More Sunshine, Less Screen Time

Summer is here, and that means we are soaking up as much outdoor time as possible. Whether that is going to the park or backyard, being outside is a way for kids to use their imaginations and play.

Many kids in the upcoming generation are reluctant to run out the door for playtime. Outdoor play is being replaced with tablets, gaming, and phones.

It hasn’t always been like this.

Getting your kids to play outside is essential. Outdoor play has numerous benefits to children.

How do kids benefit from outdoor play?

• IMPROVES OVERALL HEALTH
• DEVELOPS PERSONALLY
• HELPS SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH
• STRENGTHENS MOTOR SKILLS
• BUILDS CONFIDENCE

We want to encourage our children to unplug and enjoy the outdoors, especially when it’s nice out. There are actually a lot of fun and simple way to get your kids outside that don’t cost a lot of money.

I’m sharing 10 of them below.

1. Go On An Outdoor Nature Scavenger Hunt 𝙰𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝. 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍.
2. Make A Chalk Obstacle Course 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚒𝚗, 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚌𝚑, 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜. 𝙶𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎!
3. Go On A Hunt For Bugs 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛!
4. Wash The Family Car 𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑? 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚗! 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚜, 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚊𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚍.
5. Have A Water Fight 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚞𝚗𝚜, 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢.
6. Paint The Sidewalk 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚝. 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝!
7. Have A Picnic 𝙼𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎! 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠/𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.
8. Make A Mud Pie 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗! 𝙴𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚞𝚍 𝚙𝚒𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎.
9. Collect Trash 𝙶𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚆𝙴 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑!
10. Backyard Games 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚃𝚊𝚐, 𝙲𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚕𝚊𝚐, 𝙷𝚒𝚍𝚎 & 𝚂𝚎𝚎𝚔, 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚌𝚑, 𝙹𝚞𝚖𝚙-𝚁𝚘𝚙𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚊𝚢𝚜.

Some of my best memories as a kid are playing outside! Challenge yourself this summer to try as many outdoor activities with your kids as you can!