Sports Activities Athletics Family Recreation

Outdoor Recreational Activities List
For Our 9-90 Year Olds

 Around nine or ten years old, children will start turning their interest to athletics and recreation, rather than nature exploration activities. On one hand, we still make choices based on their interest levels in the past. On the other hand, we want to provide new and challenging opportunities to explore which sports and recreational ativities that they will enjoy right on into adulthood.   

  These types of activities not only promote physical fitness but also instill valuable life skills, making them ideal options to lure teens away from screens and into the great outdoors
Teens and tweens can challenge themselves, both physically an emotionally, while enjoying the beauty of the natural surroundings. 

Topics covered on this page
Air Activities, Experience Days, Extreme Outdoor Activities, Family Activities, Fun Outdoor Activities, Kids Activities, Land Activities, Nature Activities, Outdoor Sports, Physical Challenges, Relaxing Outdoor Activities, Water Activities, Winter Activities

This is the most comprehensive outdoor recreational activities list with examples of recreational activities and hobbies for adults, teens, kids and families.  Some of the outdoor activities examples are sports activities, some are just recreational fun. I’ve included a list of the most popular outdoor activities so you can see what others do for leisure.

The main aim of this list of outdoor activities is to help you discover a new adventure.

The links below will take you directly to the Active Outdoors Website. Another website that is great for this stage in your child's life would be the Run Wild My Child

The Most Popular Outdoor Recreational Activities

Every year the Outdoor Foundation in the US and Sport England in the UK publish a list of the most popular outdoor activities. According to the Outdoor Foundation, about half the U.S. population participated in outdoor recreation at least once in 2018, including hunting, hiking, camping, fishing, canoeing among many more outdoor activities. Unfortunately, the report highlights an alarming trend that just under half the U.S. population does not participate in outdoor recreation at all.

The most popular outdoor activities are:

1. Running, jogging and trail running;

2. Hiking and walking for fitness;

3. Camping and RV Camping;

4. Road biking, mountain biking and BMX;

5. Freshwater, saltwater and fly fishing;

6. Golf;

7. Wildlife watching;

8. Netball and basketball;

9. Tennis and Table Tennis;

10. Soccer;

Most participants preferred to find adventure less than one mile from their homes.

The top 10 list remains fairly consistent year on year.  There are however a few variations as new sports and activities develop and become popular for a while. Follow this blog to find out new trends and more great ways to try out new activities and get active outdoors.

Outdoor Activities Environment Picker

Use the images below to jump to the section in the outdoor activities list with the environment for you.

If you are seeking outdoor activities and ideas for team development, you’ll find my section on outdoor team building activities a quick and easy way to deliver the character building training you need.

Outdoor Recreational
Activities and Hobbies

Outdoor recreational activities are ways in which you can spend your leisure time outdoors being physically active, creative, relaxing, having fun or being social.  Explore the huge range of exciting outdoor activities and some of the best adventure sports in the list below.

The most popular ideas for outdoor summer activities include:

• outdoor activities to do on the weekend with friends,

• outdoor activities for couples,

• bucket list of summer activities for boyfriend and girlfriend.

What are the Different Types of Outdoor Activities?

To help you choose which outdoor recreational activities and hobbies suit your needs right now, I have rated them under five categories:

•  Relaxing outdoor activities to just unwind and take things easy or to improve your sense of well being.

•  Fun outdoor activities that are a perfect for shared experiences where it’s all about fun and friends.

•  Outdoor physical challenges that provide adventure and challenge for an adrenaline buzz or for personal development.

•  Extreme outdoor activities for thrill seekers that give a serious adrenaline rush and require great skill

•  Outdoor sports activities that need a few friends to join in and are competitive

 Air Activities

This list of outdoor air activities includes birds, planes, flying toys and some seriously exhilarating aerial experiences.

•  Aeroplane flying and aerobatics experiences

•  Air Sphering

•  Astronomy

•  BASE Jumping

•  Bungee Jumping

•  Falconry experience days

•  Gliding lessons

•  Gyrocopter flying

•  Hang Gliding experience

•  Helicopter Flights

•  Hot Air Balloon Rides

•  Indoor Skydiving

•  Kites and Power Kites

•  Microlights

•  Model airplanes, helicopters and multirotors (drones)

•  Model Rockets

•  Paragliding and Paramotoring

•  Parascending

•  SCAD – Suspended Catch Air Device

•  Skydiving

•  Wing Walking

Land Activities

This vast list of outdoor land activities provides inspiration for fitness, downhill fun, relaxing creative hobbies, personal challenges, new skills to learn and outdoor recreational activities that will leave you with a huge smile.

