25 Outdoor Hobbies for Girls: Connecting with Nature and Creativity
Outdoor hobbies are becoming rare in our tech driven world. More and more kids just “don’t know what to do,” when they go outside.
I have two daughters, ages 8 and 5. They are always happier, healthier and sleep better when they spend a lot of play time outside.
They have hobbies, chores, games and imaginary playtimes that keep them outside for hours each day!
They are never bored outside and almost always get along.
This post explores 25 unique outdoor hobbies for girls, to encourage your girls to go outside and find out more about the beautiful world that God has given us to enjoy.
I hope that your girls are inspired to try new things and new outdoor hobbies!
Why Outdoor Hobbies are Important for Girls
Outdoor hobbies keep girls healthy in both boy and spirit. I think that outdoor hobbies for girls have these important benefits.
- Girls with outdoor hobbies get a lot of exercise.
- Girls who play outside have improved imaginations.
- Outdoor hobbies give girls an appreciation for the environment.
- Outdoor hobbies promote self-esteem.
- Outdoor hobbies encourage problem solving.
- Outdoor hobbies give girls a sense of belonging to the natural world.
- Outdoor hobbies are fun to do with friends!
- Outdoor hobbies help girls develop a sense of responsibility.
- Outdoor hobbies give girls an of awareness of self and surroundings.
And most importantly…….
10. Sunshine and fresh air leads to better health in body, mind and soul.
As stated by the Children & Nature Network: “Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health.”
25 Unique Outdoor Hobbies for Girls
Here are 25 exciting and unique outdoor hobbies for girls, designed to inspire creativity and fun!
Creative and Artistic Outdoor Hobbies
Wildflower Gardening
Cultivate a vibrant garden of native wildflowers, attracting pollinators and beautifying the landscape. Flowers make every girl happier – especially flowers that we grow ourselves!
Growing wildflowers is easy because most wildflowers are perennials! Plant them once and they will come back every year. Wildflowers often thrive with little care and water.
This Perennial Wildflower Seed Mix would be perfect for starting your wildflower garden this year. Look at all the beautiful flowers included!
Our favorites are Black Eyed Susans, Columbines, Coneflowers, and Shasta Daisys.
Nature Photography
My eight-year-old daughter asked for a digital camera this Christmas and she has been taking a lot of pictures outside.
Nature photography is easy for kids of all ages, and it is neat to see what she thinks is interesting and beautiful when I click through her photo reel.
I think photography is almost a lost art with our phones doing most of the photography these days, but it is still a hobby that I want my kids to learn and enjoy.
One of the best ways to learn more about photography is through the 4H program! Even if you are not a member of 4H, you can still access their materials. This is a link to Level One of the Photography Curriculum.
Outdoor Dance
This one is easy! Take your music outside and dance!
My girls love to choregraph dances and move to the music. They love to prepare “recitals” and invite their five brothers to the performance
. My boys are good sports when it comes to their little sisters!
Next time your girls “don’t know what to do” outside, tell them to make up a dance!
Rock Painting
Rock painting is an outdoor hobby that girls love. Acrylic and tempura paints work best. They can use their creations in landscaping, fairy gardens or give as gifts.
I love my girls to paint, but it can get messy inside (especially with toddlers wanting to “help”.) Rock painting is a creative, easy and fun hobby for girls to do outside.
Gourd Art
Similar to rock painting, gourds art is a super outdoor hobby for girls!
Last summer my daughters planted a garden of bottle gourds to use for crafting. They enjoyed growing them. Decorating them has been so fun.
My girls have made birdhouses, fairy houses and Christmas ornaments with the gourds that they grew.
If you don’t grow your own, gourds can sometimes be found at gardening centers and farmers markets.
Nature Weaving
This is a lovely Forest School Activity that allows for a lot of creativity. In nature weaving, girls use materials like twigs, leaves and grasses to create beautiful woven art.
Some things you can make with nature weaving:
- Crowns of flowers, leaves and feathers for hair
- Wreaths for all seasons
- Baskets
- Bracelets and rings
- Natural “Dream Catchers” using string, sticks, grasses and flowers
The possibilities are endless for nature weaving! Check out this post from Happy Toddler Playtime about nature weaving with little ones!
Nature Journaling
Nature journaling is very dear to me. I treasure the nature journals that my children and I have created through our homeschooling years.
Nature journaling is simple! In our nature journals we sketch nature, write down observations about the world, and we include poems, facts, quotes and song lyrics.
I love nature journaling because it is something my whole family can do together, and it creates lovely family memories and beautiful notebooks full of reflection.
For more about how my family does nature journaling:
Creating Your September Nature Journal: Ideas and Resources
Fairy Gardens
Have your girls created a fairy garden yet? My girls love creating magical worlds in outdoor spaces.
They love to use their bottle gourds to make the houses, but any natural material could be used. They repurposed little dolls and animals from other toys to create cute garden scenes.
Fairy gardens provide hours of creative fun – designing them and playing with them!
Birdhouse Creation
Building birdhouses is not just for boys! They are so many ways to build birdhouses – with bottle gourds, twigs and sticks, popsicle sticks, milk jugs, and small scrap boards.
Girls should be handy with basic tools. Building a birdhouse is a great beginner project to get girls handy with a hammer and nails. Girls could also use a glue gun to assemble the bird house.
Painting birdhouses is fun too. Girls can make beautiful birdhouses and enjoy watching the birds move in this spring!
Sunprinting
Sun printing is a neat and beautiful craft that can be done with surprint paper or just by laying objects on fabric for a few sunny days.
