Summer is officially here, despite the weather jumping back and forth. Even with the showers and occasional cold day, my children are out playing in our garden or on our road at every opportunity and I love it! At this time of year, I always invest in a few new outdoor toys for them and if you are in the same frame of mind, here are ten affordable outdoor toys you might like too.

I haven’t focused on larger play items like swings and trikes but instead of smaller, affordable toys.

1. An Extendable Net

These cool telescopic nets are brilliant for a day at the beach, river or lake.  Adult supervision is always needed when children are playing with or near water.

2. The Worlds Best Bug Viewer

This little pot is made of clear plastic so once your child has caught a bug, they will want to observe it and show it off! They can look at them from all angles using this bug viewer. The lid has a built-in magnifying glass, which allows you to view your bug in greater detail. Alternatively, if you don’t like removing small creatures from their habitats, invest in a magnifying glass  to help your child observe them better.

3. French Skipping Ropes

These are great if you have more than two children or if your kids have friends who play with them regularly. Two people put this elastic rope around their ankles and the others jump over it. Alternatively, if you have fewer people, you can put the rope around chair legs. Or, you could invest in a regular skipping rope either. I stock a wooden handle Bee one and a wooden handle flower patterned one. Sometimes kids are given skipping ropes before they are able to skip. Most kids seem to master skipping at about the age of six.

4. A Kite

These pocket kites are brilliant as they have no poles and they are light and easy to bring to the beach or park. They fly great too!

5.  Sidewalk Chalks

Whether it’s drawing patterns, pictures, crime scenes or court outlines, a box of sidewalk chunky chalks is a must for every child that has a safe road or path near their home. I stock a larger box with 15 chalks and a smaller box with 6 chalks.  I also stock regular blackboard size chalks which can be great for drawing on outdoor walls.

6. Make your own Insect Hotel

This simple woodwork project for children is suitable for children aged 5+. It contains the precut pieces of wood which slot together and are held together with wood glue (included). Once constructed, your child will have to source lots of twigs, leaves etc to fill the box with. Then, attach to a wall or a tree and before you know you’ll have lots of little insects staying over!

7.  A Flying Ring

These frisbees are great for developing gross motor skills as your child learns to throw, catch and run after them. They are also great for hand eye coordination and on top of that, they are great fun for the whole family!

8. A Ribbon Wand

If you have a large house these are great for indoor play too but for those with smaller houses, these ribbon wands are great for enhancing any dance your child might create.

9. An Adventurer’s Headlight

These children’s headlights are perfect for an evening walk in the summer. Not only will they help your child see in the dark, they will help your child to be seen by others too. Batteries are needed for this torch and they don’t come with it. If you’d like a torch without batteries, I stock a wind up version here.

10. A Return Ball

These are tennis balls that have an elastic thread linking the ball to a wrist band. The idea is to throw the ball onto the ground. The elastic thread will catapult it back and the player has to catch it.

The toys I’ve featured here are suitable for younger kids. I plan on writing a similar blog next week featuring some outdoor toys for older children, so if you have older ones, keep an eye out next week. Or, check out my range of Retro Outdoor Toys here. There will be a bit of over lap between all these blogs. Alternatively, you can see my full range of outdoor toys here.

Thanks for reading. Now, all we need is some summer weather!!

xx Suzie