As a mum, one of my hopes is that my kids will have a wonderful childhood with a lot of fun memories that they will love looking back on when they’re older. And every time the season changes, I see it as a huge opportunity to do this by doing lots of different activities that they’ll get to enjoy. For example, every winter we go Christmas shopping together, have a visit to Santa and wander around Nottingham’s Winter Wonderland. And every summer we try to visit as many fun places as we can while school’s out, such as the swimming baths, the theme park or even the climbing wall!
This week in the UK the weather seemed like it was warming up a little, and it got me thinking about how nice it will be to finally get back outside and enjoy the fresh air once spring arrives. I can hardly wait! If you’re looking for fun things to do with your family once the weather warms up a bit then you’ve come to the right place! Because today I’ve done a little round-up of 10 fun and inexpensive activities you can do as a family this spring. I hope you enjoy it.
01. VISIT THE FARM
My kids love visiting the farm near us. There’s always so much to see and do. We always try to go whenever the weather is nice – be it spring, summer, autumn or winter. And we’re all looking forward to the temperature rising a little bit so we can go again this year.
Visiting the farm is a fun activity for the whole family, but it’s even more magical when you have younger kids as they love nothing more than seeing all the different animals they can spot. Oscar loves that you can buy bags of food to feed some of the animals with at our local farm too. And goats are his favourite animals to feed.
Check out the farms near you to find out which ones you can visit when the weather finally warms up. And if you like in Nottinghamshire, like us, we highly recommend checking out Willow Tree Family Farm in Shirebrook and White Post Farm in Farnsfield. Both of them are absolutely fantastic and we find ourselves going back to both of them year after year.
02. FLY A KITE
Flying a kite is another fun activity you can do with your family this spring. All you need is a nice day with a bit of a breeze, and you’re good to go. Amazon has a wide range of kites for sale if you’re looking to buy one. Or, if you’re feeling crafty, you could make your own from paper, straws, string and tape. Here is a simple tutorial on how to build one.
Stacey used to love flying kites when she was younger, but we’ve never flown one with Oscar before. It’s something I really want to do with him this spring as I think he’d absolutely love it! We’ll be heading to our local park to give kite flying a go, but it’s something you can try almost anywhere – in your garden, at the beach or even at the playground! I can’t believe it’s not something we do more often.
03. GO TO THE PLAYGROUND
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be excited to hit the outdoor playgrounds near you again soon where the kids can play for FREE! This is one of the spring activities that Oscar has been looking forward to the most this year as we have 3 really great playgrounds near to where we live. And he’d happily spend all day every day on them!
We spend a LOT of time at the playground on sunnier days as they tend to start climbing the walls if we stay indoors too much. It’s much easier to take them somewhere where they can run around and burn off some energy before we all go stir-crazy! I usually pack some drinks and snacks to take with us when we go, so I’m prepared for when they inevitably come over to say they’re hungry or thirsty.
If the kids have been looking forward to a trip to the playground, but then it starts chucking it down with rain, then I usually take them to an indoor play area instead. They enjoy visiting indoor play areas just as much as outdoor ones. However, they can get pretty expensive because of the entrance fee and the fact that you can only consume food and drink bought on the premises while you’re there. It’s well worth it when the kids are having a good time, though.
04. PLAY OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN
If you have children who love to get wet and muddy then why not take them outside to play in the rain!? Make sure they have waterproof coats and wellies on, then let them jump and splash around in the puddles to their heart’s content. They’ll have a blast!
And – if you’re up for it – you can join in the splashy fun too! Oscar loves it when I’m silly enough to do things like this with him. And I love that it creates some really special memories for him that he’s sure to treasure forever. Now, what did I do with my wellies!?
05. GO ON A NATURE TRAIL
One thing I like to do in the spring when the weather starts to warm up is to go for nice long walks in the countryside. But I’ll be the first to admit that the kids don’t always find it as much fun as I do. So, to keep them entertained while we’re out, I tend to print off some nature trail sheets with lots of lovely things on for them to find.
They love to compete to see who can find the most things – and they get ridiculously excited whenever they come across something on the list. I love that going on a nature trail allows them to get lots of fresh air, explore the countryside and learn new things as well. It’s so much fun!
06. DO A SPOT OF GARDENING
Doing some gardening this spring is a great bonding activity for families whilst allowing little ones to explore and learn about nature at the same time. Head on down to your nearest store to pick up some seeds to plant, and involve your child by letting them choose which ones they’d like to see grow. If you’re new to this like I am, you may also want to pick up some gardening tools.
