Outdoor Toys for Kids (ages 2-6)

The minute the weather is nice, my kids love playing outside with all their outdoor toys. I love seeing them have fun together, soak in the fresh air and sunshine, and use their imaginations. I’ve watched them play Star Wars, have tea parties, giggle and laugh together, have water balloon fights, and even do photoshoots with their baby dolls and stuffed animals. While there is a healthy amount of arguing and fighting (they ARE siblings after all), the more they play together, the better they seem to get along. Especially now that Frances is getting older and they’re able to communicate better with each other. Plus nothing beats that outdoor, screen free playtime!

A lot of our outdoor toys are a collection from various stores like Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, Amazon and even Facebook Marketplace! I made a list on Amazon if you like a one stop shop, but I highly recommend also looking around at different places where you can find things for much cheaper.

To store everything, I just have a big plastic bin with a lid that all the little pieces fit in. It works great, and helps protect the outdoor toys from the elements! In an effort to teach them responsibility, I have the kids pick up their toys every day when it’s time to come inside. It not only keeps the toys safe, but means I don’t have to pick up later.

Outdoor Toys for Kids (ages 2-6)

Play House
The kids love playing with this play house. We have it sitting on our deck, and it’s perfect for eating meals/snacks at, playing with their kitchen stuff, or to simply hang out in their chairs. Frances especially loves going in and out, opening the door and playing peek-a-boo in the window. It’s adorable!
We actually got ours for a great deal on Facebook Marketplace (although it is missing some features, but I didn’t care about that), but you can find similar ones like this and this on Amazon. Check out your local FBMP before buying new!

Kitchen tools and Tea Set
To go with the play house, I got the kids a cute little kitchen set (similar) and a tea set like this one (ours was much cheaper from Hobby Lobby, though!). Ellie especially loves filling the teapot up with water and pouring it into cups for people to sip. It’s so cute!

Gardening Tools
With our garden going full blast, the kids love “helping” with their tools – picking up dead leaves with their gloves, digging holes to plant seeds, and watering the plants with their watering cans. You can also get some dirt/soil from the store and fill a tub for them to dig and play in! If your kiddos are into bugs, you can also get a fun bug catching kit so they can get a close up look at some of their favorites. We’ve had fun catching roly polys, lizards, moths and even a little garden snake (which were all released back into the garden after we got to observe them)!
Check out these gardening tools and these watering cans.

Water toys
We actually love simple plastic tubs like these for water play! You can also find them at the dollar store, and they’re perfect for so many outdoor activities. The kids have been loving their sprinkler this year. They can spend hours running through the water, filling up buckets and simply making memories together. Little toy boats, water soakers, reusable water balloons and buckets are favorites with the kids as well (all are linked here, or you can find lots of fun water toys at Hobby Lobby!). Lately we’ve just been using our little kiddie pool from Walmart, but we also have a great dog pool that handles the rough and tough play better than others.

Bubbles!
I mean, they’re a kid favorite for a reason – bubbles are FUN! Check out my list for all of our favorites. The bubble machine is always a hit, and if you haven’t tried a bubble gun yet, you should! They are a blast.

And More
We’ve been playing with our Little Tykes slide and basketball hoop for the past 5 years, and the kids still love them. You can buy them new, or once again check out your Facebook Marketplace for some used ones! They’re staples for some fun backyard play.

And there you have it! What outdoor toys would you add to this list? I’d love to hear what your kiddos love playing with in the backyard.