I think this is a beautiful craft, but also an interesting science project. Harnessing the sun’s energy for beauty is something to know about!
You can buy sunpaper craft kits on Amazon to start making beautiful sunprinting designs.
Nature Jewelry
Girls can craft beautiful bracelets using natural materials like flowers, leaves, and beads.
Remember making bracelets of dandelions when you were a girl? Teach your daughters to make bracelets of flowers but give them beads and string too!
Play with Mud
Girls should play with mud too! Mud kitchens, mud painting, mud cups and bowls – girls love mud too.
The homeschooling mom in me loves my girls to learn about the different consistencies and colors of the soil where we live. Different mud is better for different projects! Science is so cool!
Girls probably won’t start a mud fight with each other either – not until their brothers get involved!
Exploration and Discovery Outdoor Hobbies
Fossil Hunting
Depending on where you live, hunting for fossils can be really exciting. The best way to get started in fossil hunting is to use some of these resources. Doing a quick study on fossils will help girls know what to look for.
Foraging
Learning to forage for food and herbs is a great outdoor hobby for girls. Knowing the names and uses of the plants in your area is a valuable life skill.
My children and I try to learn a little more about foraging every year and we record our findings in our nature jounals.
Here is a book that we have used to get started. Try to find a resource with the plants that are native to your region for best results.
Butterfly Observation
I will never forget the magic on my 3 year old son’s face the first time we released a butterfly that he found as an egg on a milk weed plant.
Butterflies are beautiful and magical. Don’t leave out this outdoor hobby for girls this spring.
Look for butterfly eggs on milkweed and parsley plants. You can even grow milkweed and parley in your wildflower gardens.
Shell Collecting
Our family takes a beach vacation every year and my girls always want to bring home all the shells.
Shells from different oceans and locations are fun to collect as souvenirs. They can be used to decorate picture frames and vases or used in garden landscapes and fairy gardens.
Wildlife Tracking
Wildlife tracking is something that we have written about in our nature journals.
On muddy days and around our ponds and creek, we like to try to identify the animals that we don’t see but leave evidence with their tracks.
Surprisingly, my girls really enjoy learning about animal tracks.
Nature Scavenger Hunts
Girls love scavenger hunts, and it is a great activity for a group of girls.
Older girls will love creating a scavenger hunt for their friends or siblings.
When my kids were little, we used these nature cards to get the idea of a scavenger hunt.
Skill-Building and Practical Outdoor Hobbies for Girls
Hiking
Hiking is one of my favorite activities and I love to hike with my girls. It gives us fresh air, exercise and coordination as we explore different terrains in all sorts of weather.
I want my girls to feel comfortable exploring new places and I want them to know that their bodies can do challenging things.
Hiking is an outdoor hobby that girls of all ages can do together for exercise and family time.
Kayaking
We have two small ponds on our property and my girls love taking our kayaks out around on the water. It is great exercise and learning to paddle correctly is a challenging test of physics and strength!
My girls can really enter their own world out on the pond. When they are older, they will be free to explore more adventurous waters. Kayaking is beautiful hobby to have, and I am proud that my girls love it.
Survival Skills
Survival skills include camping, hunting, foraging and all things living off the land. Although boys love survival skills, I think girls are also inspired by the Little House on the Prairie and other books.
Do your girls love survival skills?
Outdoor Cooking
Outdoor cooking is a survival skill that girls can really enjoy. Take the recipes that you love to make and see if you can recreate it outside!
Cooking over a fire is no easy task. It takes practice to get everything just right, but the efforts are worth it!
The best way to get started with outdoor cooking is with a Dutch oven. Check out books like these to start learning this outdoor hobby.
Herbal Creations
We grow a lot of herbs in our garden. We like to grow lavender, thyme, oregano, dill, mint, calendula, and lemon balm.
Herbs can be used for:
- tea
- soaps
- tinctures
- salves and lotions
- cooking blends
- potpourri satchels
Growing herbs and creating with them is another life skill that is creative and rewarding.
Raising Animals
We live on a small farm and my kids love animals. My 8-year-old daughter started raising ducks last year. She loves her flock of Rouen ducks and takes excellent care of them. This year she plans to start incubating their eggs and make a small business selling ducklings!
My kids have also raised chickens, pigs and goats.
If your kids show interest in raising animals for pets, show, food or profit, I hope you say yes. Animals are the best outdoor hobby for kids.
For more about our farm animal adventures:
6 Reasons Why Raising Rabbits for Kids is an Awesome Hobby
Raising Chickens for Profit? 5 Ways Make Money
Tree Climbing
Tree climbing is important for girls. It teaches them to be strong. It teaches them to try hard things. I never defer my girls from climbing and am proud of them when they scale trees and learn to pick their way down.
If you don’t have any good trees at our house for climbing, be on the lookout with your daughters for good trees to climb!
Outdoor Hobbies for Girls Are Valuable
Bob Ross, the delightful nature lover and PBS painter once said,
“There’s nothing wrong with having a tree for a friend.”
These 25 outdoor hobbies for girls are just a starting point.
By encouraging girls to engage in outdoor hobbies for girls, we empower them to connect with nature, develop new skills, and foster a lifelong love of the outdoors.
What outdoor hobbies will your girls embark on this year? Let me know in the comments!
For more ideas about nature play and outdoor hobbies for girls, check out these great articles!
Raising Strong Daughters: 7 Benefits of Nature Play for Girls
Nature Play for Girls: 14 New Ideas for a Beautiful Girlhood
