Backyard Crafts and Activities

As the weather gets nicer and the days get longer, encourage everyone to get away from the TV and go outside by planning some creative outdoor fun. Plan an outdoor adventure. Try going on a safari in your own backyard, set up bird watching stations around your yard, or take a nature walk and collect special treasures. Before you begin your adventure though, you might want to prepare some fun supplies:

• Home-Made Binoculars - A must for any explorer; made from 2 toilet paper rolls.

• Check Box Camera - No adventure would be complete without pictures, even if they are pretend.

• Fabric Sit-Upons - Make this handy cushion that is perfect for sitting on outside.

• Jumbo Treasure Sack - This sack has a shoulder strap and is perfect for holding almost any treasure you find.

• First Aid Kit - Make this tiny first aid kit necklace to take with you on your outdoor adventure.

• Personalized Notebooks - Make a personalized notebook so you can takes notes during your adventure.

Here are some other ideas to get you going on an adventure. If you have any creative ideas, feel free to share them.

Backyard Safari

Build a safari tent in your backyard using blankets, lawn chairs, and/or a picnic table.

Make sidewalk chalk and draw pictures of wild animals on the sidewalk or drive way.

Play safari charades - pretend you are an animal you might see on a safari and see if others can guess which animal you are.

Have a creative snack - have trail mix or try making these Snake Refrigerator Cookies.

Pretend other animals you spy in your neighborhood are wild! Pretend a dog is a wild wolf or a cat is suddenly a fierce lion.

Try making some of these wild animal crafts.

Make wild animal masks out of paper plates and crawl around the yard pretending you are safari animals.

Print out some pictures to color. Start with these: Animal Coloring Pages.

Bird Watching

Find a nice quiet spot to sit and watch the birds. Count how many you see. Write about them in your notebook.

To help you identify different birds, check out these tips and guides to identifying birds.

Print out and color pictures of various birds. Compare them to real birds you see.

Get creative - create your own species of bird. Draw a picture of it, and write down information about what it eats, it's habitat, etc.

Make special bird houses, bird feeders, and bird baths to attract birds to your yard.

For a special treat for yourself, make an Edible Bird Nest.

Try your hand at making these Bird Crafts.

Nature Walk

Take a walk around your neighborhood, a nearby park, or a wilderness area. Make sure you do not disturb anything in nature. Do not pick flowers, break branches off trees, other things that might cause harm to plants or animals.

Play a game while you are walking... See who can find the most of one object; or, you can make up a scavenger hunt.

Learn a bit about collecting fossils and watch for some while you are walking. You can also have fun making your own fossils.

While you are out walking, do a good deed. Pick up any trash you pass!

While you walk, collect items you pass such as sticks, stones, leaves, seeds, pine cones, etc.

Make a collage or sun catcher out of the items you collect, or try some of these crafts:

• Flower Crafts
• Leaf Crafts
• Pine Cone Crafts
• Rock Crafts
• Seeds-Bean Crafts
• Stick Crafts

Collecting and Studying Bugs

Before you go on your adventure, learn more about how to identify insects.

Take your notebook outside with you and make notes or even write stories about the insects to see.

If you want to try to collect the insects, here are some helpful tools and tips to help you.

Try making an insect watering hole

Print out and color pictures of bugs and make your own bug coloring book.

Try your hand at making one or more of these Bug Crafts.

I hope you enjoy all of these backyard crafts and activities. If you make any of these crafts, make sure you send in a photo to be included in this collection.