I think we can agree that being outside is important for you and your kids. There are countless articles on the positive effects of being outside on your stress. And there are so many reasons to get your kids outside and moving. If you live in a hot climate, like we do in Austin, you spend as little time outside in the summer as possible, though. And the time you do spend outside is normally in a pool.
As I’ve mentioned before, we’re working on being intentional with how we raise our young boys. And we decided that outside time is part of that. We use our nature walks or short hikes to “explore” a new place, since we’re trying to instill a sense of adventure in our boys. It makes exploring when we travel easier and generally keeps the idea of exploration going on a local level.
Perhaps it’s not the case in your household, but in ours, we’re up at the crack of dawn, even on weekends. For our boys, sleeping in means 6:30 or 6:45am. If my husband lets me actually sleep in or I do the same for him, it’s still maybe 7:30am if we’re lucky. You get it; it’s early. One or two weekend mornings a month we eat breakfast, often something fun like chocolate chip pancakes, we get dressed and brush our teeth, and we head out before the real heat kicks in.
Since our boys are young, we have to be practical about our time outside with them. Our hikes are short – maybe 30 minutes – and the hikes are pretty easy. We try to go a different place each time. Part of what we also try to do is take the time to let the boys enjoy the moment. Skip rocks on a creek. Look at pretty flowers or cool tree. Explore a part of the trail that isn’t as warn. It allows them to take the lead while having mom and dad an arm’s length away.
The benefits are countless. Our boys are super excited to see new places and talk about it for a week or longer. We drive by places near our past short hikes and they comment about “remember when…”. It’s amazing to hear. It has clearly left an impression. And they gain confidence in their own abilities.
And, from a practical perspective, it’s still early enough in the day to get in a hike and then go to something else. And that something else can be something fun or something productive like errands.
How have you gotten into nature this summer? Do you have any tips on getting your kids excited about nature or exploring in general? Please share in the comments.
