3 Outdoor Activities That Can Help Your Toddler Reach Developmental Milestones

Developmental milestones are skills that children typically develop from birth to 4 years old. They are the foundations of higher-level learning. Some of these milestones include the ability to walk, talk, sort or match objects, build a tower with blocks and much more. While skipping through an obstacle course and collecting interesting objects are fun games for kids to play at the park or on a walk, they are also playful ways to help them achieve some of these milestones.

Although each child is unique and might reach a milestone earlier or later than expected, all children need opportunities to explore to encourage their development. Spending time outdoors can be an excellent opportunity for kids to explore, have fun and get closer to reaching these milestones.

Here are three activity ideas to try the next time you're outside together.

Play a Nature Matching Game

Children begin to notice the similarities and differences between objects and living things at an early age, which contributes to their ability to problem-solve, remember details and make sense of the world. Matching objects can help develop this skill. To play a simple matching game, collect a few items from nature, such as leaves, sticks or rocks and place them in front of your child in no specific order. Take a step back and allow your child to explore the items on their own first — this will encourage them to make their own connections. After a bit of free exploration, start to identify each item with them and group similar items together. Similarities can be based on what the item is (e.g.sticks go with sticks), color (e.g., brown items go with brown items) or size (e.g., all the small rocks go together). Want to go a step further? Have your child collect matching items during a nature walk or participate in a nature scavenger hunt like Nature Cat does with his friends. Find other fun ideas to practice grouping items with your child with our sorting and collecting activities and videos.

Make a Nature Crown Craft to Welcome Spring

Go Through an Obstacle Course

An obstacle course consists of many challenges that a person must maneuver to get to the desired location. You can make an obstacle course at home, although natural spaces like parks and beaches have structures and objects that make great obstacle courses! Although man-made obstacle courses are fine, interacting with nature can foster kids' curiosity and an appreciation for the natural world. Obstacle courses also provide tremendous opportunities to develop kids' spatial sense. Remember to use location and position words and phrases like "go around," "climb over," "roll through" and more to get kids familiar with them. The next time you're on a nature walk with your child, encourage them to:

• Jump over sticks and puddles.
• Walk under low branches.
• Move around big rocks.
• Walk over the raised edge of a path.
• Hold items in both hands while maneuvering a curved path. You can use a stick to draw a line in the ground that goes from one tree or bush to another in a curved line. Have your child follow it while carrying objects in both hands, like rocks or sticks, and drop them at the end. This activity challenges kids' balance since they cannot raise their arms to the sides.

Make a Sensory Bin

A sensory bin contains various objects with different sensory characteristics. They encourage children to explore objects that activate their senses, such as sight, smell, touch and sound. The next time you're outside together, collect objects that interest your kid and have specific sensory qualities. Some items that provide a robust sensory experience include:

• Rocks that are smooth and cool to the touch
• Soft and velvety flower petals
• Bumpy and hard acorns
• Strong-smelling leaves or flowers, such as lavender, roses or pine needles
• Flat pieces of bark

Once the items are collected, have your child explore each one with their hands. For smaller children, you can place the items in a shallow container and pour water over them together. The water will change the sensory qualities of the items and provide endless entertainment for your little one. Remember to name the items and talk about their sensory attributes. Take note of which items your child is drawn to and which objects they tend to dislike or ignore. For example, if your child is particularly drawn to the smell of lavender, you may want to incorporate lavender into their daily routine to promote relaxation. You can also try other games and activities to stimulate the senses, like going on bubble bath scavenger hunts and making natural face masks.

While encouraging your child to interact with nature by picking up items, relocating them, deconstructing them, etc., is fun, remind kids that these disturbances impact outdoor spaces, as every item plays a role in nature. For example, the stick they picked up may have small critters on it that we can't see clearly, or the flower they plucked for a sensory bin had pollen a bee could have collected. It is never too early to teach your child about how nature supports life and how we can respect it. You can encourage your child to develop a healthy relationship with nature by:

• Having them put items back where they found them. Some children might struggle to understand this and may want to take items home because they were fun to use. It might be helpful to explain that the item lives in the park, beach, etc. and is a home for animals.
• When picking flowers, leaves, etc., giving your child a limit of how many they can pick and explaining why. You can say, "We are leaving some flowers for the bees." Encourage them to be gentle when picking or plucking items. Remind them to say "Thank you" to the plant they picked.
• Collecting and disposing of any garbage you find along the way.

Check out these books in English and Spanish and a song to keep teaching your child about nature.

• "Planting a Rainbow" | "Cómo plantar un arcoíris"(Ages 0-3) by Lois Ehlert explains how plants, especially flowers, grow while teaching kids about colors.
  

  

• "The EARTH Book" | "El libro de la TIERRA" (Ages 3-6) by Todd Parr is a vibrant read with simple ideas that we can all do to protect the Earth.
  

  

• "I Love My Planet" is a catchy song that can help children remember that the outdoors is home to everyone.
  
  🌎 I Love My Planet 🌎 The Earth Song for children | HiDino Kids Songs