In my mind, being the bestest mom meant taking my kids to the amusement park every chance I got. After all, that’s where I always wanted to go as a kid.

But something happened as the kids got older. I noticed that they weren’t really *enjoying* themselves at those places. I mean, they had fun, but they always seemed so exhausted and overstimulated afterward that I often wished we hadn’t gone.

So, my husband and I decided to start spending more time outdoors with our kids. And we decided to start with all of the beautiful Georgia state parks to visit in our area.

And I’m here to tell you that there are a LOT of them. So many that I’d never seen, never visited, or never even heard of!

I wanted to share several of these Georgia state parks to visit with all of you, just in case you’re planning a trip to the Southeast U.S. and you’re looking for a relaxing, gorgeous, and affordable way to spend some time together as a family. They’re definitely worth a trip.

Heading out to one of these parks in the summer? Don’t miss our printable beach scavenger hunt to play with the kids while you’re there!

Beautiful Georgia State Parks to Visit With the Kids This Year

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As a note, this will be a growing list. We’re planning to visit as many of Georgia’s state and national parks as we can over the next few years. So be prepared for this post to get pretty long as we share pictures, experiences, and reviews.

Hard Labor Creek State Park

Just an hour outside of Atlanta is Hard Labor Creek State Park. With a beautiful golf course, a lakeside beach, and plenty of trails, this state park should be on your short list of places to visit.

There are 24 miles of hiking, biking, and horseback trails to explore. Stay in one of the cozy cottages or bring your tent or RV as this campsite has all the modern-day amenities.

This is the cottage we stayed in at Hard Labor Creek state park. It was wonderful. The kitchen is fully furnished (complete with flatware!), the floors are hardwood, and there were two full bedrooms with two beds each.

We had cable TV, a fireplace, a screened porch, and complementary board games in the cupboard!

There are a couple of hiking trails and they’re both fairly easy. So you can bring the kids along without packing an entire suitcase of supplies.

There are horse stables and a special horse campground too! Bring your beach toys and have a fun and relaxing day on the lakeside beach. My kids love the beach there, by the way.

F.D. Roosevelt State Park

Georgia’s largest state park was a favorite of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Just 80 miles southwest of Atlanta, these 9,049 acres will easily help you forget all your troubles at home and help you to reconnect with nature.

Go on a day hike or jump on your bike and explore the 40 miles of trails throughout the park. Discover hidden waterfalls, beautiful tall trees, and little creeks where the local animals come out to visit.

Wash off the dust of the trail in the cool spring water of the Liberty Bell swimming pool. Don’t forget your fishing poles or go on a guided horseback ride.

This park is dedicated to FDR and has a life-sized sculpture welcoming you to the park. Visit the Roosevelt Little White House State Historic Site, which is located nearby. The warm spring pools are what brought FDR to this area to seek relief from polio. You can view his home and walk through the museum too.

Amicalola Falls State Park

For those that love the idea of camping, but like the reality of a hotel room facing the woods, head over to Amicalola Falls State Park. You can have a luxury stay on the mountaintop at the North Georgia Lodge with a spectacular view of the park.

For a bit more privacy, reserve a secluded cabin that is perfect for a mountain getaway with all the comforts of home. Stay close to the waterfalls at the campground that can accommodate both RVs and tents.

Amicalola Falls State Park has some pretty unique features as it is operated by a private company and not the state. Enjoy ziplining, archery, a climbing rock wall, survivalist camp, and a GPS scavenger hunt.

Personally, this is one of my favorite Georgia state parks to visit. The falls are beautiful and the hike up to them is pretty easy. On one of our visits, I was pregnant and the hike was still a breeze.

Cloudland Canyon State Park

One of Georgia’s most treasured places for spectacular nature formations is Cloudland Canyon State Park. This is the place to go if you love discovering hidden caves, cascading waterfalls, sandstone cliffs, and thousand-foot deep canyons carved out of the mountains.

Mountain bikers will love the new Five Points Recreation Area and Cloudland Connector Trail. Hikers can spend the day exploring the waterfalls and taking the West Rim Loop Trail to drink in the views of the gorgeous landscape. Bring your tent or RV, stay in a yurt, or relax in your very own cottage in the woods.

Cumberland Island National Seashore

Camping at Cumberland Island National Seashore is like no other experience in Georgia. After you have taken the 45-minute ferry ride to the island, you are ready for your adventure! For those that want clean restrooms, a fire ring, a food cage, stay at the popular Sea Camp Campground.

If you want to try your hand at camping in a situation when you have to boil your water first, stay at the Stafford Beach Campground. If you’re an experienced primitive camper, you can wilderness camp in secluded, beautiful areas of the island!

The history of the island and wild horses make this camping experience perfect for those looking for something off the beaten path.

Those are the Georgia state parks to visit that have made our must-visit list so far! But we’re looking forward to plenty more we can share soon!

Get more ideas for ways to spend time with the kids in these posts!

See even more ideas for reconnecting with the kids on my Parenting with Joy Pinterest board!

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Now that we’re sharing more simple crafts with our little ones, we’ve found that natural materials make the perfect art medium.

