# 10 Ways to Hang Out on a Tree
> Ten simple ways to play on, around and under a small backyard tree: climbing, trunk painting, nest building, animal pretend play, picnics and more. A summer nature-play idea list from TurkeyMom's family.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/10-ways-to-literally-hang-out-on-a-tree/
- Ages: 2–7 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep none, activity varies
- Works for: one-on-one, small group
- Skills: gross-motor, pretend-play, nature-exploration, art, observation
- Cautions: ingestion-risk

## Safety
- Supervise outdoor play at all times, especially tree climbing. Choose a small, sturdy tree with low branches, stay within arm's reach and keep the ground below clear.
- Use washable, non-toxic paint for trunk painting. The post doesn't name a paint.
- Take down hanging scarves, curtains and other cords before anyone climbs, and never tie anything around a child's neck.
- Fruits and leaves gathered for pretend cooking are for play, not eating. Don't let kids taste anything from the tree unless an adult knows it is safe.
- Don't aim a magnifying glass at the sun, skin or dry leaves.

## Ideas
- **Climb a tree**: Of course, climb the tree!
- **Paint the tree trunk**: Paint the tree trunk with foam brushes. Ours turned into a rainbow of purples, blues and pinks.
- **Big leaf and fig painting**: At the same time, do some big leaf painting. With our fig tree, we could even try fig painting.
- **Build and hang a nest**: Build a nest and hang it from the tree, or carefully place it on one of the branches.
- **Pretend to be tree animals**: Pretend to be different animals in the tree. My kid's favorite is a koala bear: she clings to a branch and mimics the sound (thanks to Wild Kratts and Diego).
- **Tree princess party**: Hang colorful scarves, curtains and the like, and throw a "tree princess party" (my kid coined the term).
- **Stuffed-animal rainforest**: Hang relevant stuffed animals and make an Amazon rainforest. We have so many stuffed snakes, we have to do this.
- **Lookout and explore**: With binoculars and a magnifying glass, play can range from keeping a lookout for enemies to examining the tree trunk.
- **Picnic under the tree**: Have a picnic under the tree.
- **Cook under the tree**: Gather fruits and leaves from the tree and cook under it. An outdoor play kitchen makes this perfect.

## Tips
- Nature play is so versatile that it can take any direction based on the child and mood. With an accessible small tree, it's role play galore.
- The whole cozy area deal really excites my kids. They seem to love any kind of nook.
- If you have an outdoor play kitchen, it's perfect for gathering fruits and leaves and cooking under the tree.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2016)

A tree in your backyard is a wonderful one stop place for all things fun in summer. Nature play is so versatile that it could take any direction based on the child and mood. With an accessible small tree, it is role play galore here. Here are 10 ways to play on/around/under a tree we would for sure be trying in the following weeks.

1. Of course climb a tree
2. Paint a tree trunk with foam brushes
3. Simultaneously do some big leaf painting and in our case we could do some fig painting.
4. Build a nest and hang it from a tree. If you can, you could carefully place on one of the tree branches.
5. Pretend to be different animals on the tree. My kid’s favorite is a koala bear. She clings on to a branch and mimics the exact sound (Thanks to wild Kratts and Diego)
6. Hang colorful scarves, curtains etc and make a “ tree princess party” ( Big A coined this term)
7. Hang relevant stuffed animals and make an amazon rainforest. We have so many stuffed snakes, we have to do this.
8. With binoculars and a magnifying glass play could range from keeping a lookout for enemies to examining the tree trunk.
9. Have a picnic under the tree.
10. Gather the fruits, leaves from the tree and cook under the tree. If you have a outdoor play kitchen, this would be perfect. The whole cozy area deal really excites my kids. They seem to love any kind of nooks.

 We have tried a few on the list. Relevant posts to follow.