activities? These are the best nature play ideas for 1 and 2 year old children this summer.
When it comes outdoor play for toddlers, it can be hard to find activities that are both simple and engaging. Nothing is worse than spending precious nap time setting up an activity that your child plays with for less than 5 minutes.
These tried and true nature play ideas are easy to set up and will entertain your toddler for hours. Many of these activities can even be left outside all summer long for minimal clean up!
Whether you’re looking for open-ended play using natural materials, arts and crafts with foraged items, or unique water play ideas these nature activities for toddlers are sure to make your outside time 10x more enjoyable.
This post is all about summer nature play ideas for toddlers.
Nature Play Ideas:
1. Play in a Mud Kitchen
Recreate this mud kitchen nature play idea:
Mud Kitchens are a great addition to any nature play area for your little. The sensory input from playing with natural materials outside is so engaging for kids.
The best part about having a mud kitchen in your backyard is that it’s completely open-ended play and can entertain your child for hours. In addition, clean up is super easy. Just hose off the toys, let them dry in the sun, and pick up where you left off the next day!
I love a simple wooden mud kitchen like the one from Amazon above. If you’re more of a DIY parent, check out the mud kitchen building guide from Etsy.
2. Make an Outdoor Sensory Bin
Recreate this outdoor sensory bin nature play idea:
Having materials ready by the back door makes setting up nature sensory activities easy. Just grab the tubs filled with different scoopers, tongs, and bug catchers and go outside.
Once you’re outside forage for some sensory materials from your backyard: sand, rocks, leaves, sticks, flowers, bark, grass clippings, or moss, the possibilities are endless. Add a watering can and let your toddler have at it!
If you’re on a budget, I love to look for sensory bin accessories at the thrift store. You can find gently used muffin tins, bakeware, cooking utensils, cups, and more to fill your sensory bins.
3. Splash Around in a Water Table
Recreate this water table nature play idea:
An outdoor water table for the backyard is a MUST on hot summer days. Your toddler will love to splash around with any bath toys you already have at home.
Looking to cool things down on a super hot day? Add ice cubes, penguins, and polar bears to the water table for fun imaginative play.
I love a durable plastic water table like the one listed above, but if you want to build your own, check out the guide from Etsy for a super cool water maze addition!
4. Kiddie Pool Lego Play
Recreate this lego kiddie pool nature play idea:
Does your 2 year old love building with lego duplo or megablocks? Beat the heat this summer by making a floating lego land in the kiddie pool.
Find a shady area, fill your pool with cool water, and sit back and relax while your toddler explores imaginative play in nature.
Remember to never leave children unattended around water.
5. Play Construction Site and then Carwash
Recreate this construction site and carwash nature play idea:
Toddlerhood is peak trucks-loving age, so why not take the diggers outside! Head to the sandbox, beach, or pond for this imaginative play activity.
First, let your toddler play construction site using dirt or sand. Then, fill a bucket with soapy water and brushes and have a carwash. It’s a win-win for parents when the kids help clean up!
I love the covered sandbox for extra shade on super hot days. Your kids will love to play outdoors even in the summer heat.
6. Make a Collage with Foraged Materials
Sometimes you need an activity that gets your toddler moving! This natural materials collage idea is the best way to keep kids engaged on a walk.
Have children collect leaves, twigs, acorns, pine cones, rocks, flowers, and other materials from your backyard or around the neighborhood. Then either set out paper for a collage or simply use an open space on the driveway.
This activity is great because your toddler will burn energy searching for the materials, get sensory input from handling the materials, and then get to express themselves artistically!
7. Outdoor Finger Painting
Recreate this outdoor finger painting nature play idea:
Have you ever wanted to be the artsy parent but not wanted to get the house dirty? Same. The solution in the summer is outdoor painting!
Get a cute tarp, washable paints, brushes, and paper and let your toddler go to town.
This outdoor play activity is perfect for practicing fine motor skills of using a paintbrush all while enjoying nature.
8. Plant a Garden
Sometimes the simple activities really are the best. Gardening with a toddler is a great way to teach them about respecting wildlife, caring for living things, and the enjoyment of slowing down.
Your garden doesn’t need to be big either! Plant some flower boxes or grow vegetables in pots on the porch. Start a weekly routine of watering and weeding to get your toddler used to household chores.
If you want to extend the gardening activity, pick some flowers and arrange a bouquet, or make a meal together using vegetables you have grown yourself. Seeing your toddler take pride in what they have grown is like magic!
9. Build a Natural Playground
Recreate the natural playground nature play idea:
It’s no wonder why nature playgrounds are all the rage for outdoor enthusiast families. They blend in well with the backyard, are aesthetically pleasing, and not to mention – tons of fun!
Check out the book Nature Play At Home by Nancy Striniste for great ideas all about nature playscapes and play areas that children of all ages will love.
How fun would wooden tree round slabs be for a walkway? Or a climbing wall for little learners? The possibilities are endless if you use your imagination!
10. Find a Local Nature Play Group
Nature play at home is convenient and fun, but sometimes meeting up with friends can enhance the outdoor experience. Why not check out your local nature play group?
You can find these groups by searching Google, Facebook groups, the library, and local state park websites. As a stay at home mom, I love to get out of the house to meet up with other like-minded families.
And your child will love it! Especially for young toddlers who may not be in school yet, nature play groups are a great way to begin to make friends and practice social skills.
11. Go for a Color Walk
Grab your kids and head outside for a color walk this summer! On a color walk you and the children work together to find natural materials such as flowers, acorns, ferns, grass, twigs, and rocks of every color of the rainbow.
You can make a reference sheet like the one above or simply collect the items in a basket and arrange them in rainbow order when you return home.
Color recognition is an important skill for many toddlers and there’s no better season than summer to take advantage of the beautiful colors in our natural world!
12. Forage and Count Activity
Recreate this counting nature play idea:
All you’ll need for this fun counting activity is paint markers and materials from your backyard! Forage with your toddler for rocks, acorns, flowers, mulch, seeds, and more.
Simply write the numbers 1-10 on rocks you find, then start collecting items for each number. For example, if you can find five green leaves, collect them and chart them above the rock labeled 5.
This simple math activity helps toddlers with number recognition as well as subitizing – the ability to recognize an amount in a group without counting each single item.
13. Play at a Picnic Sensory Table
Recreate the picnic sensory table nature play idea:
We love a versatile piece of equipment around here! A kid’s picnic table AND sensory table in one – that’s my kind of backyard furniture.
This picnic table is the perfect place to cool off and have a snack while keeping the fun times going! Fill the sensory bins with simple materials like leaves and realistic animal figurines and let their imaginations wander.
There will be no more fights when it comes to stopping play to have lunch if you can bring the fun with you to your meal!
14. Make Magic Potions
Recreate this magic potions nature play idea:
What’s more magical than making potions outside under the hot summer sun? Talk about a dream childhood! This is one of my favorite nature play ideas for toddlers by far!
You can use any materials to make potions, but I love dried flowers and other natural materials for outside play. Cute wooden scoopers and bowls make the magic come alive while your toddler plays.
If you have a child who is still mouthing toys, make sure to watch them while they play or use completely non toxic plants in your potion fun.
15. Oobleck Letter Activity
Recreate the Oobleck Letter nature play idea:
Oobleck is a super easy slime-like sensory material you can make with two parts cornstarch to one part water. Add paint or food coloring to make it colored, then add the letters and any scoopers you have lying around.
I love doing sorting activities with toddlers and these letters work great for sorting by color or even alphabet order or number order.
This is a great activity for outdoor nature play because toddlers might get a bit messy, but the oobleck washes off with water super easily! You can even have kids help clean up the foam letters with the hose and a wash basin.
16. Make an Outdoor Music Station
Recreate the outdoor music station nature play idea:
If your toddler is anything like mine they will love any opportunity to make music. So why not bring the music outdoors!
You can make your own music station with pots and pans and wooden spoons, or check out the links above for fun wind chimes, musical tubes, and a xylophone.
This nature play idea would be great to leave set up hanging on a fence or wooden pallet under an awning or umbrella. Make music a part of your daily outdoor routine!
17. Shower Curtain Painting
Recreate the shower curtain painting nature play idea:
Tired of cleaning up paint all over the house? Bring the painting outside! Simply hang up a shower curtain on a clothesline or fence, grab some paint and brushes and have at it!
You could also buy or DIY your own outdoor easel out of wood and plexiglass. This one listed above from Etsy is a great alternative if the shower curtain still seems like too much of a mess.
You could even add water! Fill some spray bottles with water and experiment with mixing paint and water in your artwork. Your toddler will love having autonomy over their artwork and you can clean up easily with the hose!