Tired of arguing? With these ideas your kids will beg you to spend time outdoors!
We all know about the benefits of outdoor play, but sometimes getting out of the door can be a challenge. Screens, indoor play, games, and sometimes just the couch are a temptation on some days, especially if the weather is not perfect. So, what can we do to motivate our family – because let’s be honest, sometimes it’s the adults that don’t want to go out – to put on those shoes and start a brand new adventure?
We have our own ideas (like our free Forest Bingo Card… just saying… :-D), but we have asked other bloggers for their best tricks – and there are some amazing ideas to motivate kids to spend more time outdoors. I am sure we will make some of these ideas part of our summer, and maybe you will too…
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Become a scientist for the day
Nadia from Ms C´s Science Room has this great way to motivate her students to spend more time outdoors: to become a scientist for the day. This sounds so cool – outdoor play and learning at the same time.
“One of my favorite ways to motivate children to spend more time outdoors is to get them to become Scientists for the day and investigate their local ecosystems! This activity is so versatile. It uses minimal equipment and can be conducted almost anywhere, from your backyard to a local park, beach, river, or pond. Send your kids outside with the following three tasks:
Picture by Ms C´s Science Room
Young scientists should start by observing the living organisms in the habitat. How many different types of plants are there? Are there insects? Are the living things interacting with each other? Maybe there are even small animals or fungi! The kids should really get into the habitat if it’s safe to do so – turning over rocks and leaves. A magnifying glass would also be a handy addition to this stage of the activity.
Next, the kids should record their findings like proper scientists! They can count and tally the number of insects they find, create some drawings of the plants, or take photos of the animals or insects in the ecosystem.
Finally, they should communicate their findings. Get your young scientists to write detailed descriptions of some of the living organisms they encounter. Have them draw some biological drawings of the wildlife, including labels. The activity can even be taken a step further by having them explain their findings to you.
The best part is this activity can and should be repeated. The scientists can observe and compare different habitats or even compare the same ecosystem at different times of the year, getting them outside more often!”
Related: Birdwatching with kids
Take them on a scavenger hunt
Scavenger hunts are a great way to motivate your kids to spend more time outdoors, and Victoria from Guide your Travel agrees with me on this!
“If there’s something all kids enjoy then it’s scavenger hunts. They’re great for ages five and up although younger kids will also enjoy them if they can come along. While a scavenger hunt does take some preparation time it’s usually more than worth it. The kids will spend hours outside and will be begging for another one in no time.
If you’re not feeling creative you can always look for scavenger hunt inspiration online so you can come up with some great clues. If you have a yard or outdoor space available you can easily come up with an exciting scavenger hunt on your own property. You could also incorporate both indoor and outdoor spaces although if you’re trying to get the kids out of the house maybe keep this to a minimum.
If your kids are a bit older and more independent, I’d even consider including public places like a nearby playground or a park. Of course, safety is most important so get an adult to accompany them.”
Related: 6 great ideas for scavenger hunt games with kids
Back to basics – playing ball
Ariana of A World of Travels with Kids loves this simple but effective way to motivate kids to spend more time outdoors: Playing ball.
“In my experience, kids love their parents to do things with them! In some ways, having me involved is motivation enough to get them outside! I seriously mean this – if I go outside and start working in the garden, the kids tend to follow. However, my number one tip to motivate them to get outdoors is simple and cheap – play ball with them!
Picture by A World of Travels with Kids
That’s right, playing ball is one of the oldest games and yet the best. Sometimes if they are particularly unmotivated, we will crank up the music and play ball to that. (For example, how many passes can we keep it in the air for?) When the children get to school and play ball games, you can see that for many children catching and passing a ball is an acquired skill! Having good ball skills, therefore, puts them in good stead for team games later on. Speaking of team games, once they start playing netball or basketball, a home hoop is a brilliant investment for their skills. (And I also love shooting hoops with them).
We also have a ball in the car for road trips or just random stops at the park. A small tennis ball works once they are a bit older – and can provide a short, sharp burst of fun! A ball should definitely be on the list of gifts for kids who travel and love to spend time outdoors.”
An all-time favorite – Geocaching
Anisa from Norfolk Local Guide recommends geocaching to motivate kids and adults to go outside more. The combination of finding a “treasure” and having to navigate is really enticing.
“If you want to motivate your kids to spend more time outside, you need to turn it into a fun game. Geocaching is like a treasure hunt for the digital generation. The whole family can play, all you need is a smartphone and a sense of fun.
Picture by Norfolk Local Guide
Once you download the app, you can see the approximate location of caches (the treasures you are searching for) near you. Follow the clues and the directions on the map to find them. Some caches are easier than others!
Once you find it, you can add your name to the logbook. Sometimes there are trinkets inside too. If you want to keep the trinket, you need to leave something in its place, so come prepared.
Both kids and adults will enjoy the challenge of finding the caches and there is also the anticipation of what you will find inside. Once you download the app, you will be surprised by how many caches there are near you. It could also be fun for the family to create their own cache complete with clues and a trinket inside.”
A great book recommendation – Grow Wild
Olivia from Finger Lakes Family Fun is recommending a book to motivate kids to spend more time outdoors. What a great idea, we will definitely get this for rainy days!
