The Best Outdoor Activities to Boost Toddlers' Brains

February 24, 2022

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Updated: August 9, 2025

Key Points

Examples of Outdoor Cognitive Activities: stacking stones, moving up and down hills, digging and dumping, nature walks, mud kitchens, and sorting nature objects

Toddler Cognitive Skills: emergent math, memory, reasoning and problem solving, exploration and discovery, imagination and creativity

Outdoor play is an incredible way for toddlers to develop cognitive skills and learn about the world. These are my favorite toddler-tested activities from classrooms and developmental therapy sessions to help one- and two-year-olds explore and learn outside.

A toddler learns about problem solving while playing outdoors with parent.

Emergent Math

Cognitive skills:

Developing a sense of numbers and quantity.
Learning about how objects move through space.
Matching and sorting to learn about similarities and differences.

Throw + Toss

Toddlers learn about trajectory and gravity by exploring throwing, tossing, and catching. Explore the list below for ideas

Beach ball or oversized bouncy balls
Balloons
Hula hoops
Bean bags or DIY sock beanbags
Ball tied in a scarf
Frisbees

Nature Stack & Build

Toddlers build early math and spatial awareness by stacking and building. Introduce block play using these nature objects and watch toddlers discover how things balance, fit together, and fall.

Stacking stones
Building with mud or snow
Wood cookies or branch blocks
Mud and twig construction
Take favorite block set outdoors

Outdoor Sort & Classify

Sorting play builds early logic and classification skills. These sorting activities help toddlers discover similarities and differences through natural objects, water play, and gross motor play. Put together fun themed treasure baskets to sort such as:

Heavy + Light using feathers, leaves, and rocks
Throw + Toss using balls with scarves, balls, and beanbags
Sink + Float using toy boats, sponges, flowers, and stones
Smooth + Bumpy with stones, bark, leaves, seashells

Exploring Hills

Climbing, crawling, sledding, and rolling on hills help toddlers learn how their bodies move through space. Throwing or rolling toys up and down hills invites children to explore motion, gravity, and cause and effect through play.

Reasoning & Problem Solving

Cognitive skills:

Learning to use a variety of strategies in solving problems.
Using logic and planning to solve problems.

Risk-taking play

Even simple challenges, like climbing the playset ladder, require problem-solving, trial and error, and muscle memory. Here are some more toddler-approved risky play ideas:

Climbing stumps, playsets, or stairs
Climbing up the slide
Climbing stumps, playsets, or stairs
Balancing on low balance beams, logs, or low ledges
Heavy work play such as carrying or pulling large or heavy objects (branches, rocks, crates, buckets)
Running, jumping, spinning, swinging, and hanging
Chase or rough-and-tumble play

Explore my guide to risk-taking play for kids.

Gather, Fill, and Spill

Toddlers love to collect and move objects. This container play encourages planning, observation, and experimenting with different materials and strategies. Here are easy fill and dump activities and materials:

Water bucket relay
Fill and pour water station
Scoop and dump sensory table with:
soil, sand, or mud
pinecones or pine needles
birdseed or beans
pea gravel
Toy construction or farm vehicles

Memory

Cognitive skills:

Recognizing differences between familiar and unfamiliar people, objects, actions, or events.
Recognizing the stability/permanence of people and objects in the environment.
Using memories to create more complex actions and thoughts.

Taking walks

Walking or biking familiar and unfamiliar paths helps toddlers learn to notice, remember, and navigate their surroundings.

Follow a familiar path on walks or bike rides and point out landmarks
Let your toddler try to lead the way home (you might be surprised how well they do!)
Explore a nature trail
Walk or bike down a new street and notice new sights or sounds

Toddler touches sand on a walk outdoors at the beach.

I Spy

This classic game will help your toddler become familiar with their environment. They will also use their memory to search for objects or places.

Prompt ideas:

“I spy something that flies” (bird or bee)
“I spy something tall” (tree)
“I spy somewhere to sit” (swing or lawn chair)

Books

Reading outside connects stories to the real world, making them more memorable and meaningful for toddlers.

Take books outside for a sensory-rich reading experience
Take photos outside to use in a DIY toddler book
Set out a basket of books for breaks in the shade
Read nature books and make connections between the stories and the environment

Stories about Outdoor Play

At the end of the day, talk with your toddler about their time spent playing outside. They can share their memories and listen to yours. This activity promotes memory and sequencing skills.