There are so many ways to use nature to create art.

After all, nature is already a kind of art in itself.

If you’d like to try some natural arts and crafts with your kids over the summer, take a look at these 21 nature crafts for kids!

There are so many cute ideas here for taking flowers, pinecones, rocks, and more and repurposing them for adorable craft projects and games.

These are perfect for lazy summer afternoons or early fall evening play!

Thinking of getting outside for a hike? Try these tips for exploring a nature trail with kids!

21 Easy Nature Crafts for Kids

1. Leaf Painting – Look! We’re Learning!

2. How to Make a DIY Pool Noodle Hobby Horse – Molly Moo Crafts

3. Ladybugs Vs. Tadpoles Outdoor Tic Tac Toe Game – Atta Girl Says

4. Painted Rock Art – Typically Simple

5. Rock Garden Caterpillar – Nellie Bellie

6. Nature Craft: Making a Journey Stick – Growing Family

7. Outdoor Spray Painting – The Country Chic Cottage

8. Birdseed Ornaments – One Little Project At A Time

9. Kids Craft: Ice Chalk – We Know Stuff

10. Bug Village – Crafts by Amanda

11. Nature Paintbrushes – Messy Little Monster

13. Pet Rock Necklace – Crafts by Amanda

14. DIY Bird Feeder Craft – Mommy’s Bundle

15. Happy Camper Garden Planter – ABCs and Garden Peas

16. Toddler Outdoor Canvas Painting Project – Arts and Crackers

17. Butterfly Handprint Garden Pot – Happily Ever Mom

18. Easy Paper May Basket – ABCs and Garden Peas

19. Soda Bottle Fairy Garden House – My Pinterventures

20. Pinecone Owls – Crafts by Amanda

21. Flower Suncatcher – Messy Little Monster

Want to try more nature crafts and activities? Don’t miss these posts!

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Unfortunately, it’s late summer in Georgia, which means we’re not going to have autumn-colored leaves for some time. But we got out some paint, including fall-themed colors, and started up anyway!

Take a look at our easy nature art project: leaf painting for kids!

Want some more fall activities for kids? Try our fall snow globe craft or use our leaf identification flashcards to go on a leaf hunt! And don’t miss our All About Leaves printable pack for more leaf learning!

Easy Nature Art: Leaf Painting for Kids

To do this activity, you will need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• drawing paper
• acrylic paint
• an assortment of leaves (try to get ones that are large enough for your kids’ hands)

Just a quick note: This was the kids’ first time working with acrylic paint, so they were kind of surprised by how it moves on the paper. If your kids like tons of paint, definitely try tempera paint instead.

I asked everyone what colors they wanted to work with and we got started!

We put down two pieces of drawing paper – one as the “canvas” and another as the splat mat, plus paint palette. I just squeezed a bit of each color on the side.

This whole activity took maybe 15 minutes, but it was such a neat way to try art while using nature!

After we painted for a while, we started experimenting with printing.

And that was even easier, since all you have to do is spread enough paint on the bottom of your leaves and then press them down.

Lift them up slowly and you get a lovely leaf print!

Have even more leaf fun this fall with these posts!

Follow my Fall Activities for Kids board on Pinterest for even more fall ideas!

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This post is part of Paint-A-Thon 2016 – a collection of more than 200 painting ideas for kids! Stop by to get tons of art inspiration for your kids!

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Which means I was psyched to join the A-Z of Outdoor Activities series! And for today’s entry (Letter E), I’m sharing 3 Tips for Exploring a Nature Trail with Kids! If you’re ready to hit the trail with your littles, see how we made it fun!

3 Tips for Exploring a Nature Trail with Kids

Let them set the pace.

Nothing makes a child hate something more than being made to do it on a timetable. I know, I’ve tried and failed at that with my kids.

When you get outside, everyone should be able to relax and feel at ease. And that means letting the kids set the tempo.

On our trail hike, the kids started off slowly…

…and then picked it up quickly afterward. I just told them to stay within eyesight, which they did (for the most part).

Stop and examine nature.

The whole point of a nature trail is to see nature, right? So, be sure to look out for interesting sights as you go. Don’t just focus on finishing the trail.

We came across this rotten tree trunk, which had become home to a spider web and lots of creepy crawlies. It was gross, but also kind of neat?

But it was mostly gross.

Have a goal in mind.

If your kids tend to lose interest in things quickly, you can keep them going along the trail by setting an endpoint as a goal to reach.

My kids needed the extra incentive of seeing something special at the end of the trail, so we chose a route that ended in a small waterfall. All the way down the trail, they kept saying that they were excited to see the falls.

And when we got there, they wanted to stay and just watch it for a while.

Seeing how the water “fell” and then formed a stream was pretty neat for them too.

They’ve talked about this experience almost non-stop since we left. And we’ve already made plans to visit the trail again! This was definitely a win for our family.

Want more ideas for having outdoor fun with your kids? Check out my Outdoor Play Ideas board on Pinterest!

This post is part of the A-Z of Outdoor Activities series from Crafty Kids at Home! Follow along to see all of the awesome outdoor activities shared this month!

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