•  4×4 driving experience

•  Activity Holidays for adults and families

•  Adventure Races

•  Air rifle and air pistol shooting

•  Airsoft

•  American Football

•  Animal Parks, Wildlife Parks and Zoos

•  Archery

•  Assault courses and Obstacle course races

•  Athletics

•  Backyard Sleepovers

•  Badminton

•  Baseball and Softball

•  Basketball

•  Baton Twirling

•  Battle Reenactments

•  Beach Activities

•  Beachcombing

•  Bicycle Polo

•  Bird watching holidays

•  BMX biking

•  Boccia

•  Bootcamps for fitness

•  Bouldering

•  Bowls

•  Brushboarding

•  Bubble Football

•  Bushcraft and survival courses

•  Camel trekking holidays

•  Camogie

•  Camping

•  Canyoning and Canyoneering

•  Capoeira

•  Carnivals

•  Carriage driving

•  Cave biking underground

•  Caving and potholing

•  Cheerleading

•  Chinese Martial Arts

•  Circus Skills

•  Clay Pigeon Shooting

•  Climbing courses and climbing holidays

•  Concerts, Festivals and Gigs

•  Conkers

•  Cookout

•  Crazy Golf and Mini Golf, Pitch and Putt

•  Cricket

•  Croquet

•  Cycling fitness training

•  Dance, Street Dance

•  Den Building and Bivouacs

•  Digger and JCB driving

•  Dodgeball

•  Dog Scootering

•  Drag Racing

•  Driving Experience Days

•  Duathlon

•  Eclipse Sphering and Eclipse Zorbing

•  Equestrian (horse Riding, eventing, racing, dressage, cross country)

•  Exercise and fitness

•  Exploring holidays

•  Fencing

•  Fives (rugby)

•  Floorball

•  Folk Dancing

•  Footbags

•  Football and Soccer

•  Free Running and Parkour

•  Fruit Picking

•  Fun fairs

•  Futsal

•  Gaelic Football

•  Gap Year Travelling

•  Gardening

•  Geocaching

•  Gladiator Training

•  Goalball

•  Go Ape forest high wire adventures ropes courses

•  Go Karting

•  Golf Holidays

•  Grass skiing

•  Grass sledging

•  Grass karting

•  Greyhound Racing

•  Grow Your Own Vegetables

•  Grouse Shooting

•  Gymnastics

•  Handball

•  Harness Racing

•  Hiking holidays

•  Hockey

•  Horse Boarding

•  Horse Racing

•  Horse Riding

•  Hurling

•  Jogging and running

•  Jousting

•  Kite Boarding

•  Kite Buggying

•  Korfball

•  Lacrosse

•  Landboarding

•  Land Sailing and Land Yachting

•  Landscape painting holidays and art holidays

•  Laser Clay Shooting

•  Laser Tag

•  Lawn Mower Racing

•  Live Action Role Playing Games

•  Llama trekking

•  Marathon Running

•  Minimoto

•  Modern Pentathlon

•  Monster Truck Driving Experience

•  Motorcycling, Motocross and dirt biking

•  Motor Sports

•  Mountain Bikes

•  Mountain Boarding

•  Mountaineering

•  Mud Racing

•  Multi Use Games Areas and playgrounds for adults

•  Nascar

•  Netball

•  Open Air Theatre

•  Orienteering

•  Outdoor Movie theatres and cinemas

•  Outdoor Photography

•  Paintballing

•  Parks – Chess, Ping Pong, picnics, football, sunbathing…

•  Pentathlon

•  Petanque

•  Picnics

•  Piggy Back Fights

•  Pogo, extreme pogo and pogopalooza

•  Pony Trekking Holidays

•  Polo

•  Polocrosse

•  Quad Biking

•  Rally Driving Experience

•  Rambling

•  Remote Control Cars

•  Rock Climbing

•  Roller Coasters and Theme Parks

•  Roller Skating and Roller Blading

•  Roller Hockey, Puck Hockey

•  Rope Swings

•  Rounders

•  Rugby and Tag Rugby

•  Quoits

•  Safari Holidays

•  Sandboarding

•  Scavenger Hunts

•  Scooter Freestyle

•  Segway Offroading

•  Shinty

•  Shooting (air, clay, crossbow, pistol, rifle, longbow, compound bow)

