25 things for children to do in South Australia this spring

SPRING is finally here, with warm weather expected all weekend. Need ideas to get the kids off the couch and out into the sunshine? Here are 25 things to keep them busy in the great outdoors.

Scarecrows and their creators at Newland Park Kindergarten. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

THE flowers are blooming and the birds are chirping.

Spring has arrived and temperatures this weekend, 27C today and 29C tomorrow, will provide the perfect weather for kids to get active and enjoy the outdoors.

Nature Play SA, a not-for-profit organisation, supported by the State Government, continues to emphasise that play, outside and away from TV and computer screens, needs to become the “norm”.

Encouraging kids to explore and be adventurous, Nature Play SA has released its list of 25 things for kids to do in spring.

25 things to do

1. Collect fallen winter sticks and build a cubby or giant nest to sit in.

2. Find a good sturdy tree, make a rope swing and pretend you’re Tarzan.

3. Take a photo or make a sketch of a flower or tree at the beginning of spring and watch it change over the season.

4. Explore your local neighbourhood to see how many blossoms you can find.

Try to find koalas in your local national park. Or you might be lucky enough to have one visit your backyard.

5. Listen out for male koalas in a national park.

6. Collect natural things to make a hanging mobile or wind chime to hang outdoors.

7. Plant tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, pumpkins or lettuce in a patch, in recycled pots, pans,

milk containers, even old boots.

8. Build a scarecrow for your veggie patch.

Scarecrows and their creators at Newland Park Kindergarten. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

9. Make a necklace or garland from sour sobs, dandelions or daisies.

10. Head to a creek or wetland with a net and magnifying glass and see what you scoop up. But remember to return anything to the water.

11. Collect natural objects from the ground and make a giant mandala symbol.

12. Visit one of Nature Play SA’s Park of the Months including Para Wirra Recreation Park, Morialta Conservation Park, or Innes National Park.

13. Pick a flower, place it in a glass of water with some food colouring or dye and watch the

petals change colour.

14. Ask your dad what his favourite childhood outdoor activities were and do them

together.

Flowering wattle is a certain sign of spring.

15. Find a flowering wattle and describe what it smells like.

16. Grab your friends and go fly kites.

17. Go on a bushwalk and see how many spring wildflowers you can find.

18. Attend a nature-based event during the spring school holidays.

Will you be lucky enough to spot a whale, like this mother and her two-day-old calf who were seen near Middleton in August? Picture: Mark Brake

19. Go whale watching.

20. Go on a beach walk and see how many white cuttlebones you can find.

21. Start a spring nature journal with poems, drawings, and things you’ve collected.

22. Find an old gum tree and spot the birds going in, poking their heads out or nesting in hollows.

23. Spend an afternoon at Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Blackwood.

24. See how many New Holland honeyeaters you can spot in your backyard or at school.

25. Make a simple insect hotel or magnificent minibeast mansion for your yard.

Source: Nature Play SA

Originally published as 25 things for children to do in South Australia this spring