It was 60 degrees here in Iowa today, 60! In February! I’m having a hard time believing it too to be honest with you. Iowa weather can be so temperamental and unpredictable. I am just waiting for one last winter snow storm and one more week of subarctic temperatures before spring graces us with it’s beautiful presence. In the meantime though, the family and I will get in all the outdoor time that we can! At least, until it’s cold enough to turn the tips of our fingers blue again…
We love to spend time as a family outdoors, and now that spring is just around the corner I thought I would compile a small list of things that you can do outside with your family as well. Not only are these family friendly, but the majority of them are also FREE! So put on your rubber boots and join me outside for an afternoon of fun!
Here are some of our favorite spring time activities:
Walking the local bike trail. We have an amazing trail here in town. It goes through a bit of woods and even a cornfield! Spring is the perfect time to walk it because there’s the least amount of bugs and the weather is just right. M loves to run, and I love being able to let her without having to worry about traffic!
Taking a trip to the park. A classic spring time family activity! There is no better way to burn off all of that crazy toddler energy that’s been caged in for months during winter.
Fishing. Before having children, my husband and I loved to go out and spend the afternoon fishing. Nowadays it’s a bit more difficult, especially since K is now crawling.
Mushroom hunting. It’s still a bit too cold for this activity, and it’s not even one that I’ve done before. However, my husband loves to mushroom hunt, and fry up the mushrooms that he’s found. He loves fried mushrooms, me on the other hand — not so much.
Shed Hunting. I had wanted to do this with M last year, wandering through fields and woodland in search of antlers that bucks had shed. However, I was hugely and rather uncomfortably pregnant with K. I could barely walk {okay, waddle} to the bathroom, I would hate to see what I would have looked like traipsing through timber with a pair of rubber boots on!
Playing in the sandbox. M loves her sandbox and sand toys! She would play in it all through winter if I would let her. Even better, it was only $10 from a garage sale in mint condition. Frugal mama for the win!!
Planning a garden and picking out flowers. Spring time and nice weather always seem to bring out my inner florist, at least for until a week after I buy the flowers, plant them, then get annoyed with the chore that is watering and weeding them. Sadly, I don’t have much of a green thumb, but hey! Maybe this will be the year I see my flower bed through til the end.
What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy the beautiful spring weather with your family? Comment below!
This nice weather has definitely put me in the mood to plan a garden!
Same here, now whether or not I actually plant it is another story haha!
There are some really nice trails around! I couldn’t believe how warm it was yesterday!
Definitely! There are many hidden gems in Iowa. A lot of people would be shocked to know that there’s more than just corn here 😉
Hmmm never tried mushroom hunting. Any tips? I think I’d be afraid I found a poisonous one!
I’ve heard that it’s best to go right as the weather is starting to warm up and has been consistently warm for a bit. Look in wooded areas also!
There’s several types of edible (non hallucinogenic LOL) mushrooms, but my husband primarily scavenged for morels. I’m not very confident in my mushroom hunting abilities either haha. As always, it’s best to not eat something found in the wild if you’re not 100% sure that it’s safe!
Good luck to you if you decide to go 🙂
Great ideas! My family loves going to the park in the spring. We probably end up going 3-4 times a week lol. But its a great way to shake the cabin fever and finally enjoy the warmer weather. Best of all my children can run free 🙂
That’s wonderful! There’s nothing better than fresh air, especially for little ones.
These are great ideas. My munchkin loves the outdoors! I am so looking forward to warmer weather!
So am I!! I definitely am ready to spend all afternoon outside again. I feel so confined when the weather is cold and nasty.
We have been having some great spring weather up here in BC Canada too – at least in the Interior – even after the giant snow storm only a few weeks ago. I was so inspired by the spring weather this weekend that we went and bought a bunch of bright colored house plants for the office and started planning out our garden! I can’t wait until we starting getting our seeds started.
That’s wonderful! What kind of garden are you planning?
I’d love to start my own tomato plants but I’ve not a clue on how to get started.
We live in south Georgia so we haven;t had much winter-able to go outside a lot!
I’m so jealous! I wish it was nice here year round.
Mushroom hunting? I have never done that. Guess we will do that this year.. sounds like something the kids would like.
Aww.. I love this list of outdoor activities to do in the spring. My favorite to do with my little one is to plant a garden.💚
WE plan on doing quite a bit of fishing this spring. My daughter loves it! We go to my mom’s house on the lake and just sit on the dock and try to catch brimm.
Wow! We live in Dubai.. No spring for us 😌
Oh my goodness! It’s a beautiful season, probably one of my favorites.
It’s always a big day for my family when we go to the park for the first time of the season! Great list.
Same here! 🙂 here’s to hoping for spring!
We are definitely ready for some nice weather and to tackle this list – thanks for the ideas!
Of course!! Enjoy!
We are enjoying the weather up here in Wisconsin also, 65 today but snow and 30s planned for the weekend. Can’t wait until spring. We do almost everything on the list except the mushroom hunting. Great reminder that you don’t have to pay an entrance fee to just enjoy the outdoors!
Sadly, the same weekend outlook for Iowa as well! 🙁 I don’t think we will get too much snow in my neck of the woods though, thank God!
Yay! I love when the weather begins to warm up and you have some wonderful ideas here! 💕💕💕
Thank you! 😊Spring is officially here now, but we are still waiting for it to warm up ~ at least in Iowa anyways!