BEST WINTER OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING
Read our list of the best winter outdoor activities that will not only keep your class occupied, but also support their learning.
Children need to spend time outside no matter the season. And when the temperature drops, it’s more important than ever that kids stay active during playtime.
These games are also suitable for after-school clubs and youth groups.
1) Scavenger Hunt
Give your class a list of things to look for in the school grounds, such as pine cones, acorns and conkers. Reward those that collect the most items by the end of playtime. For more advanced players, give them more specific objects to find such as double ended twigs or star-shaped leaves.
2) Leaf Parachutes
Gather a pile of leaves, and place them on a ground sheet. Ask children to circle round the sheet, take hold of the edges and thrust it upwards to release the leaves into the air. Challenge them to get the leaves as high as possible by using more force. You could also measure how long it takes for the leaves to fall to the ground.
3) Snowman Says
This is a winter version of Simon says. Ask the group to do their best frozen snowman impression, then call out a set of actions starting with the words Snowman says. Any children that complete the action without you first calling “Snowman says” are out of the game. The game ends when you have a winning player.
4) Snow & Spoon Race
Another twist on a classic is a challenge where players have to cover a distance in the shortest time possible while balancing a ball of snow on a spoon. If it’s not snowing, then you could use other seasonal items such as pinecones. Encourage team work by doing a relay version which will require the children to carefully transfer the spoon between them.
5) Photograph Competition
Challenge your class to snap some great pictures of the outdoors that they can use to inspire their literacy, science and art lessons. It could be anything from a spider web laced with dew to a autumn leaf just on the point of falling. Make the challenge more difficult by limiting the amount of time they have to get their winning shot.
6) Hibernation
Explore the theme of hibernation by asking children to build a den outdoors made from branches, twigs and leaves. Depending on the available resources, they could either design a den for themselves or for a hibernating animal like a hedgehog or a squirrel. Ask them to think about what they would take into their den if they had to hibernate over winter.
7) Wellie Boot Prints
Make art with wellie boots by getting kids to squelch them into mud and then walk on a sheets of paper on the ground to see what pattern it creates. The prints can then be dried and decorated with other items to create an autumn/winter display board for the classroom.
8) Tree Rubbings
Another arty project is tree rubbings. Send your group on a tree hunt, armed with paper and wax crayons. Get them to sketch over the bark with the crayons to create patterned rubbings. You could then create a patchwork from the different colours and textures.
9) Outdoor Kitchen
A great game for keeping younger children occupied is a play-pretend outdoor kitchen. Gather some “ingredients” from the outdoors such as leaves, acorns and conkers, and get the children to “cook up” their creations in old pots and pans.
10) Autumn Sculpture
Use natures findings to create some autumn sculptures with play dough. Get the children to knead bird seeds, acorns and bark into the dough then mould it into an interesting shape. This can then be displayed as artwork or used in the play pretend kitchen.
11) After Dark Hide & Seek
This game works in the evening, as long as you’re in a safe location. Split your group into twos and give them each a plastic mirror. Nominate a couple of hunters, while the rest of the team hides. The hunters then go searching for the rest of the group by using a torch and seeing where the light reflects.
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