•  Show Jumping

•  Skateboarding

•  Skeet Shooting

•  Skid Pan Experience Days

•  Skipping

•  Sightseeing

•  Slacklining

•  Soap Box Kart racing or Extreme Gravity Racing

•  Softball

•  Soft Martial Arts – Tai Chi, Chi Kung

•  Speedway

•  Sphering

•  Steam Train driving experience

•  Stock Car Racing and Demolition Derby

•  Stoolball

•  Street Hockey

•  Street Improvisation and Drama

•  Street Luge and Downhill Skateboarding and Downhill Skating

•  Table Tennis

•  Tag Rugby

•  Tank Driving Experience

•  Team Building Outdoor Activities

•  Tennis Holidays

•  Throw and Catch an American mini football, frisbee or frisbee golf

•  Tractor Pulling

•  Trail Running

•  Trampolining

•  Treasure Hunting and Metal Detectors

•  Tree Climbing

•  Treehouses

•  Triathlon Events

•  Tug of War

•  Ultimate Frisbee

•  Unicycling

•  Via Ferrata

•  Volleyball

•  Walking Holidays

•  Walk the dog

•  Wash the car

•  Watch the sunrise or sunset

•  Water Fights

•  Wildlife Conservation

•  Wildlife watching holidays

•  Yoga

•  Young Drivers – Car racing for teenagers, and driving experiences for 11 year olds and over

•  Zorbing

Water Activities

These outdoor water activities provide wet and wild inspiration in, on or under water.

•  Argo Cats

•  Banana rides

•  Blackwater rafting

•  Boating, Pedalos and Punts

•  Body Boarding

•  Bore Surfing

•  Bridge Jumping

•  Canoeing

•  Cave Diving

•  Coasteering

•  Crabbing

•  Diving (swimming)

•  Dragon Boat Racing

•  Exploring Rock Pools

•  Fishing Trips

•  Flyboard, waterjet powered hover board

•  Free Diving

•  Hovercraft Experience

•  Hydrospeeding and Riverboarding

•  Jet Skiing

•  Kayaking

•  Kitesurfing

•  Kneeboarding

•  Model Boats

•  Motor Cruising Holidays

•  Narrow boat holidays

•  Octopush Underwater hockey

•  Pond Dipping

•  Pooh Sticks, paper boats, duck races and dam building

•  Powerboating Courses

•  Raft Building

•  Rib Riding

•  River Bugging

•  Rowing

•  Sailing

•  Scuba Diving

•  Sea Kayaking

•  Skim Boarding

•  Snorkeling

•  Stand up paddle boarding

•  Surfing

•  Surf Life Saving

•  Swimming

•  Swimming with dolphins

•  Tall Ship Holidays

•  Tombstoning

• Waboba

•  Wakeboarding

•  Water Jet Pack Flying

•  Water Parks and flumes

•  Water Polo

•  Water Skiing

•  WaterWalkerz water sphering

•  Waveskiing

•  Whale Watching Holidays

•  Whitewater Rafting Trips

•  Wild Swimming

•  Windsurfing

•  Yacht Charters

•  Yachting

•  Zap Cat Racing

Winter Activities

A sledge is for sharing

This list of outdoor winter activities is all about being cool on the on snow and ice.  Most are adrenaline sports.

•  Airboarding

•  Biathlon

•  Bob Rafting

•  Bobsleigh

•  Curling

•  Dog Sledding Holidays

•  Heliskiing and Heliboarding

•  Ice Climbing

•  Ice Diving

•  Ice Hockey

•  Ice Karting

•  Ice Racing and Ice Driving

•  Ice Skating

•  Luge

•  Skeleton Bob

•  Skiing

•  Skiing Holidays

•  Skijoring with dogs, horses or a 4×4

•  Sledges and toboggans

•  Snowball fights, snowmen and free fun winter activities for teenagers

•  Snowblading

•  Snowboarding

•  Snowbombing

•  Snowcat Piste Basher Driving

•  Snow Kiting

•  Snowmobiling

•  Snow Rafting

•  Snow Shoeing

•  Snow Tubing and Doughnutting

•  Winter Olympics

Follow the blog to find out new trends and great ways to try out more outdoor activities examples and get Active Outdoors.