Backyard Day Spa

Set up a backyard day spa, for some pampering fun at home.

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since we did this activity, and I’m only just finding the time to write it up. The saying “the days are long but the years are short” is certainly true when you have little munchkins underfoot!

Essentially the idea behind this activity is very simple – take some of our normal self-care activities outside, add a bit of extra pampering, and end up with a very girlie and special afternoon!

It’s a great activity for multiple age groups – when we did this, JJ was 5 years old and Bee was almost 3.

DIY Backyard Day Spa

We used:

• a teepee
• a mirror
• 2 chairs
• bucket of warm water with scented bath salts
• small towels
• moisturising cream
• nail clippers & nail polish
• hair brush, hair ties & clips

We used the teepee to help ‘set the scene’ and give our day spa a base where we could store our supplies. You could also use a cubby house, create a makeshift fort, or skip this step if you like. (Disclosing that we were originally gifted our teepee from Finlee & Me as part of a sponsored post on Good Old-Fashioned Backyard Play, just fyi.

We set up the chairs next to the teepee, and the girls gave their feet a good soak in warm water and bath salts, after which I gave them foot and calf massages with moisurising cream. (Bee really loves deep massages!)

Next we clipped their finger and toe nails, and applied some nail polish. Bee chose purple. JJ chose blue and yellow. 🙂

Then, while their nails were drying, I brushed their hair and gave them a head massage.

Ahh, it’s lovely to feel pampered!

For more backyard play ideas:

• Let the kids take the lead, with these 8 tips on encouraging good old-fashioned backyard play.
• You just need pavers and chalk to create your own fun game of backyard twister!
• Using chalk on pavers again, make a number grid for some gross motor number recognition play, or for some hands-on reading (and scrubbing) of sight words, letters or shapes.
• Add a DIY fairy door to a tree stump or fence, to invite some whimsical imaginative play. Or you could make your own fairy garden!
• Make your own Play Snow and make a mini snowman (that won’t melt in the summer sun), or maybe make some mouldable cloud dough ‘sand’ and create your own backyard beach scene. Or you could host a pretend backyard birthday party with moon sand cupcakes (and LOTS of glitter for sprinkles!)
• Conduct a little home science experiment to discover what lives in the dirt in your backyard. Try this at different times of year, and see if you get different results. Then you can use some of that dirt for this planet earth craft idea.
• Water beads are an amazing sensory material for the warmer summer months. We used some in this ocean sensory tub, which was a big hit for my marine-loving girls.
• Or if you have a trampoline, this number recognition jumping game was easy and fun. JJ asked to do this over and over again!

xx Danya

Disclosure: just FYI that I originally received this teepee as part of a sponsored post (but that agreement didn’t include writing this additional post, which I’ve done of my own discretion). All opinions are my (or my kids’) own.