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.