Gardening is at the top of my bucket list of ‘things to do with the kids this spring’, and I’ve been really looking forward to giving it a go. I’ve got to admit that I’ve been putting it off for a while because I felt like Oscar was too impatient to enjoy it. But we’ll definitely be giving it a go this year. Hopefully, they’ll both love it and will end up becoming a family tradition that we can do together for many more years to come.
07. GO ON A FAMILY BIKE RIDE
Going on a family bike ride is one of the most fun ways you can spend some quality time together outdoors during the spring and summer months. Just imagine how exhilarating it would feel – laughing and racing each other to your destination with the wind blowing through your hair! If it’s doable, you could go on a bike ride to a park or animal farm instead of driving. The fresh air will feel great in your lungs and you’ll get the exercise you promised yourself you would back on New Year’s Day!
Although I can’t ride a bike due to having Scoliosis, I’ll be encouraging the kids to learn to ride this spring. Oscar has been pestering me for a bike since last summer when he outgrew his tricycle, and I think now would be as good a time as any to finally upgrade him and let him learn to ride a big boy bike. He’ll be so excited!
08. FEED THE DUCKS
Another thing Stacey and Oscar love to do in the springtime is head down to the local pond to feed the ducks. We usually take a little bread that we won’t eat because it’s past its best. And then some healthier goodies such corn, defrosted frozen peas, rolled oats and seeds. The ducks love it!
We can easily spend a good hour or so feeding the ducks on a Saturday afternoon. And watching them really helps us all to relax and de-stress. Oscar loves it when the ducks chase him, begging for more food, and Stacey is always on the lookout for baby ducklings to coo over. This year, we’re hoping to visit the duck pond even more than ever. And who knows – maybe Oscar will be able to cycle there and back by the time summer rolls around!
09. DO SOME SPRING CRAFTS
At this time of year, the weather likes to go from one extreme to the other. So if you wake up one morning and find that it’s raining outside, don’t panic! There are plenty of indoor activities you can do instead. And our favourite one of these just has to be crafting!
Now, I have to admit I’m not the most creative of mum’s, so I have to have a little help when it comes to thinking up craft ideas. And that’s why I always buy in loads of cute little craft kits from Baker Ross! Basically, they come with everything you need to complete each craft, and the instructions are always easy to understand too. Some of my favourite spring-themed craft kits include:
Spring Blossom Pom Pom Tree Kits
Sunflower Windmill Kits
Fluffy Sheep Sewing Kits
10. ORGANISE AN EASTER EGG HUNT
And last, but certainly not least on my list of things to do this spring is to organise an awesome Easter Egg Hunt for the kids! Easter Egg Hunts are so much fun for young children, and I try to set one up for my two to enjoy every year. But instead of buying expensive chocolate eggs for the kids to hunt down, I usually buy some two-part plastic eggs from The Little Crafty Bugs Company and then fill them with small toys and chocolates.
Egg Hunts can be held indoors or out, depending on the weather. And they can be as ‘eggstravagant’ as you want! I shared my Top Tips For Organising an Easter Egg Hunt here on my blog a few years ago, so make sure you check that out for ideas.
And there you have it – my top ten ideas for fun and inexpensive spring activities you can do with the whole family. I hope you enjoyed having a read and that it gave you some inspiration for things you can do with your own brood this springtime.
What spring activities do you guys enjoy doing with your family?
Let me know in the comments below.
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Post originally published on 8th January, 2019
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2019 Louise Smith
Great suggestions. I can’t wait to try some of them out.
Hi, How could I have missed this post from last week?
Your pictures are so bright and colouful they are chasing away the winter blues and starting me thinking about warmer times.
Blog on!
I’m always looking for new ideas for outings with the family. I’ll keep these in mind!!
Thank you for sharing these ideas!! We are always looking for things to do with our little one!!!
I love how all of these activities involved being outdoors. I love spring <3
Aww this makes me so excited for spring!! We love exploring new parks and flying kites 🙂
I love the idea of visiting a farm. Kids today are so far removed from food sources and I think it is important to teach them where their food comes from so they can become more conscientious eaters. This was my favorite idea of them all.
I cannot stress how about it is to nurture the kids with the right way! I have got to say that it is so much better to be growing up in such vast outdoor space unlike Hong Kong with such bad air quality + cramped living space. Yikes. Way to go with your list!
These are lovely suggestions! We have loved taking our children to farms, and going on family bike rides. We enjoyed the latter so much that we bought a bike rack and take our bikes on holiday with us.
These are such great suggestions. I cannot wait until Winter is done and I can do more outdoor activities with my boys. All that energy cooped up is not a good thing!
I am so excited at the thought of Spring! My heart did a happy dance reading this….can’t wait to do all of these lovely Spring things!
These are simple yet fun and memorable activities to do with my children. In a world of technology these are good reminders of things to do that don’t include screen time!