Exploration & Discovery

Cognitive skills:

Exploring and investigating to understand self, others, and objects.
Using knowledge of cause and effect to influence social and physical environments.

Water Play

Playing with water lets toddlers experiment with pouring, splashing, and mixing, supporting early science.

Water pouring station
Tossing and splashing with wet sponges
Running through sprinklers
Water soup: stir leaves, stones, twigs, flowers, and a few drops of food dye or liquid watercolor in a bucket

Exploring Outdoors

Spending time outside in different weather helps toddlers notice changes. Try talking about sounds, smells, and feelings as you explore together.

Spend time outdoors in wind, rain, or fog and talk about the weather.
” I can hear the rain.”
“Our cheeks are red because the air is so cold.”
“The wind is shaking the branches.”
“Let’s sit in the shade. The air feels cooler out of the sun.”
Take an evening walk with flashlights to explore shadows.
Try some creative nature scavenger hunt ideas.

download free scavenger hunt templates

Loose Parts Play

This open-ended play experience helps toddlers learn everything about objects, both new and familiar. Some favorite nature-themed loose parts:

Stones and seashells
Flowers and tall grasses
Leaves and twigs
Acorns and pinecones

Find more in the ultimate guide to loose parts materials.

Imagination & Creativity

Cognitive skills:

Observing and imitating sounds, words, gestures, actions, and behaviors.
Using objects or symbols to represent something else.
Using pretend play to learn about culture, environment, and experiences.

Outdoor forts

Building forts creates a physical space to prompt imagination and dramatic play.

Blanket or tarp forts
Pop-up tents and tunnels
Cardboard boxes

“House” Outdoors

Bring your toddler’s favorite pretend play toys outdoors to encourage new ideas.

Baby dolls and accessories
Stuffed animals
Play kitchen items (pots, pans, play food)
Table and chairs
Picnic items
Toy toolset
Cleaning supplies (broom, dustpan, dusters)

Mud kitchens

I’ve seen some beautiful, elaborate mud kitchen ideas. However, a fun mud kitchen is simple to create. Offer your toddler a couple of these materials with mud, dirt, and water.

Pie pans, muffin tins, silicone cupcake liners
Measuring cups and spoons
Plates and bowls
Ladles, whisks, strainers, and colanders
Rolling pins
Plastic knives

Toy animals or Cars

Toy cars and animals are an easy way to encourage pretend play ideas.

Add new toys to a sandbox or sensory bin
Use sidewalk chalk to create roads or 2-D animal homes
Model how toy animals can climb rocks, explore twig forests, or burrow in holes
Construction vehicles can scoop and dig in sand, gravel, or mud
Cars can race down hills and slides

Toddler and sibling create art outdoors with chalk and build creativity and imagination.

Outdoor Art

Toddlers are still building fine motor skills to create more detailed art. So they need more space for big, sweeping arm movements and giant scribbles. In fact, the recommendation is: the younger the artist, the bigger the paper.

Spread large paper, bedsheets, or cardboard for painting or chalk art
Offer water or chalk for outdoor masterpieces on driveways or sidewalks

Questions about Toddler Cognitive Skills

What is an example of a cognitive development activity?

For toddlers, most play and activities have a cognitive development component. Toddlers are constantly learning about their environment and the objects in it.

Here are some examples of easy cognitive development activities for toddlers:

Drawing
Reading books
Throwing a ball over and over again
Pouring water from a cup in the bath

How can I help my toddler develop cognitive skills?

Plenty of open-ended play.
Sensory learning activities.
Reading daily.
Process art activities.
Use open-ended questions.
Outdoor play.
Risk-taking play.
Counting.
Developmentally appropriate toys and activities that are fun and just a little challenging.

What are the signs of cognitive delays in toddlers?

Talk to your pediatrician if your toddler is:

Not pointing at items
Losing skills once had
Not searching for items they saw you hide
Not learning familiar items
Not mimicking others
Not able to follow simple instructions

This is not a comprehensive list of potential delays. While checklists like the CDC Milestone Tracker help, there is no replacement for intuition. Always reach out to your pediatrician if you have any concerns about your child’s development.

For those in the United States, you can also contact your local early intervention services for an evaluation.

Closing Thoughts

Outdoor play is essential for toddlers’ physical, emotional and cognitive development. The activities suggested in this blog post will help your toddler build creativity, memory, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. If you have any concerns about your child’s development, be sure to talk to your pediatrician.