Try these fun outdoor activities in hanging planters. Hide the planters in your hard or place them in their typical spot and watch your child discover the books, toys, games or any other activity you want to put inside of them. This convenient storage idea will help breathe new life into your toys and get kids outdoors this spring and summer!
We love summer vacation in our home! We have fun going on adventures, attending fairs, swimming at the pool, and hanging out with friends. Even with all of that excitement, we still have “boring” and “lazy” days. Those days are wonderful in many ways, but sometimes we just need to shake things up a bit to get the kids playing and engaged in activities again AND outdoors!
Why try hanging basket activities?
Here are a few reasons why I love this idea:
- The containers are durable and easy to clean! You can easily clean any bubble or chalk reside. They are made of strong plastic and can take a beating. It’s ok if kids throw the toys back in, the baskets can take it!
- You can keep them in the same predictable spot or you can move them around your yard to keep kids guessing and searching for them. Kids will enjoy the challenge of finding the “basket activity of the day!” If you have dinosaur figures, you could place the basket in an area of the yard with a lot of plants to mimic their natural surrounding. If you place books inside the hanging basket, put it in the garden or somewhere you would like to read books with your kids. The options are endless!
- Try rotating toys in and out of the baskets to keep them fun and exciting for your kids. Your kids might be getting bored of their car collection, but try bringing them outdoors and they can create race lanes with sticks or rocks! If you change their typical play environment, the toys feel new to kids.
- They are easy to take off the hook to put in the garage or in the house if rain is predicted. You could keep plastic toys outside, but I would bring the other play options indoors during inclement weather.
Here’s Our Outdoor Activities Set Up:
The idea here is to breathe new life into those old everyday activities or try a new activity in an outdoor setting! Try filling your hanging planters with these fun activities:
1. Books
There’s nothing better than reading a book outside on a nice day. Fill a hanging planter with a few old favorites or surprise your little one with new books!
2. Bubbles
I love these hanging planters as storage for bubbles because you can spray a hose inside the basket when it gets sticky from bubble residue. There are also drainage holes and a removable base so you don’t need to get messy when dumping out the water, it will simply drain out the bottom. It’s the perfect size for multiple bubble bottles for a party!
3. Chalk
For the same reason I like this for bubbles, I also love it for chalk! We all know that chalk can get messy, so it’s super simple to spray a hose in the hanging planter and let the water drain out the bottom. This doesn’t need to be placed near concrete, kids can color on large rocks, mulch or sticks!
4. Learning Material
I added some nature identification books to the hanging planter to inspire outdoor exploration, but you could put worksheets or even craft supplies in a planter!
5. Games
Add a few small games to inspire outdoor time on a beautiful summer day. Put a blanket and a couple of outdoor pillows near the hanging planter to create an inviting space to play!
6. Toys
I have always loved bringing toys outside for my kids! Brining toys outdoors into a new environment, invites kids to play with their toys in new and different ways. Here you can see the DIY Magnetic Tiles that I made, but you can try any toy! I particularly love the magnetic tiles because they stick right on the metal stand!
Ready to give it a try!? Here’s what you’ll need..
Supplies for the Chicken Boredom Buster:
- Shepherd Hooks– There are tall and short hooks, so make sure you get the size that will work best for the height of your child. When purchasing, make sure to consider that the planters will hang down from the top height of the hook . This 48 inch set of hooks would work well for young children. We have 35 inch hooks and much taller hooks. The planters hang a couple inches from the ground with the 35 in hooks.
- Hanging Planters– We used these hanging baskets. Again, there are different sizes so make sure you get the size that works for your needs!
- Books– Check out this list of picture books that are great for spring and summer. Consider the size of the books and hanging planters to make sure they will fit.
- Toys– We added these DIY magnetic tiles! They are perfect because the magnets stick right on the hooks! Different toy figures would be fun too. This dinosaur set or a simple car set would be perfect in an outdoor setting.
- Chalk
- Bubbles
- Small games- We like placing card games in the planters.
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What would you add to the planters? Let me know on Instagram.
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I hope you enjoy these outdoor activities in hanging planters as much as I do!
-Tara