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I have to admit you can’t beat feeding ducks and going to the farm! I used to love it!
Lovely ideas and I think Spring is my favourite season. Can’t wait to really get going again in the garden and on our small farm our lambs are due in a couple of weeks. One point though, please don’t feed bread to ducks. However well meaning it is very bad for both them and the water they live in. Your other suggestions are perfect, though, and just as fun to throw to them!
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Lots of our local kids farms are closed until Feb half term – such a shame
These are lovely ideas, I enjoy going on nature trails
Fab post with so many amazing suggestions! We are already planning our half term activities, which, I know…isn’t exactly SPRING…{I swear it’s getting earlier every year} but it’s still exciting to look forward to it!
These are some greats ideas. It can be hard to keep them amused some days and away from the TV.
We did a lot of activities like, this with our daughter last summer. She absolutely loves going to the park or sitting on the back of my husbands bike when we go for a ride and folllowed it with a picnic in the park. Kids are so easily entertained as they just want your attention x
We can’t wait for spring. We love visiting our local farm and you can’t beat an Easter egg hunt.
What lovely images, are these all your own they are so colourful and professional. Love taking about the warmer weather and getting out again. Lovely post 😊
We always visit the farm in the spring, it’s so nice especially when it’s lambing season x
Lots of fun ideas, we do so many of these and my girls love them!
These are all great suggestions! It’s so easy to forget about all the fun low-cost options that are just as meaningful as a more expensive outing.
All good ideas! We also joined National Trust and go to our local property nearly every weekend!
My kids love visiting the farm. They love the playground too!
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All of these are amazing ideas, and I love how accessible and low cost each of these are. Thank you!!!
Fun list of activities for families to enjoy.. I always loved visiting the local farms.
These are all lovely ideas. I need to go on more bike rides with mine as we all really enjoy it and kite flying is awesome, you can pick up kites really cheaply too.
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Farm visits are always incredible for our family. We live close to a very large milk distributor with tours on their working farm and I can’t wait to visit with our now three year old. She will love it this year!
I can’t wait for Spring now! I love winter & then after a while get fed up with always being cold &/or wet outside! We love farm visits x
I love these ideas! Especially going to feed the ducks. That used to be my highlight of the week growing up. 😊
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I love spring, everyone is excited to be getting a bit of warm sunshine back and out and about in it. We love kite flying!
These are all such great ideas, we are hoping to go to various farms this spring as we have loads near our home.
Oh my gosh, I can’t wait for it to be a whole lot warmer!
We haven’t flown kites in years. That would be so much fun. We also love to ride bikes together once spring arrives.
oh my goodness i love this- i dont even remember the last time i flew a kite with my kids but i know they would love something like this when it gets warmer out- ill def be checking out a few things this morning to find some!
my kids would love to do something like this when it gets warmer out and i forgot how fun it is to fly a kite- ill be checking a few stores to see if i can find any now! thanks for such great ideas
In my book as long as the weather is nice just get outside and go do something. We have done all of these ideas before and will again.
These are some great ideas! We haven’t a kite in years and really should do that. We might have to start going on walks–we don’t all have bikes.
We actually flew a kite a couple weeks ago and had a lot of fun. I like the idea of playing in the rain just because it’s fun.
These are some lovely things to do with the family over the spring. I have to admit I really love the farm idea, there is something about seeing animals close which is always great.
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All of these are so much fun! Another thing my daughter loved to do was to go to a plant nursery. We’d look at all the flowers and I would let her buy a six-pack of her favorite and we’d go and plant them in the yard.
I love these ideas as I have been planning our Spring Break in March and can add these to the list I want to do with my son while he is out of school.
Spring is the perfect season for those outdoor activities. I love all that you suggested!
Kids these days need outdoor activities and the things you have cited are fun and educational. I love biking and gardening activity, they should be outside and learn life than staying indoor with their phones.
We hike in the spring. Last year, we went to a tulip farm for the first time. I got some lovely photos and flowers there, and the kids enjoyed the farm animals.
These are great ideas for family activities. We all need to get away from technology and go back to nature.
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These are great idea. I love going to our local parks and farms. Especially during strawberry picking season.
When our kids were young, we did so many of these things and it was so much fun! Most kids really enjoy doing things instead of having things!
We do a lot of these activities all year round. Luckily our weather allows it.
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I can’t wait for spring to be here! My granddaughter loves playing in the puddles that form in our yard when the weather is warm.
Kite flying is so underrated but so much fun… and such a classic! Thanks for the reminder/idea, this is definitely something my kiddo will love doing.
These are great ideas for sure. I am always looking for inexpensive things to do with the kids, especially when it gets warmer outside.