50+ Best Gifts for Outdoorsy Kids

I actually love this time of year when I get to share with you all some of our favourite gifts for the family. This year I am writing three posts. One with Gifts for Outdoorsy Kids, one with Gifts for Outdoorsy Moms, and one with gifts for Outdoorsy Dads!

If your looking for other outdoorsy gift ideas then make sure to check out these other gift posts for ideas!

Gifts for Outdoorsy Kids

FULL DISCLOSURE: This posts contains affiliate links. I make a little bit of money that helps support my family pizza night!

What I like most about this newest gift guide is that I have included a few different categories for you to look through including experiences as gifts and science gifts for outdoorsy kids!

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Gifts for Outdoorsy Kids
STEM Gifts Outdoorsy Kids
20 More book ideas for Outdoorsy Kids

Gifts for Outdoorsy Kids

Free Gifts: Let’s be honest. Kids, especially young toddlers and preschoolers do not need much to keep them happy. Wrap up a few sticks, bunch of rocks, and toilet paper rolls in a big box !

Experience Gifts: Experience gifts are great options for outdoorsy children. Sometimes they can be quite pricy though especially if it is based on going to a destination. Experience gifts can be as simple as going out for ice cream or lunch with grandpa and grandma, an overnight trip to a local hotel with a waterslide, or as big as a trip to Hawaii! Gifting a week at a camp or an activity like dance or soccer can also be a great gift as well!

Campervan Mattress: Sick of tent camping but do not want the hassle/expense of a bigger camper? Consider turning your vehicle into a camper! This may be more of a family gift to enhance family adventures or a perfect gift for your grown up kids but it is worth considering. The mattress LunoLife Mattress is not only comfortable, and compact but you can specifically choose a mattress based on your vehicle configuration so that it fits perfectly without any bumps from wheel wells, seats etc. They even have a mattress that fits over the front seats of a vehicle. Just remember… If you are sleeping in your vehicle, make sure to have a carbon monoxide detector just like any RV or campervan.

Mud Kitchen: Some things are worth the investment and a play kitchen is one of them. A mud kitchen takes it to a whole new level and helps keep kids entertained on their own outside for longer! Kid’s sure do love playing with mud and water outside but ‘cooking’ with the snow is also really fun!

Tree House/Fort: This hanging tree tent or the Slackers Swing House are fun ways to create a special reading nook or area for quiet playtime.

A Scooter: A toddler scooter or a big kid scooter is a great way to increase the fun on those neighbourhood walks!

Balance Board: A wooden balance board may seem like an odd gift but these strong Kinderfeets Natural Wood Boards can be used for more than just balancing (although that is quite fun too). Kids often use their imagination and find many uses including a race track.

Camera: The Nikon Cool Pix and Fujifilm FinePix XP130 are waterproof and shock proof cameras that allow kids to have a quality camera that will last. A camera allows kids to capture moments while travelling, and adventuring.

Canadian Dolls: The Maplelea Dolls are Canadian company. The dolls represent the various different activities that young girls enjoy and the diverse background of our country. There are lots of accessories that you can enjoy as well through this line!

Snowboard or Skis: Use the season to buy some of those big items that your child might need like a snowboard or skis! For kids age 3-5 we recommend the Burton After School Special Snowboard that comes with bindings! Looking for a whole snowboarding with boots? Check out our gear post “Snowboarding Gear for Kids”

Fort Building Kit: Build a castle, cabin, rocket ship! The Crazy Forts kit allows kids to explore and build unique forts!

Indoor Play Gym: Our kids received the Swedish Ladder from us last year and I love that it keeps them active when going outdoors for long is not safe. Sometimes the weather dips to -45 C where I live! Check out the Swedish Ladder here.

Hiking Backpack: A hiking backpack is a perfect gift for kids! We love backpacks that also include a hydro pack or at least have a pouch for one. Then kids can carry their own water and drink as they hike! We are big fans of the Deuter Fox 30 for 7-10 years olds and the Osprey 8 L pack for younger kids. Both come with a whistle attached to the straps for safety!

Laser Guns: Laser X is a really fun laser tag system that you can play around the house or outdoors. Our family has spent many nights out of breath after playing laser tag. The best part is that if your neighbours have a set then you can all play together outside too!

Board games: Our family loves Board games! A fun cooperative game that both our girls love is called Out Foxed. For kids that are a little older, the Harry Potter cooperative game is really fun. The first three versions can be played with younger kids age 5 or 6 but patience is needed.

Climbing Dome: Climbing Domes are such a great active addition to any backyard. They grow with a family too and older kids enjoy sitting at the top chatting with their friends while young kids climb, hang, and play.

Hammock: Our kids are always stealing our hammock when we are camping. Everyone loves it and I really think we need a few more so I can have enjoy sitting it in too!

This year we discovered Native Northwest when we purchased our orange shirts for Truth and Reconciliation Day. Native Northwest has some really beautiful gifts for kids that are designed Indigenous artists.

