13 Great Gifts for Kids Who Love to Play Outside

Your baby might not know they love the great outdoors yet, but this set of adorable board books will help them realize they do, with vivid illustrations of water, plants, animals, and places from America’s National Park System.

If the kiddo on your list loves to get their hands dirty, let them! Encourage a love of nature and gardening from an early age with this functional garden tool set. The four-piece set includes long-handled tools like a shovel, hoe, and two different types of rakes — ideal for digging, tilling, and convincing your kiddos that raking leaves is actually a fun game they should play.

Are they stepping stones? Stacking blocks? Colorful hats? This open-ended play set from Stapelstein is all three and more. Made from eco-friendly, recyclable materials, these brightly colored disks can be enjoyed by kids of all ages indoors and outdoors. Available in primary or pastel colors, the set also includes something Stapelstein calls a ‘Super Cool,’ which can be used like a balance board (It may look familiar to millennial parents who grew up with Pogo Bals).

There’s no thrill quite like reeling in a live fish. It awakens a primal instinct in us all, and this kid-size rod and reel will help kids learn the joys of fishing, whether they’re actually reeling in the big one or just enjoying an unbothered day on the water.

A kid can go far on a pair of roller skates, and these are a durable, well-made starter pair that will set up young skaters for success. Designed to grow with your kiddo, these skates have an EZ-Twist knob to adjust the sizing inside the high-top style boot. They feature a high-impact chassis with metal trucks for fluid movement so your kid can get rolling in no time. (But you might also want a helmet and kneepads!)

A sled is essential for outdoor winter play, and this simple model gets the job done quite well. Available in seven different colors, the sled has a rope that can be used to steer it (I mean, sort of) as your kiddo zooms down a snow-covered hill.

As a former chef and avid home cook, I love to see kids enjoying play kitchens, and my favorite kind of play kitchen is the muddy one. No plastic food necessary, just all the toys that nature can provide by way of sticks, leaves, pine cones, and of course, mud. With its simple design, cool water tank, and chalkboard menu, this backyard kitchen will become a hub of outdoor fun.

There’s so much to treasure about the great outdoors that it can be intimidating trying to figure out where to begin. These three jumbo 12-sided dice feature outdoor elements to gamify the natural world and get kids excited about the wide world beyond their screens.

It’s kind of tough to play outside in the evening during the dark winter months, but this LED frisbee shines a whole new light on backyard play in a stunning array of colors (16 million of them, though I didn’t count them myself). Equally appropriate for a kiddo just learning to play catch or an older teen who’s into Ultimate.

Who wouldn’t want to send a rocket soaring into space with the stomp of their foot? No kid I’ve ever met, that’s for sure. This is an objectively fun backyard toy that has the bonus feature of lighting up, making it a bit easier to find your rocket when it comes screaming back down to earth. And another bonus: Kids just happen to get a little physics lesson through play — the best way to learn.

We’ve had a dome like this in our backyard for the past six years, and it is still well-loved by my kids. It’s the perfect structure for open-ended play — climbing, hanging, and pretending. The freestanding structure moves easily for mowing the yard or a game of backyard soccer.

All kids love walkie-talkies. It’s just a fact. With four long-range walkie-talkies, the kids on your list can connect with siblings, friends, and/or parents as they explore the great outdoors.

Teaching children the art of slowing down and observing the world around them is a true gift, and these binoculars are the perfect tool for the task. These are tailor-made for kiddos, with a placement guide that helps them see from afar without getting frustrated.