15 Easy Picnic Activities For Preschoolers: BEST Ideas

Sliced fresh watermelon with bright green rind laying on a red and white checkered picnic blanket with bold black tests with the best picnic activities for preschoolers listed. — 15 Fun Picnic Activities for Preschoolers and Their Families

This post includes 15 fun picnic activities for preschoolers, toddlers, and their whole families. Planning a picnic with kids doesn’t have to be fancy or Instagram-worthy. I love picnics because they require minimal preparation. We take many picnics when traveling in order to save money, to let the kids stretch their legs, and for everyone to get a change of scenery. But, I also keep my pantry packed and a few things stored in the trunk of my car for spontaneous picnics. Backyard picnics can reset the whole day as well!

15 Picnic Activities for Preschoolers, Toddlers, and the Whole Family

1. Eat

Fresh fruit. Sandwiches. Snack Boards.

Snacks. It’s always snack time, right? 🙂 It doesn’t need to be complicated or fancy. Do a pantry raid. Pop some popcorn. Add fresh fruits. Make simple sandwiches and slice cheese. You can make everyone a little sack lunch, pack a lunchbox, fill a classic wicker picnic basket, or load a cooler. Snacks are a must in the best list for picnic activities for preschoolers.

We love to make charcuterie boards. Here is one of our most recent charcuterie boards (check it out).

Take-Out.

Grabbing take-out on the way to your picnic spot allows for more flexibility, and the best part is it requires very minimal preparation.

A baby smiles while she is pushed along the park with her sister walking slightly ahead holding her babydoll on a bright sunny day. A walk in the park in a perfect picnic activity for preschoolers, toddlers and the whole family. — A walk around a public park seeking the perfect spot to spread out our blanket and have a makeshift picnic. Newborn’s first picnic! This tired mama picked up take-out from Chick-Fil-A.

2. Walk

Walking helps calm a busy or stressed soul. There are so many benefits to walking with your family, including your littlest ones.

Here are a few benefits of taking a walk with your family and children:

freedom to explore your surroundings
interact with nature
create healthy habits
pause to be grateful for beauty
wiggle out your worries
breathe fresh air
sensory experience by walking barefoot in the grass and touching cold, flowing water from a stream.

Go on a walk in your backyard, neighborhood, public park, state park, or local hiking trails. These places are excellent opportunities to get out in nature, learn to exercise, and build stronger bonds between family members.

Tips for Walking with Kids:

Be patient and lower your expectations.

If your family and little ones are new to getting outdoors and walking, there might be some resistance. So, start slow and aim for only a 10-minute walk. Kids can be trained to walk, but it may take time.

Engage your kids during the walk.

Let them play with a compass, follow a map, draw a map, note landmarks, collect one nature item, or play games such as scavenger hunt. This is a great opportunity to spend quality time together.

3. Scavenger Hunt

I love scavenger hunts because they are adaptable to any ability or interest and so much fun. There are so many great ideas for themed scavenger hunts out there. You could even make them harder for your older kids with photo challenges, drawing challenges, trivia, clues, and even work on math skills. But for our calm, relaxing picnic, I’m going to share with you a simple one with a preschool picnic theme for ages 2-10 years old to encourage kids to explore nature. More Scavenger Hunts coming soon!

Picnic activities for preschoolers Nature Scavenger Hunt worksheet with images of a cloud, flower, pine cone, ladybug, leaf, bird, rock, stick, and squirrel.

Scavenger hunts are a great way to work with your children, strengthen bonds, explore your surroundings, and train your children to be watchful and aware of their surroundings while boosting their observation and problem-solving skills. It is work both for the brain and the body.

Also, if you don’t want to carry a printout, make it up as you go.

look for colors, shapes, textures, sizes, insects, rocks, leaves, flowers, etc.

Blowing bubbles at the park near a river is one of the best picnic activities for preschoolers, toddlers, and their whole families. — This picture was taken on our first date as a married couple before our sweet babies. And I brought bubbles.

4. Bubbles

Blowing bubbles has many benefits, and kids always have a good time. The physical therapist in me gets so excited. Let me geek out for a minute.

Blowing bubbles strengthens tiny muscles and the lungs, improving coordination, visual tracking, and articulation.

Blowing bubbles works the tiny muscles in your mouth. These muscles help with the articulation of sounds and, also, with eating and safely swallowing food. But that’s not all, kids develop hand-eye coordination by popping bubbles, improve visual tracking by looking and following bubbles floating in the air, and improve respiratory hygiene with deep and sometimes forceful breaths while strengthening the diaphragm. Illinois Early Intervention as a cool diagram if you want to check it out.

5. Ball (or Frisbee)

Bringing a ball or a frisbee helps take some of the planning off of the parents and teachers. Invite children to create games and practice kicking or catching a ball.

6. Chalk

A boring gray sidewalk can be transformed into an obstacle course, a colorful canvas, hopscotch, etc. You could create a fun game like a ring toss or rock toss by drawing targets with chalk. Encourage your kids to draw a house, barn, or restaurant to facilitate pretend play.

