Even with the best playground equipment, young children can start to get bored outside and boredom leads to the kind of play that can drive you nutty. You know, the kind of play that ultimately leads someone to tears.
Anytime I see a bored kid on my playground, I hand them a bucket. An empty bucket naturally invites children to fill it up with something. They just can’t help themselves.
A bucket is my number one go-to outdoor play tool
In fact, the number one outdoor tool I recommend having available for your children to play with is a bucket.
I don’t have any swings, slides, or monkey bars on my outdoor playscape but what I do have is a stock pile of little metal buckets. Every day, the children head outside and the first thing they grab on their way out to play is a bucket.
Collections bring satisfaction
They use the buckets to gather up acorns, rocks, snails, dirt, flowers, leaves, or as many worms as they can find or dig up.
Young children love to collect items from nature but not because they have any actual plan for those items. They just like to stock pile up their found treasures because it feels satisfying to do so.
Take-Aways
- Without the right tools for play, young children can get bored, even outdoors.
- Boredom often results in the kind of play the ends in tears.
- A small bucket helps promote constructive play and exploration.
P.S. I recommend small buckets rather than big buckets. A small bucket is easier for them to fill up and carry around. The bigger the bucket, the less interested the children tend to be and the less time they will stick with their treasure hunting adventures.
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I think that’s the best advice I’ve ever heard. Thank you.
Paper airplanes keep kids entertained for hours!!
A walk in a different direction. Spray bottles (filled with water) on very warm days.
Magnifying glasses and a pile of dirt!
We played with bubbles a couple days ago. They stayed at it for most of their outdoor time. I too love buckets!
Clip boards, I spy laminated sheets-different for each season.
Clean paint brushes and containers with water….. everything gets painted, from the blackboard, to the trees, to the bikes…….
and as soon as the sun comes out, it dries and the game starts all over again!
A small bit of water. They usually add so
Much dirt that it doesn’t get muddy every where, but keeps them occupied making pies and
Cakes for A long time
Painting on the sidewalk with water is one of my preschoolers’ favorites! They also love draw on the sidewalk with chalk, then paint over that. Messy but fun!
A block of ice with treasures inside! Spray bottle, pipettes, small hammers and chisel-like tools to break away the ice. A cool activity on a hot day!
Water and sand is always a hit!
Lots of opened ended play.
Safety glasses , clip boards, markers and tongs left here and there
boards and tires to make obstacle courses
Paint brushes with a bucket of water keeps them entertained for hours! They LOVE to paint the playhouse and riding toy! Chalk is also a great boredom buster!
Paint brushes entertain the children for hours as they paint the playhouse and all the riding toys! Chalk is also a great boredom buster! We make roadways, hopscotch, patterns and practice spelling our names. The children love to draw their families as well!
We have been hiding two soft toy monkeys in different locations each morning and this has created great interest as children search for and then re-locate the toys for others to find! Loose parts play is also popular allowing the children to create with different sized pieces of wood and cardboard and fabric.
Our school doesn’t have a play area just a grassy one that belongs to the church where we are located. But we take walks around the neighborhoods and observe and talk about what we see…we also have a beautiful place called Smith Gardens where they love to go..nearby and in walking distance of school…
We use cones and rope to jump,hop,run in zigzag…
I have all sorts of containers that they love to fill and dump. I have blocks made from tree branches cut into different sizes for building and stacking. they love to make pies or cakes from the sand. I have a pitchers and glasses that they pretend they are making lemonade with the sand. They will add a few rocks to the sand and call it strawberries or blueberries.
I give them squirt bottles filled with water.I put a wee bit of food color in them if we have snow. They like squirting the shed. I draw pictures in the shed with chalk and they ‘squirt them off’
Outdoor play is the only time I never have a boredom problem. I have a mulit-age family childcare and have designed my space with lots to do. I have a 10’x12′ sandbox with an outdoor kitchen, swing set, multiple climbing structures and a large yard to explore and walk around in. I use this time to be able to hold and connect with the infants I have so the preschoolers usually have complete free play which they love after a morning of curriculum. I do bring a lot of our learning outside also.
Well, I never would have thought of a bucket but it makes sense and sounds like a great idea to try. We do naturally love collecting things!