Backyard Adventure: Get Messy, Get Wet, Build Cool Things, and Have Tons of Wild Fun! 51 Free-Play Activities

by Amanda Thomsen

Overview

The backyard has long been a space associated with recreation and relaxation, a private patch of earth to escape to, and a springboard for the imagination. In her signature style and drawing on her personal experience as a mother, gardener, and author, Amanda Thomsen encourages kids to create kingdoms of their own making, right in their own backyards. With whimsical projects for every season and any setting, from forest to pavement, fun-seeking kids and their families will rediscover the yard as a place for inspired play, using repurposed materials and existing features of outdoor spaces. Whether they’re creating tiny gardens inhabited by action figures, weaving a secret hideaway out of a loom of twine and twigs, or setting sidewalk cracks on fire with Coffeemate, Backyard Adventure lets kids of all ages turn their yards into a place they can call their own.


 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612129204
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	04/02/2019
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Amanda Thomsen is the author of Backyard Adventure and Kiss My Aster as well as a mom, a Girl Scout troop leader, a garden maker, an adventure planner, and a rule breaker. She lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and eight-year-old daughter.
 

Table of Contents

The Roots of a Wild Child
Chapter 1: Forts and Other Hideaways
  Scrounging for Unexpected Building Materials
  Forts & Playhouses
  Natural Burrows
  Packing-Material Tepee
  Plants That Make Great Places to Hide
  Build a Straw Bale Fort
  Plant a Living Willow Hideaway
  Cardboard Castles
  A Fort in Winter
  Tunnels
  The Simple Leaf Pile
  Make a Loom Tent
  Badger Holes
  Unexpected Sandboxes
  Make a Map of Your Neighborhood
  Hiding Play Materials
Chapter 2: Places for Tinkering
  Create a Mud Lab
  Marble Racetrack
  Soda & Mentos Eruptions
  Setting Booby Traps
  Make a Slingshot
  Build a Catapult
  Protect Your Toys from Pirates
  Create a Wall of Noise
  DIY Rube Goldberg Device
  Bored? No Way!
Chapter 3: Naturally Wild
  Miniature Worlds
  Grow a Tiny Fruit Tree
  Natural Paints & Dyes
  Grow Your Own Snacks
  Snacks to Identify & Forage
  Dig Your Own Clay
  Mown Labyrinth
  Logs & Stumps
  Seedo Torpedoes
  Drums
Chapter 4: Setting Up Camp
  Backyard Camping
  (Fake) Neighborhood Lore
  Make a Hand-Washing Station
  Create an Outdoor Shower
  Set Up an Outdoor Toilet
  Make a Fire Pit
  Hobo Camp Food & Old-Timey Cooking
  Outdoor Stages for Performances or Fomenting a Rebellion
Chapter 5: Sidewalks, Fences, and Driveways a.k.a. Places to Draw
  Graffiti on Fences
  Fun on the Driveway
  Chalk Outlines
  Exploding Sidewalk Chalk
Chapter 6: Adventure Course
  Swing It!
  Make Your Own Slip 'N Slide
  Tough Lil' Mudders
  Make Your Own Stilts
  Red Yarn Laser Climb
  Cardboard Armor
Chapter 7: Water, Bubbles, and Goo
  Sprinkler Setups
  Make a Water Blob
  Super Soaker!
  Baby Pool Fun
  Pinata Full of Water Balloons
  Make Giant Bubbles
  Tyvek Suit Full of Water Balloons
  Eggshell Paint Bombs
Chapter 8: It Ain't Over Yet
  Old-Timey Yard Games
  Turn Dolls into Mummies
  Duct Tape Zombies
  Glow Stick Hunt
  Flashlight Tag
Super Secret Section *FOR PARENTS ONLY!*

Editorial Reviews

Rocket fuel for a free-range childhood.” — Lenore Skenazy, president of Let Grow and founder of Free-Range Kids 

“Play is the work of childhood and modern kids are play-deficient. Backyard Adventure provides the healthy injection of play all children need. They’ll never realize they’re learning physics, chemistry, botany, and engineering — they’ll be having too much fun!” — Katherine Reynolds Lewis, author of The Good News About Bad Behavior: Why Kids Are Less Disciplined Than Ever — And What to Do About It

“Wow, what a treasure trove of ideas and projects. I was laughing and saying aloud, YES, YES, YES! Amanda Thomsen understands that the simplest things in nature are what nurture young souls and spirits. Hurrah!” —  Sharon Lovejoy, Author of Roots, Shoots, Buckets Boots, Sunflower Houses, Camp Granny and many more favorite books for children

From the Publisher