Every season has its charms when it comes to outdoor activities.
Summer is all about getting warm sand between your toes at the beach, while fall calls to mind pumpkin patches and corn mazes, and winter offers up chilly fun building a snowman in your front yard or dashing down powdered ski slopes.
Spring, however, is our favorite season when it comes to outdoor activities.
Why Spring is Our Favorite Season to Head Outdoors
Spring can simply feel magical as the days start to get longer and the sun burns brighter after a long, cold winter.
Signs of rebirth abound each spring, from baby birds chirping in their nests to flowers and trees proudly displaying their first blooms of the year, the season beckons the entire family to head outdoors and enjoy nature.
“Spring is the perfect time of the year for outdoor activities,” says MoneyCrashers.com. “Not too cold, not too hot, and in many cases not yet crowded with summer travelers.”
Spring Outdoor Activities Checklist
Honestly, we could give you a Dalmatian-size list of 101 outdoor activities to do in the spring but then you would be spending all your time indoors reading the list!
Here, then, are 11 of our favorite outdoor spring activities:
- Picnic: Family fun at its best is a spring picnic at your local park or playground. Pack your favorite foods in a hamper, find an open table or simply throw a blanket down on the ground and you are ready to go. Remember to also keep a cooler on hand for drinks and to keep food chilled. The FDA says perishable foods should be consumed within two hours while outdoors, and within one hour if the temperature is above 90 degrees.
- Jogging or Walking: Another thing we love about many of our favorite spring outdoor activities is that they are free to do! Lace up your sneakers and hit the local trails and paths. Exercising is a great way to shed some of that winter weight. Concerned you can’t get in 10,000 steps each day this spring? No worries because a new study says that 7,000 steps a day can greatly benefit your health.
- Fishing: Tossing a line in the water is a relaxing spring outdoor activity. It doesn’t matter if you are going to catch-and-release or hook your dinner, fishing is a wonderful way to enjoy nature. Fishing gives you an opportunity to tell your story about “the one that got away” at the next family get-together.
- Camping: It can still get cold at night in the spring when you go camping but that is even more reason to have a roaring fire going at your campsite. From snuggling in sleeping bags to enjoy s’mores under the stars, camping can build long-lasting memories. It can also be combined with so many other activities on our list from fishing to hiking to kayaking.
- Hiking: You can make hiking part of a camping trip or a visit to local, state, or national parks. Many towns and cities also have local trailheads that you can drive to for a quick hike with the family.
- Backyard BBQ: You do not have to head out of town for spring outdoor fun, you can stay in your own backyard and host a BBQ with family, friends, and neighbors.
- Biking: Serious cyclists can get on the road in the spring and put in some real miles with the better weather. For families, spring is the perfect time for a family ride, and a great time to teach the little ones to ride with the training wheels off.
- Kayaking or Canoeing: Exploring bodies of water in a kayak or canoe is a perfect spring activity. Remember that in most states there are laws that require you to have a lifejacket available for each person onboard a vessel such as a kayak.
- Zoo: The animals at your local zoo have also suffered through a long, often lonely, winter so it's time to take your children (or your inner child!) to the zoo to see the animals. If you are lucky, you can spot some of the zoo’s “spring arrivals”.
- Tennis or Pickleball: You probably know tennis, but pickleball (combines tennis, badminton, and ping-pong!) is America’s fastest growing sport with 4.8 million now playing.
- Disc Golf: The only sport growing faster than pickleball, perhaps, is disc golf. This sport, which features holes throughout local parks, grew during the pandemic because of its naturally social distancing set-up. Any age can enjoy the fun as discs – smaller than the standard Frisbee kids play with – are thrown from a tee pad towards “a hole” which is a metal basket on a pole.