Do shadow art. Have a friend stand in the light, casting a shadow. Trace around your friend's shadow. Then trade places and have your friend trace around your shadow. Once you have the shadow outlines drawn, color them in with all sorts of chalk colors. You can make patterns, do different sorts of shading and even add new clothes! Try standing, sitting and squatting in all sorts of positions to make for fun shadow creations to color in. Use chalk for other fun too, such as drawing a city with a race track for your cars and a big car park for the shopping center. Or, write messages of kindness for your neighbors to read. Draw games on the ground with the chalk, such as hopscotch. Build a treehouse. Ask permission to put it in a chosen tree and see if you can get some adult help. You'll need some instructions too, so check out How to build a treehouse for some help. Once built, you can turn a treehouse into a spy base, a club, a reading nook, an artist's studio or anything else that pleases you. Bake outdoors. Make clay or purchase clay that air dries. Make figurines, fake food or anything else you like. Then arrange the items in the sunshine to dry. Do crafts outdoors. Turn tires

into coffee tables, plant pots and storage bins. Turn glass jars into glow jars or fairy lights. Make garlands or bunting and hang in the trees. Doing crafts outdoors is great for sunny days, as the mess stays outside and you get to have some fun outside. Be sure to stay in the shade when it's hot and sunny. Don't leave sharp or toxic craft items lying around in case pets, wild animals and small children come across them when you're not there. Build an outdoor fort, tent or teepee. This can be as simple or as complex as you like, just be sure to choose a nice surface such as soft grass, so that it's clean underneath. Add cushions, pillows, a picnic blanket and your favorite items for a cozy outdoor retreat to relax in. If you want to sleep in the backyard overnight, set up a proper tent. You could even do some camp cooking out there and pretend you're in the wilds. Go trampolining. If you have a trampoline, practice some jumps and tricks. See how high you can jump. You could invite friends over and play trampoline games together. Make a rope swing and hang it from a tree. Get mom or dad to check that it is hanging safely, or to hang it for you. Then start swinging away on the rope.

Be sure to use only the strongest boughs to hand the rope swing from. Make a zipline. Tie a strong rope from one tree straight to another tree in front of you. Get your parents to check it is okay. Get a bike handle and attach it to the rope to hold onto. Go for a fun zip. Go running. If you like running, then you don't need a reason. But if you're not sure, then running is a great way to exercise, keep fit and outrun your friends who haven't practiced. Don't just run around the backyard. Find some proper running trails and get out there and experience the world and commune with other runners as you pass by. Play balloon tennis. Blow up a bunch of balloons. Buy fly swats from the dollar store to serve as "rackets". Swat the balloons into a large bucket. This should only be done when the weather is not windy or breezy. A fun alternative is to play water balloon baseball, using plastic baseball bats. This can be done even when it is windy outside. Set up a water slide. Turn on the sprinklers. And have lots of water fun. This is only suitable in areas where water wastage is environmentally manageable. Play shoot and splash games with water guns. Pretend you're a mermaid. Play outdoor

games. Invite your friends over for some outdoor game fun. There are many possibilities ranging from tag and catch to paintball and Nerf wars. Improvise and come up with game ideas of your own. See How to make a Nerf training course, How to have a Nerf war and How to play capture the flag for more ideas. Make your own kite or buy one. Then take it outdoors for some kite flying. Choose different days with differing wind speeds to see which days are the best ones to go kite flying. Don't fly a kite on really windy days, as the kite may rip and fly off somewhere unknown. Spend time with your pets. Take your dog(s) for a walk or run the dog(s) through an obstacle course. Lie down in the grass and watch as your cat plays tiger in the grass. Play with your rabbit, guinea pig or other pet in supervised outside time. Explore your backyard and do some natural science. Investigate the plants to determine what each one is, and write it up in a journal, with pictures or photos. Look for insects and arachnids and observe them going about their daily lives. Record the temperature for a month with a homemade barometer. Get gardening. Plant a garden patch with your favorite vegetables for your

next salad or pizza. Design the whole garden from scratch, so that it looks interesting as well as produces some tasty food. Check out the article on growing a pizza garden for a fun garden idea. Be a treasure hunter. Pretend to be on an adventure and that you're looking for hidden treasure. Do some digging and you may even find some hidden gems. Plan, make and do an outdoor scavenger hunt. Invite a bunch of friends over to find the things you've added for the scavenger hunt. If you don't want to know where the things are, have a sibling or parent set up the scavenger hunt for you. Make a backyard obstacle course. Tell your friends to come around for a sleepover that includes some obstacle course games. Be sure to have prizes for the fastest, the most entertaining and the slowest players! See How to build an obstacle course for help on setting it up. Go stargazing. At nighttime, being outdoors is fun too, as you can check out the night sky and learn about the various constellations. If you have access to a telescope, use it to find planets, stars and constellations. If not, you can use binoculars and even the naked eye for the closer objects. Be sure to rug up and keep warm!