“I’m a bit of a fangirl of Katy Bowman, a biomechanist whose very mission in life is to get people moving, ideally outside. She recently released a new book, Grow Wild, that focuses on kids. It’s a beautiful tome, with lots of action shots from families around the world.
Picture by Finger Lakes Family Fun
I especially love Bowman’s whole-culture approach: She doesn’t just look at individuals but really takes into account their family environment, built environment (for example, the way a house or apartment is set up – she recommends furniture-free…or at least without too many couches that constantly invite you to sit) and whole social and cultural context. What she hopes for everyone to create is a movement-rich environment.
She has lots of suggestions for getting kids outside: from cooking more outdoors, to growing a garden, foraging together, creating opportunities for walking more, or creating dynamic celebrations in nature. I highly recommend Grow Wild for inspiration and ideas!”
Make an adventure out of a hike
Sinead from Map Made Memories loves to take her kids on hikes. To motivate them, she makes hikes an adventure and a mission – finding something along the way. What a great idea!
“Our family is keen walkers and we have taken our children hiking all over the world but occasionally, our three children need persuading to don their hiking boots, especially in poor weather.
Picture by Map Made Memories
The kids are generally happy to go for a family walk if they know in advance what to expect in terrain and length. We have also found our children are more motivated if they feel the hike has a purpose. Sometimes the objective is as easy as ‘let’s see how many bumblebees we can find today’ or ‘let’s go to the top of that hill and see what’s on the other side.’ At other times, motivating the children requires a little research on my part.
For example, I research what we might see on the walk and print a picture of a flower, bird, or landmark and ask the kids to spot the objects or animals on the hike. When we went hiking in Madeira in Spring, I brought pictures of wildflowers and the kids had fun trying to find them on our hikes. A little bit of effort from me goes a long way to prevent pre-hike moaning from the children!”
Related: 5 Tips for Hiking with kids
Take them camping
Christina from Live A Wilder Life takes her kids camping to motivate them to spend more time outdoors – and I am sure this works! We will be going camping for five straight weeks this summer, and I am already so excited!
“One of the best ways to get your kids to spend more time outdoors is to start taking them camping from a young age. While camping with a toddler might seem like a daunting task, it is doable if you can go with the flow and manage your expectations.
Picture by Live A Wilder Life
Camping can teach them fun and valuable life skills like building a fire, respect for nature, and wildlife safety. It’s also a great way to expose them to exciting outdoor activities like kayaking, fishing, hiking, and interactive learning experiences like stargazing, birdwatching, and rock collecting.
We started taking our son camping when he was three years old, and he loved it! If you make sure to add S’mores, hot dogs, and ghost stories to your camp life, you’re practically guaranteed to have kids who want to get outside and go camping again.”
The 1000 hours Outside Challenge
Lisa from FlipFlopGlobetrotters is taking part in the 1000 hours Outside Challenge this year. What a great way to motivate the entire family to spend more time outdoors!
“At the beginning of this year, one of the moms in our homeschool group shared the website 1000hoursoutside.com. This website hopes to motivate families to make spending time in nature a priority. On average the time kids spend on screens is 1200 hours a year. The 1000hours Outside Challenge was created to try to match screen time with nature time.
All of us in our group jumped on the idea of starting to track our time outside and share it every month. It’s not a competition, but simply fun to see how everyone is doing. Our aim is to inspire and encourage each other.
The website offers some lovely free printable trackers. You can track your outside time per 100 hours or for the whole year. We chose one for the whole year and I put it up on the whiteboard in our living room so we can see it every day.
Our son loves being able to color the boxes every time we come back inside. If I forget, he reminds me “mommy we still need to color the boxes, how many can we do today?” And then we’re both happy if we get to color a lot of them. Our maximum so far is about 5 boxes at a time, but spring has only just started so we’re hoping for a lot more this summer.”
Take them out for a walk to interesting places
Clara from Petite Capsule also has a great idea for motivating kids to go outside more.
“One of the best ways to motivate my little one to spend more time outdoors is by taking him on a walk with an interesting path. For example, he enjoys walking around lakes, like the Dove Lake Circuit in Tasmania Australia, because it provides opportunities to walk on boardwalks, gravel, sand, dirt, and metal grids. He can also climb rocks and stairs. We walk past trees, waterfalls, logs, and small patches of the beach. There are chances to spot various wildlife flying overhead, swimming in the lake, in trees, and on the ground. Our surroundings change as we walk along Dove Lake Circuit and see the beautiful lake and mountain ranges from different angles; narrow in some spots, with spectacular panoramic views from others. Access to the lake, like at the Dove Lake Boat Shed, gives a natural break spot to sit and enjoy the view, skip some stones, or have a packed bite.
There are many walks with interesting paths that include other features like tunnels, bridges, suspension bridges, creeks, wetlands, and rainforests. Finding walks that include a few of these encourages my little one to spend more time outdoors.”
I am sure you will find some great ideas in this list – and if you need more motivation, please check out this article: How to get your kids to spend more time outdoors without starting a rebellion.
Further Reading: How to get your kids to spend more time outdoors without starting a rebellion
