There are a lot of fun ideas for outdoor birthday party activities out there, but not all of them work for all seasons. My daughters were both born in February, which rules out any warm weather activities for their parties, and since we usually can’t count on snow, traditional winter sports are not really an option.
So when it comes to outdoor birthday activities I’ve simply had to get creative. Some years we’ve done a scavenger hunt and last year we did a treasure hunt. This year, however, I decided that the time was ripe to introduce a fun outdoor family activity from my native country, Sweden. Called a tipspromenad in Swedish, it’s maybe best described as a “quiz walk” – basically a set of questions that are placed along a marked trail. Whoever gets the most questions right usually wins a small prize. Some of the walks are geared toward adults and others are geared toward children
The questions can be about anything, but for the Big Naturalist’s 7th birthday I made one that was nature-themed. The trick is to make sure that the questions are age-appropriate – you want to make sure that there are some questions that they’ll almost certainly know, as well as some more challenging ones!
I’ve included a free printable for a nature quiz that is suitable for grades K-2, but you can always make your own questions to customize the activity for other ages.
Nature Quiz
How to do it:
- Print out the nature quiz here – or make your own. The first page is the one that the kids will use to fill out their answers, so print one copy for each child at the party.
- Place the questions along a nature trail, around the neighborhood, or even your backyard. If you cover a large area, tie bright-colored ribbons on trees to mark the trail – the kids will love following them to the next question!
- Make sure to prepare a tiebreaker question at the end of the trail. This could be as simple as placing a large number of beans or seeds in a glass jar and let the kids guess how many are in it. The question should be difficult enough that you’re unlikely to get the same answer from any two children.
- Go! Depending on your location, older children can go by themselves but younger ones may need help from an adult.
- After everybody is done, gather the answer sheets and check them, using the last page of the printable. Alternatively, have the kids exchange their answer sheet with a friend and let them take part in the correction process.
- Go through the correct answers with the kids and give a prize to the winner.
Have fun!
Outdoor Play Party
At the last Outdoor Play Party I loved reading about Wild Family Fun’s Forest School day, which featured a lot of inspiring photos of classic childhood fun. I think I might have some forest school envy!
Now it’s time for a new party. If you’re a blogger, please link up with your ideas for outdoor play activities every other week! We would appreciate it if you included a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! In return, we’ll gladly further share your post on Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter.
Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back. Please note that by contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished if featured. (If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the ‘featured at’ button from the sidebar.)
Thank you so much for featuring my blog and post. Its lovely when you get so much positive feedback not just from a post but also from the work I’m doing.
Some people just see it as taking children outdoors but it is so much more. Everyone involved has so much fun and everyone gets to behave like a child for the day! Who wouldn’t want that!
Your work is so important! I think I must have been a forest school teacher in a previous life, lol…But even though I don’t work as one now I try to do what I can to get kids out in the woods by our house, for example by having my daughter’s Girl Scout troop out to visit, and it’s so much fun every time!
This is great! Sam’s birthday is actually coming up soon in March. I’ll have to keep this activity in mind as an option.
Thanks, Heather! I think that would be a great activity for him and his little buddies:o) They’ll need a little more help at that age of course but it can definitely be done.
Love this! I love that it is a wintery activity, but does not require snow… perfect for that in between stage!
Thanks, Evelyne! Yes, it’s definitely versatile like that:o) We just did it for my daughter’s birthday today and the kids all seemed to love it.
Just found your blog– love the activity, your blog name, and your mantra! We are succeeding in getting out daily ( 13 days in a row!) and are all the better for it!
~Lee
http://pocketmousepublishing.com/author/brightskymom/
Lee – I’m so glad you found me:o) I’ve checked out your blog too and it definitely looks like we share a lot of the same interests and goals! I would love it if you linked up to the Outdoor Play Party with your kid-friendly nature activities – we share everything on Pinterest and other social media, so it’s a great way to spread the word about your blog! Keep in touch:o)
This was such a fantastic game! I think all the girls (and boy) enjoyed it! Thank you for introducing us to this game! One that will definitely have to go in the file for later use!
I’m so glad you liked it, Pacia! In Sweden it’s actually common for adults to do these quiz walks too. I remember doing them often on the weekend with my family and it was always so much fun! Maybe we should start a new tradition in town, lol!
Sounds amazing hun, the things you think of are fantastic hun, I will be taking your idea for half term
This is great! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Glad you liked it:o)
A great activity at any time of year. We have used this around the farm in April for my triplets parties. Unless it is really raining hard then i do like to keep birthdays outdoors, it is so much less stress and doesn’t matter that they go a little wild! Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.
That’s awesome! I didn’t know whether it was known outside of Sweden or not. And I totally agree – it’s a little easier to cope with the decibel level when you’re outdoors!
We have a January birthday around here. I’m so glad to see that you get them outdoors, even in the winter time. I feel pressure to find some indoor place to rent out or just have a special day at home with family only. You’ve got me thinking that a party with outside activities isn’t out of the question. Thanks for the printable! I’ll be pinning that one for later.
Absolutely – go for it! I think people around here might have thought it was a little odd at first but by now they know to always expect an outdoor component:o) As long as you let people know in advance what kind of clothes the kids need to bring I don’t think they have a problem with it. Thanks for reading!
Great idea for an activity anytime.
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
Yes! I am such a sucker for outdoor nature quizzes and scavenger hunts, and so appreciate the work that went into this printable. I’m leading an outdoor kids class in July and this will be perfect.
Great! I love them too – it seems like the kids get excited about them and they’re a fun and informal way to learn some basic facts about nature.