100 + Things You Can Do Outside!

In a previous post, I recommended spending more time outdoors by taking a walk through your neighborhood or local park. It’s a perfect (cost-effective) way to make memories, get some fresh air and exercise, and nurture those scientific minds.

I take strolls through my neighborhood all the time – that’s how I come to share all of these photos and narratives with you. But if this idea of urban nature strolling sounds too vague or aimless, let me offer some ideas. I have put together a list of things to get you and your family (or students) started. I was inspired by the Handbook of Nature Study post 99 Outdoors Sorts of Things to Do. Items marked with an asterisk are activities I’ve checked off my list.

Creating Outdoor Recreation & Education Memories

1. Make maple syrup.*

2. Read a book under a big oak or willow tree.

3. Ski down a mountain. *

4. See a wild bobcat.

5. See a wild fox.*

6. Find a shell on a beach. *

7. Skip a rock on a lake. *

8. See a sunrise. *

9. Pick an apple from a tree. *

10. Grow a sunflower. *

11. Sleep under the stars in a sleeping bag or hammock. *

12. Find the Big Dipper.*

13. Climb a sand dune.

14. Walk in the rain with or without an umbrella. *

15. Find a fossil.

16. Take a photo of the Grand Canyon.

17. See a sunset.*

18. See a raptor fly. *

19. Be able to identify ten birds by sight or sound.

20. See a mushroom. *

21. Visit a tide pool.

22. Visit a volcano.

23. Feel an earthquake. *

24. Find four-leaf clovers. *

25. Make flower garlands. *

26. Catch snow on your tongue. *

27. See a deer in the wild. *

28. Touch a dolphin.

29. Go ice skating on a pond.

30. Go fishing. *

31. Go snorkeling.*

32. Whittle a stick. *

33. Gather chicken eggs.

34. Milk a cow or a goat.*

35. Ride a horse. *

36. See a moose.

37. Gather acorns.*

38. Pick berries and eat some.

39. Watch a lightning storm. *

40. Build a campfire.*

41. Press a flower.*

42. Use binoculars to spot a bird. *

43. Identify five or more wildflowers.

44. Take a photo of the night sky.

45. Identify ten types of animal scat. *

46. See a tumbleweed. *

47. See a wild snake.*

48. Watch a spider spin a web. *

49. Climb a tree. *

50. Take a hike. *

51. Watch ants in a colony. *

52. Hatch a butterfly.

53. Climb a rock. *

54. Go biking. *

55. See the Northern Lights.

56. See a bear in the wild.

57. Dig for worms. *

58. Grow a vegetable and then eat it.

59. See a bat flying. *
60. Feel a sea star. *

61. Swim in the ocean.*

62. See a geyser erupt.

63. Walk in the fog. *

64. Observe a bee.*

65. Find a bird’s nest. *

66. See a beaver’s den.

67. Go whale watching. *

68. See a banana slug.

69. Stand on the edge of a cliff.*

70. Blow a dandelion. *

71. Throw a snowball and build a snowman.*

72. Visit a wildlife rescue shelter or hospital. *

73. See a lightning bug. Or do you call it a firefly?*

74. Visit a cave. *

75. Make a sand castle.

76. Hear a cricket. *

77. Catch a frog. * (I’m actually pretty good at this.)

78. Watch for the first star in the evening.*

79. Smell a skunk. *

80. Feel pine sap. *

81. Feed a duck or goose. *

82. Learn to use a compass or GPS.*

83. See a buffalo. *

84. Get wet in a waterfall. *

85. Swim in a lake. *

86. Walk on a log. *

87. Feel moss.*

88. Jump in a pile of leaves. *

89. Fly a kite. *
90. Walk barefoot in the mud. *

91. Hear a sea lion bark. *

92. Hear a coyote.

93. See a coyote. *

94. Crack open a nut. *
95. Go snowshoeing or snow sledding.

96. Feel a cattail. *

97. Smell a pine forest. *

98. Sit under a palm tree.*

99. Walk across a stream on rocks.
100. Collect a mold of a mammal track.
101. Watch a bird build its nest. *
102. Do a tree bark rubbing. *
103. Do a leaf rubbing.*
104. Catch butterflies with a net.
105. See wild elk.
106. Catch a crayfish. *
107. Go searching for ground hogs on Groundhogs’ Day. *

108. Walk along a stream. *

109. Start a nature journal to record all of the great things you've checked off of your list.