Screen free activities for kids
3 outdoor games that need nothing.
The hard days are the ones where you've already done everything. The playground is boring, nobody wants the scooter, and there's still an hour to go.
These three need nothing at all — no bag, no tape, nothing from the house. They're written for 3 to 6, and under each one I've added how a younger toddler joins in, because mine is one and a half and he's usually right there.
1. Cloud shapes
For 3–6. Look up and ask what they can see. If nothing comes, help them: can you find an animal? A funny shape? A face?
You can do this standing on the way home, or on a bench, or on your backs on the grass. Lying down is worth it when you have time — you stay still longer, the clouds get a chance to change, and children talk much more lying next to you than facing you.
If there are no clouds, leave it for another day.
With a younger child, don't worry about whether they can actually see a shape. Point anyway: look, that one's moving. Ask what they see, and if they don't answer, tell them what you see. At three or four, they may need you to start the conversation. At five or six, they may start finding the shapes themselves.
What to keep
Let them draw what they saw. A photo of clouds is a photo of nothing — you'll look at it later with no idea what you were meant to be seeing.
Then ask: how did it feel?
If they're three or four, write down their answer for them. They can draw, tell you the story, and you hold the pen.
2. Shadow games
For 3–6. Step into the sun and look down. The shadow has been there all day and most children have never really looked at it.
Then give it jobs: can you make it small? Big? Tall? Short? Crouch, stretch, stand on a step, hold hands and make one shadow with four legs.
Then, if you have a bit more time, give the shadow a face. Ask your child to stand still, and decorate the shadow on the ground with whatever is nearby: grass for hair, two stones for eyes, a stick for the mouth, a few leaves for a hat. Then look down at what you've made together and take a photo. That's the bit they remember.
If you pass the same place later, look again — the shadow is a different length, and that's genuinely surprising news for a child.
With a younger child, this can be much simpler. Stand in the sun, wave, and show them the dark copy of you doing the same. Then jump. They jump, it jumps. At that age it doesn't need to be a game with rules — it's cause and effect, and that's the best thing in the world when you're one.
What to keep
One photo, taken straight down at the shadow — and if you gave it a face, that's the photo of the week.
Then ask: how did it feel?
The game was silly, and silly is worth writing down.
3. Leaf boat
For 3–6. Find something that floats: a piece of bark, a big leaf, a bit of wood. Add a leaf for a sail. Put it in water — a puddle counts.
Then ask the question that turns it into a project: can your boat carry a little pebble?
Now there's a test, the test can fail, and failing means building a better boat. That's where twenty minutes come from.
With a younger child, you build it, they launch it. Hand them the boat and let them put it in the water, then watch it together and say where it's going.
Do this in a puddle or a fountain edge, not a stream — anything that floats away is gone, and at that age that's a real disappointment. A puddle also means they can pick the boat up again themselves, which is half the fun.
What to keep
Photograph the boat in the water, low down from the side — that's the angle where it looks like a boat and not a leaf.
Write down how many pebbles it carried.
The bit that takes one extra minute
None of these need equipment. But by next week you won't remember which one you did or what your child said about it — and that part is worth keeping.
So at the end we do one more thing:
- one photo or one drawing
- one answer to one question, written down word for word as they said it
At this age, you're the one holding the pen. They can draw, choose the photo, tell you what happened, and you write down their words.
How did it feel? How many pebbles? What did you see up there?
You need somewhere to put it — a notebook, a folder, anything. It just has to exist before the walk, because nobody sets one up afterwards.
That's what the Explorer Passport is: twelve outdoor adventures for ages 3–6, and behind each one a page with space for a photo, space to draw, space to glue what you found, and the question already printed. You print it at home and it's ready.
Try our free guide — a short printable for the next time you go outside.
Questions parents ask
What can kids do outside with no equipment?
Cloud shapes, shadow games — including decorating a shadow with grass, stones and sticks — and a boat made from a leaf and a piece of bark. All three cost nothing and work on a normal street or in any park.
What age are these for?
Three to six. A one- or two-year-old joins in if you lead — you point at the cloud, you make the shadow move, you hand them the boat. At three or four, they may still need you to start the idea or write down what they say.
What works on a grey day?
The boat. Puddles are better after rain anyway. Clouds and shadows need the weather to cooperate.
How long do these take?
Five minutes, or a whole afternoon. There's no right way to do them — let your child lead.
What does your child see in the clouds?