May Activities for Kids- Seasonal Play

Welcome back to our monthly seasonal play post. In May activities for kids we take a shift towards late spring early summer craft and play ideas. As always we will share some fun indoor, outdoor and kitchen activities for kids of all ages.

This month sees the arrival of our caterpillars, of which we will be observing the life cycle. We will be incorporating some play and craft ideas around the lifecycle. This post reviews the Insect Lore caterpillar kit. At home we will also start to do some activities that will brighten up our garden.

For outdoor play we love to take late spring walks so I can show the children the bluebells. I love being outside at this time of the year and so will provide some ideas to get little ones outdoors for some nature walks.

In the kitchen we have some fun food art ideas that will give you and your little ones a project for lunchtime. Perfect for a rainy day or for a lunch in the garden.

Finally, as always I will link some seasonal resources at the end of this post. Now let’s get on with May activities for kids.

Indoor play ideas

Painting

Hungry Caterpillar Egg box craft

We love an egg box craft! My youngest loves to paint egg boxes as it’s the right amount of paint for her attention span. Once painted put holes through each cardboard egg section and then loop some string through to make a caterpillar.

See this post for more The hungry Caterpillar activity ideas

Fairy houses

I absolutely loved this craft. We swear by Baker Ross multipurpose pens (product linked at the end of this post). These small flower pots were bought for just 69p. My eldest daughter (aged 12) really loved designing a fairy house and helping her sister with hers. Pop flowers into the top of the pot and they look even prettier. Perfect for pretend play with some fairies etc.

Sensory Play

In this post I have some Hungry Caterpillar sensory play ideas for babies and toddlers.

Mud kitchen sensory soup

You don’t need a mud kitchen to do this idea. You can simply use a tray and a bowl. Sensory soup can be made with water and mint / dandelions / flowers / fruit slices / camomile tea. There are lots of ideas for this play. Just supply them with a teapot, cup, whisk and spoons etc for mixing.

Seed Bombs

We made these for Earth day but they are perfect for May as they help encourage wild garden areas ready for the Summer.

Roll out a square of clay. This first step is optional as you can sprinkle dried flowers into the clay and then turn the clay square over. Sprinkle some soil and seeds in the middle and then press all the edges into the middle and roll into a ball.

Once finished place the ball in a garden or outdoor space and wait for the clay to break down with rainwater and the flowers to grow.

Kitchen Activities

Hungry Caterpillar sandwiches

 Our kids really enjoyed having a caterpillar sandwich lunch. I used the end of a red pepper, eyes of cheese and spinach and grapes all attached to filled sandwiches with cocktail sticks.

Gruffallo Biscuits

I have included these biscuits as it ties in with one of our outdoor play activities for this month.

Outdoor Play

Gruffalo Hunt

A childhood classic that I would imagine most kids’ bookshelves have. We like to go on Grufflao hunts now and then. We have our own soft Grufflao but you could go on a Gruffalo hunt without one, by looking for animal tracks and signs of wildlife nearby that tie into the story. Our kids have often enjoyed listening to the story of the Gruffalo in the woods. You could also check to see if there is a Gruffalo trail local to you. Take your gruffalo biscuits with you to encourage little walkers with a treat half way round!

Bug Hunting

My kids love to bug hunt around this time of year after the bugs come out of hibernation. Theme a walk by popping in a bug book, notepad, bug view finder into a backpack and taking this bug scavenger hunt to get them interested. I have included this free bug hunt printable for you to download. Plus this article that showcases some resources that we use for outdoors play.