STEM Gifts for Outdoorsy Kids

Solar Robot Kit – This 8 in 1 build your own Solar Bot was the best birthday present for our 8 year old. She loves it! First you build the solar battery and then you use that to build the 8 different models (only one model can be powered at a time). She can do a lot of it on her own but does need help. Older kids would be able to create them on their own. These work with the power of the sun but also a light bulb as well.

The Best Periodic Elements Book: The Usborn Lift-the-Flap Periodic Table book is the ultimate science book that helps kids learn, understand, and even memorize the Periodic Table! This book is incredible!

A Microscope: Gather materials from outside or inside to look at underneath the microscope or analyze the slides with stuff already on them.

Glow in the dark stars and Planets: A set of Glow in the Dark Planets along with a set of Glow in the Dark Stars are a fun way to decorate the kid’s room! The best part is that every night you can star gaze.

Fishing Rod: One year we gifted our girls fishing rods and now our family enjoys fishing adventures together! This set is a starter fishing rod for the toddlers and preschoolers.

Science Book: The Earth and Sky book is entertaining with tons of facts about the Universe, solar system, earth, humans. It also comes with stickers! This book has been highly loved by my oldest daughter.

Fossil Dig Kit: Dig and find real fossils with the Mega Fossil dig kit from National Geographic!

Virtual Atlas: Explore the world with the Professor Maxwell’s VR Atlas Virtual Reality Kids Book and Interactive Geography STEM Learning Activity Set. The informational book also includes a virtual reality experience with the use of the goggles and a phone. It is a great way to experience the world when you are not able to travel to the destination.

Paint and plant flower kit : This kit allows kids to paint a pot, plant the sees, and watch them grow! A DIY version of this gift would also work and cut down some of the cost too!

Press Flower Kit: Pick flowers or dry flowers after enjoying them on the kitchen table to be used in this pressed flower kit! This Press Flower Kit is a great introductory kit for kids.

Rock Tumbler: Watch rocks transform into beautiful shiny, coloured gems after using a rock tumbler! It is important to note that they can be loud, it takes a LONG time for them to be fully polished, and many of the less expensive ones cannot take very many rocks. My dad actually has one and loves it. It is so cool and my girls often receive rocks that have gone through the tumbler.

20 + More Book Ideas for Outdoorsy Kids

The Morrigan Crow series is a must for kids that love adventure and fantasy. If your kids enjoy Harry Potter then they will most likely enjoy this series. Our daughter read them (and could not put them down) when she was 7 years old but they are more for readers age 9 +. My husband and I both read them afterwards because they were so good!

Three books are available right now but the series will have up to 6-9 books.

Journal of Travelling Girl follows a journal of a young girl’s journey to uncover her ancestral routes on a canoe trip. This is a coming of age story as she comes to appreciate her culture and background.

Bird Books: A bird book encourages outdoor exploration. The Little Book of Woodland Bird Songs showcases 12 different birds and buttons to play their songs. Look at That Bird is a Young Naturalist’s Guide to Pacific Northwest Birding. The Pocketguide to the Birds of North America by National Geographic is a great intro to any bird lovers.

Local Book Alert : I love supporting local and this mama Heather Yaskiw Foisy just self published her first book! “I’m the Biggest Helper” helps kid’s understand how to help when their parent has an invisible illness like an autoimmune disease.

The book can be picked up in person in Calgary by contacting Heather phoenixsoulwarrior@gmail.com. For in person purchases, she will donate $5 to Sjogrens Society of Canada Charity. The book can also be purchased on Amazon here.

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles: We found the Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles at a reuse store on one of our trips! Our 8 year old daughter loved the book as it takes readers into a magical world with magical creatures.

Scaredy Squirrel has become a classic book for young children and new readers. The Squirrel is afraid to leave his tree but eventually finds that adventures are worth the risk even though their may be sharks, mosquitoes, and poison ivy. There is a whole series out now including Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping.

The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian is a newer series based on a very popular podcast that our family loves called… “The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian”. If you have not listened to the podcasts then make sure to start listening on your road trips!

Pokeimon Books have been a huge hit in our family. For younger children, Mew’s magical journey is a great intro and features a few paper pop out characters. The Complete Pokemon Pocket Guide Book Volume 1 and Volume 2 are small compact books with many Pokemon features. The Super Deluxe Essential Handbook also is a great resource for fans of the “movement”.

Ada Lace is a series about a young girl in third grade that is really into science and technology who is always getting into little adventures.

Princess Truly is a series of books about a girl named Truly. It is an easier to read book full of colourful pictures. The first book takes Truly on an adventure to help her friend Lizzy.

Local Book Alert: Kids love the Hikes for Families: A Guide to the Canadian Rockies and checking off hikes that they have completed with their family! It is a family-focused trail guide that makes adventuring together a breeze. Learn tips for enjoying the trails, games to play along the way, gear packing lists and more! Featuring hikes near Banff, Canmore, Kananaskis, Bragg Creek, and Calgary.

Warrior Series: The Warrior series follows the adventures of cats that are warriors that are in clans that try to invade each other’s territories. The novels are engaging but also very intense with lots of fighting. There are more than 30 books within the world that have been published so if your child is like mine and loves them, they will have lots to read!