I keep a pack of chalk in my car at all times. Always prepared for our next picnic.

7. Journal, Draw, and Craft

Jot down thoughts, doodle, or create a masterpiece with inspiration from nature. Record interesting things you see, taste, smell, feel, and hear. Pack watercolor paint, pencils, scrapbooks, and white paper to help recreate beautiful views.

Picnic crafts

Make a picnic blanket collage from recycled tissue paper on recycled brown paper bags (that you packed your picnic food in), or create an easy project by arranging nature finds on a paper plate. Or, gather different materials and see what you and your kids can create. Crafts are an excellent way for kids to develop and improve their fine motor skills.

8. Read

Outdoors is a great place to read. Bring a picture book, read a chapter from Psalm, or tell a story. I love reading and sharing outdoor adventure picture books to get us in the mood to explore. Get our booklist HERE.

9. Music, Sing, and Dance

Our family loves music. We don’t go to many places without a Bluetooth speaker and a playlist. A picnic is a perfect time to enjoy and appreciate music together. Sing songs together, play instruments, and dance.

On a picnic in the park, a toddler holds her grandfather's hand as they admire and chase after the ducks an activity perfect for preschoolers and toddlers on a picnic. — Loving on our duck friends and sharing a picnic meal with our family members.

10. Observe and Watch People, Birds, Bugs, and Clouds

Take time to watch and look for birds. My kids and I are slowly learning how to identify different birds. Bugs are subjects of great interest and caution in our home of many girls. 🙂

11. Collect Rocks, Flowers, Clovers, Shells, and Sticks

Bring an old book to press wildflowers and leaves. Or, bring a brown paper sack to collect rocks, clovers, sticks, and pine cones. Kids of all ages will enjoy collecting interesting finds from nature. My toddler is starting to create a nature collection, and I encourage her to find one item to bring home for a keepsake.

12. Play Games

Here are some fun picnic games with minimal to no special equipment:

freeze tag
relay runs
follow the leader
sidewalk chalk games
Samson says
Board games and card games (minimal preparation)
pretend play with a teddy bear picnic (complete with stuffed animals)

If you are in an open picnic area with older kids, give them a stopwatch and a ball and encourage them to create games.

On a bright sunny day with fluffy clouds in the sky, a mom and daughter have a picnic and rest in a green hammock stretched out between two trees near a lake with trees and hills. — This is one of my favorite memories on a picnic with my firstborn.

13. Seek Water

Whether it’s a splash pad, duck pond, bubbling creek, fishing hole, lake, waterfall, ocean, or sprinkler in the backyard, setting up a picnic table near water always creates the perfect environment for spending time together and admiring the beautiful scenery.

14. Parachute or Blanket

Do you remember flapping a blanket up and down or trying to balance a ball on a parachute in gym class? I had completely forgotten about parachute games until recently my daughter attended dance class and their warm-up was the parachute. This has become one of my favorite easy picnic ideas with my kids. Flap the parachute up and down to the beat of music or counting, spin in circles, balance a ball, or shake the parachute with great fun.

15. Fly a Kite

Flying a kite takes patience and tenacity, but once it’s soaring in the air, it can be relaxing to watch and a great time. Kids love to see the pretty colors reflecting in a sunny sky. In a busy world that is often looking down, it is a great change of pace to look up. Flying a kite also provides an excellent opportunity for kids to challenge and improve their balance, coordination, and problem-solving.

Check out your local park for outdoor events. There are often free festivals in the summer season, such as hot air balloons or kite festivals. Festivals make a great summer picnic.

6 Must-Haves for a Pleasant Picnic with Young Children

Blanket (if no picnic tables or chairs)
Snacks (healthy foods) and Drinks
Way to Clean Hands
Paper and Coloring Utensils
Bring Hats or Seek Shade
Sack for Garbage

Round-up: Picnic Activities for Preschoolers

Things to include in your picnic bag:

bubbles
balls
frisbee
chalk
books
Bluetooth speaker
snacks

Remember: always make sure the area is safe,

boundaries are explained and established, and we leave spaces cleaner than we found them.

Other Fun and Easy Activity Ideas for Kids

DIY Balance Beam: Easy Build and Play Activities

Black and white picture of a little girl on a DIY balance beam for toddlers with an idea bubble continuing an acrobat

Need fun balancing challenges and activities for your kids? Click HERE.

Easy Post Office Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Post office build from a pink play couch (Nugget) with cardboard signage, and a writing center on a white table with a toddler sitting and holding two cardboard envelopes over her face

Pretend play is so important. Check it out HERE.

Easy Birdseed Sensory Bin

Storage plastic bin filled with birdseed, pine cone, rocks, stick, pine needles, paper sack shaped into bird's nest, blue play-doh shaped eggs and green plastic worms

The easiest sensory bin EVER. Check it out HERE.

Thanks for Stopping By!

Finally, I want to thank you for stopping by! Please say Hi in the comment section and share one of your favorite picnic activities for preschoolers. I absolutely loved writing this post. It took me down memory lane and sparked my desire to keep prioritizing picnics with my family. I hope you find the perfect spot to share a picnic with friends and family.