The A-Z Guide of Backyard Fun for Children in Isolation

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Now that lockdown is in full swing, we are all spending a lot of our time at home. For those of you homeschooling your children, you are very probably spending a significant chunk of your days indoors and online.

But that's all the more reason to go to the backyard (or front yard) too, and spend as much time as possible outdoors, especially while these autumn days are still soaking in sunshine and blue skies.

Your backyard is full of adventures and learning experiences for your children. Here are some ideas from A-Z on how your children can have some backyard fun during this time of lockdown and self-isolation.
Autumn leaves. Collect autumn leaves from your garden and use them in craft activities. You'll find plenty of awesome ideas here .


Bird feeders. Create simple bird feeders using pine cones or use an old egg carton box like this one.


Camp out in the backyard.

Dirt play. Find your patch of dirt and make dirt/mud pies, dig in the dirt, or make a toy car racing track in it. Just have fun and play in it!

Explore your backyard (or front yard). What animals live in it/visit it? What kinds of plants do you grow? Take photos of things in your yard and create a photobook.

Fairy garden. Your kids will love making a fairy garden like the one below. Go here for tips on how to make a simple one.


Gnome garden. Fill your garden with gnomes!


Herb garden. Plant herbs in pots or in a section of your garden.

Insect hotel. Make 'hotels' for the bugs of your garden using old plastic bottles. Fill the bottles with twigs and leaves and hide them in your garden.


Jack O Lantern pumpkins. Jack O Lantern pumpkins belong to the celebration of Halloween, and Halloween is actually an autumn celebration. It's autumn now, so why not get some pumpkins and decorate your doorway with them?


Kick a ball. Or kick piles of autumn leaves!

Light up the night. String fairy lights or hang lanterns in your trees and bushes.


Make compost. Here are some ideas on how to get started.

Night garden. Rug up in your blankets or coats, and explore your backyard and garden at night. Spend time enjoying the moon and the stars.

Obstacle course. Set up an obstacle course in the backyard for the kids to complete. Use whatever you have in your yard: planks of wood, bricks, play equipment, trampoline, garden paths, the lawn, pool noodles, hula hoops, etc.

Picnic in your backyard. Take advantage of the autumn sunshine and the blue sky days by having a picnic in your backyard.

Quill pens. Collect bird feathers and turn them into quill pens! Go here for a simple quill pen that the kids can make.

Rock pets. Collect rocks and turn them into rock pets. Go here for some ideas.

Succulent garden. Create a succulent garden with dinosaurs like the one below.


Tree decorating. Decorate your trees with fairy lights, lanterns, windchimes, colourful streamers, balloons, colourful bunting, pennants, garlands, Christmas ornaments, etc. Or why not start a bonsai tree garden? Bunnings has a good range of bonsai trees and bonsai kit seeds.

Underground investigations. Learn about the world beneath our feet. What animals live underground? Then use toilet paper roll tubes and other cardboard tubes and boxes to create an 'underground world' of tunnels and burrows for an underground creature.

Vegetable garden. Here are five easy plants that kids can grow and eat.


Windchimes. Make these simple windchimes and hang them from your trees.

Xmarks the spot. Have a backyard treasure or scavenger hunt. Here is a great nature scavenger hunt from Nature Play CBR which you can adapt for your own backyard.

Yoga. Do some yoga in the garden.

Zoo. Make a rock pet zoo. Or instead of making a dinosaur succulent garden or fairy garden, why not make a mini garden with zoo safari animals instead?

%%"You can journey to the ends of the earth in search of success, but if you're lucky, you will discover happiness in your own backyard."

Russell Conwell%%

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