Best Outdoor Toys For The Summer Holidays
The summer holidays are the ultimate time to get your kiddies outside in nature enjoying the great outdoors. Longer days and warmer weather (fingers crossed) set the scene for enriching outdoor adventures - with the help of a few outdoor toys! Keep reading as we reveal our top outdoor toy recommendations and explore how this style of play can nurture your child’s development and wellbeing.
Why Outdoor Play Is Important
Here, we’ll investigate the benefits of outdoor play and give you some ideas on how to motivate your youngsters to spend more time outside.
What are the benefits of outdoor play?
The benefits of outdoor play are infinite. Physically, outdoor play enhances children’s fine and gross motor skills, balance, coordination, and overall fitness and health. Mentally, outdoor play is a terrific mindfulness activity that stimulates kids' creativity and imagination. Socially, outdoor play helps children develop their interpersonal skills, language, communication, and confidence.
The benefits of outdoor play:
- Strengthens motor skills
- Vitamin D boost
- Engages all 5 senses
- Reduces stress & anxiety
- Enhances mood
- Increases attention span
- Stimulates creativity
- Nurtures social skills
- Builds confidence
- Improves sleep
- Teaches kids about nature
- It’s screen-free!
How to encourage outdoor play?
If you feel like your child should be spending more time outside, here are some strategies to encourage outdoor play:
- Set a good example by spending time outside yourself and involving the kids in outdoor activities
- Create an inviting space with a few outdoor garden toys you know they’ll love
- Limit screen time to give kids more opportunities to explore the outdoors
- Organise outdoor playdates or family outings to parks, beaches, or fun walking trails
- Reinforce the positives and praise them when they play outside
9 Outdoor Toys For Kids
From garden toys to beach toys, mud kitchens to mini vehicles, these outdoor kids toys are designed to engage children in all sorts of awesome al fresco adventures!
1. Mud Kitchen
Little chefs can create a menu of mucky delights with our new Mud Kitchen! Whether they’re whipping up a batch of dandelion soup or concocting a pretty petal potion, mud kitchens sow the seed for imaginative, unstructured play. For more ideas, check out our What To Do With A Mud Kitchen blog article.
Our Mud Kitchen is sustainably made from FSC® Certified wood (FSC-C147826) and features a sink, bucket tap, hob plates, blackboard, pots and pans, utensils, and more!
2. Silicone Beach Toys
Squish, fold, flatten, or roll - then pop them in your beach bag! Tough like plastic, but gentle on the Earth, our gorgeous silicone beach toys are flexible, durable, and designed for sunny days at the seaside or sandpit. The collection includes sand moulds, frisbees, watering cans, buckets, and spades made from eco-friendly wheat fibre.
3. Didicar Ride On
The legendary Didicar ride on toy is a bestselling motivator for outdoor play! Simply wiggle the steering wheel left and right and this unique ride on car will propel forwards, without the need for pedals or batteries. It also comes in eight different colours, so your kiddo can take their pick.
4. Kids Gardening Tools
Sized for small hands, our kids garden tools are miniature versions of adult tools, so they are fully functional for family garden projects! Gardening is a brilliant way to introduce kids to the wonders of the natural world. As they plant seeds, water their flowers or herbs, and watch them grow, they’ll be learning lots of crucial life skills that’ll serve them as they mature into adulthood.
5. Bug Hunting Kit
Young scientists can uncover the secrets of the insect world with our Explorer Bug Catching Kit! It comes with a pop-up bug net, pair of binoculars, magnifying jar and glass, an extendable net, and more, so kids can head out on fun backyard bug safaris. Every catch will become a fascinating learning adventure as they examine the creatures up close, before setting them free in the wilds of your garden!
6. Toy Binoculars
Get stuck into imaginative outdoor play sessions with our wooden kids Binoculars! Peer through the kaleidoscope lens and scan the treetops for curious birds or watch squirrels scamper across branches. Opening up a world of discovery, these toy binoculars invite youngsters to dream up fun nature-inspired storylines, boosting their creative thinking and language skills.
7. Kids Garden Swing
Your little monkeys will love our colourful Cradle Swing! Made from durable wood, robust rope, and safety straps, this adjustable swing is a fabulous way to introduce toddlers to the delights of the outdoors. Beyond the fun factor, swings also help kids develop their motor skills, balance, and coordination.
8. Mini Construction Vehicles
Create a canvas for imaginative sandpit play with our Mini Construction Vehicles! Budding builders can dig deep trenches with our Mini Digger, transport sand and pebbles from A to B with our Mini Tipper Truck, or flatten sandy roadways with our Mini Road Roller. Playing in the sandpit is an excellent sensory activity, engaging tots in touch and texture exploration while enjoying the benefits of being outdoors.
9. Animal Water Toys
Have a splash with our Silicone Bath Animals, perfect for the pool or beach! These playful water toys include four squeezy silicone creatures with holes in the top for shooting out water. Kids can go head to head in a family water fight or experiment with outdoor water play in the paddling pool.
More Outdoor Children’s Toys
We have an amazing range of kids outdoor toys, from balance bikes to garden games. Take a look at the collection to discover more!