At home Bushcraft tips! Keep the fun going even without the sun 

We are all feeling the winter chill but there’s no need to slow down on encouraging your little ones to go and enjoy the great outdoors!

There are so many benefits to engaging in outdoor activities. We hear this all the time but it can be tricky when the temperature dips and we all think of staying indoors curling up with a movie instead after school and work.

Let’s take a look at how you can encourage your kids to get excited about being outside even when they are feeling a little chilly.

Perfect for when it’s chilly outdoors, teach your kids the skill of building a fire. Not only can the whole family get involved but also it’s practical! If you are feeling chilly a fire is the perfect remedy. A way to keep the kids involved is to encourage them to pass the sticks or even keep them on Marshmallow duty ready for when they are needed. It also provides a yummy snack so a perfect evening activity to settle the sweet tooths after dinner.

Not sure how to light a fire? Don’t worry we have you covered! Click here for our step by step instructions.

For those who get bored easily this is the perfect activity. You will be popping outdoors to find materials for the bird feeders, this will have the kids looking high and low for various objects that they can bring home to give them plenty of options when it keeps to creating the feeders.

Once the kids are home with the materials, you can wrap up warm and get the hot chocolate at the ready for a little break while you set up the crafting station.

They can make as many as they like and then you can all go out together to find the perfect new home for the feeders. You can regularly check up on them again for another excuse to get out and experience some fresh air and see which ones are the bird’s favourites.

For more advice about creating bird feeders click here.

You can get as crafty as you like when it comes to creating a bug hotel making it an easy activity for most children as they can showcase their creativity. Bug hotels are a fantastic tool to help encourage children to not be afraid of creepy crawlies and help them learn about how much of a role they play in our ecosystem.

Learn how to build your own Bug Hotel here

This is a great outdoor activity where you can spend as much or little time outside as the kids like. You can grab the materials from the garden or make an afternoon of it and head to the woods. It’s a simple yet effective craft that will have your kids looking all over the place for the perfect decorations.
The next day you can head out with your frozen suncatchers and hang them in the trees or garden fence ready for the sun to catch them and glisten through.

Again a fantastic activity that can take place in the garden or out in the woods depending on how much time you have available.

If you are making one in the garden, we recommend collecting the materials in advance and hiding them in the garden for the kids to find and collect themselves.

Building a fort can be an activity the whole family can be involved in and at the end a shelter will stand that the kids can regularly run outside and play in encouraging them to go outside again and again (It can then be spruced up again in the summer to create more shade and a nice spot to relax in the warmer months)

Read more of our how-to guide here.

There you have it! Our 5 top winter bushcraft activities you can do to keep the kids entertained and explore the great outdoors.

Find many more great articles to get the kids excited about the outdoors with our Bushcraft at home blogs