Learning Through Infant Care Routines: Outdoor Play

Infants have daily needs that need to be met for them to learn, develop positive attachment to primary caregivers, and know they will be loved and taken care of. Most of these needs revolve around basic care routines. The FunShine Express Buttercups Babies kits were designed to incorporate activity ideas into these care routines to create meaningful interactions each day.

Outdoor Playtime

The outdoors is filled with many sounds, sights, and fascinating objects. Outdoor playtime has many benefits for infants and toddlers:

Help them develop a sense of wonder and awareness
Increase their creativity
Important for overall health
Great for sensory play
Positively impact all learning domains
Provide a strong foundation for children’s rapid brain development

Finding moments of time to go outdoors with infants can be difficult. It is helpful if there are multiple care providers. One provider can take one or two infants outside to play while the other provider(s) stay inside to meet other care routines while still maintaining ratio requirements. Many of the play activities that you do indoors with babies, you can also do outdoors.

Buttercups Babies has activities that you can use for outdoor playtime. Many of the other activities can also be done or adapted for outdoor playtime. Below are some suggestions you might try for each box. Repeat the activities often. Each baby will likely prefer different activities, so make notes about which ones to repeat with each baby. Remember, that even going outside and sitting on a blanket and listening to the sounds and observing the sights will be fascinating and rewarding to infants.

My World

Card 12: Home Walk
Card 20: This Little Piggy (Lay a blanket outdoors to do the activity)
Card 33: Bubbles, Bubbles, All Around
Card 36: In the Grass
Card 58: Texture Walk
Card 68: Swinging Fun
Card 69: Playground Climb
Card 70: Tap the Drum
Card 71: Mirror Painting

On the Go

Card 8: More Bubbles
Card 18: Hello
Card 26: Let’s Go!
Card 29: Riding
Card 46: Swinging
Card 56: Through the Mud (would be a good messy, outdoor activity)
Card 57: Fly a Kite
Card 58: Textured Roads
Card 59: Touch and Feel Walk
Card 69: Down the Slide

Pets I Know

Card 14: Peek-a-Who?
Card 27: Sounds of Pets
Card 29: Outside Pet Reading
Card 60: Up and Down

Find more activities for care routines: