Make Summer 2020 Count, Part 1: 100 Hours Outside

Welcome to the next post in our collaborative series for summer! I am working together with my friend Marissa at Raising Rices to create a series of posts all about having a purposeful summer, and Marissa came up with the perfect tagline for this summer: Make Summer 2020 Count! Last week I posted all about planning for a purposeful summer, and Marissa shared on her blog the first printable she created to help us all track how we are making this summer count! Our first goal that we hope to work on with our families is getting in 100 hours outside each month (or a little over 3 hours a day). That might sound like a lot, but we are hoping that after reading this post, you will see the many benefits of outdoor time for kids and will come away with enough ideas and motivation that getting in those 100 hours will be easy!

Benefits of Being Outdoors

I am blessed to have a wonderful resource in my family to keep me appraised of how good it is for kids to play and learn outdoors. My "mother-in-love" Velvet received her doctorate just last year, and she wrote her dissertation on encouraging teachers to use outdoor learning environments. I was able to sit down with her recently to discuss the many benefits kids get from being outside. Here is a brief overview, just to help us understand the "why" behind making this a priority in our families:

Physical Benefits: being outside means that kids are just naturally going to be more active! We all use our bodies more when we are outdoors, but kids in particular are more likely to run, jump, climb, and use all of those gross motor skills that are so important for them to develop and grow in. This means that they get aerobic exercise that prevents obesity and heart disease, and allows their bones, muscles, and organs to develop and become stronger. 

Being outside in the sun also provides Vitamin D, which is something that many people are deficient in. Kids need Vitamin D in order for their bones to absorb calcium and grow, and also to help their immune systems regulate themselves. 

Children who spend time outside are able to develop their 5 senses much more than kids who stay indoors. Being outside often requires us to use all 5 senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch), sometimes all at once, and isn't something that we get to "practice" as much while indoors.

Finally, when kids play outside, they gain unique skills they cannot learn as easily any other way, like swinging, pushing/pulling heavy things, balancing, and throwing/kicking a ball.

Cognitive Benefits: Being outdoors has been shown to reduce symptoms of ADD and ADHD, and helps kids grow in their attention spans. They are also more likely to begin self-directed play (making up their own games rather than requiring an adult's input), and grow in their abilities to be creative, problem-solve, and plan.

While being outside, kids do a lot of hands-on learning that helps them "cement" a lot of what they have read in books or heard from teachers. While they may have heard that ants live in a colony and work well together, actually seeing a line of ants carrying food to their ant-hill deepens kids' understanding. Kids might have read about the water cycle in school, but seeing the rain fall and then later watching the puddles evaporate in the sun gives them a very concrete understanding of what they've heard. Learning in this experiential way adds a deeper layer to kids' knowledge and helps them remember things more.

It may be hard for some of us to consider this next point a benefit, but it really is! While being outside, kids also take part in "risky play", which means they assess whether a situation is within their physical abilities, and grow in learning what is too risky. This also means that they are able to learn cause and effect in very memorable ways: when I jumped off of that tree branch and landed, I hurt my leg. That was too risky! I won't do that again." The reason this can be hard for us as parents to allow is that nobody wants to see their child get hurt! The fact is, though, that our kids need to gain these skills and abilities now, while the consequences are more minor, so that they can have strong risk-assessing and decision-making skills later in life.
(Please note: I am not saying we should willingly allow our kids to get into truly dangerous or life-threatening situations. There is a definite balance here for us as parents to find: to stay aware of our kids and make decisions for them if they are being too risky, but to allow smaller consequences when we can so that they gain the learning opportunities. Something that has helped me in this arena is to pause for a moment when I feel an urge to step into a non-life-threatening situation for my child, and to ask myself some questions. "What are the potential consequences? What is likely to happen? Does that consequence outweigh the opportunity for my child to learn this lesson?" After that, I will then sometimes ask my child some questions to help them think through their decisions. "Are you feeling safe right now? What do you think could happen? What should you do now?")

Emotional Benefits: Most people are able to relate to the experience of just feeling more at peace and being happy while out in nature. One of the reasons for this is that outdoor sunlight stimulates a gland in the brain called the pineal gland, something that keeps our immune systems strong and also makes us feel happy! Being in the fresh air reduces stress levels, and the ability to have free play with lots of space and opportunities helps kids feel calmer and happier.

Relational Benefits: The unique ways to play outside with others helps kids to develop stronger social/emotional development. Unstructured outdoor play teaches kids several social skills, such as taking turns, cooperating, sharing, and working as a team to get a task done. Besides that, many times the very best memories kids create with friends and family are made outdoors! If you think about your favorite childhood memories, how many of them are based in an outdoor setting? Camping, swimming, playing at the park, going on "adventures"...There is just something very unique and special about being with people you love outdoors that leads to stronger relationships and some of our most cherished memories.

How Do We Do This?

Ok, so we've convinced you of the importance and benefits of being outside. So now, how do we do this on a practical level? Well, the short answer is: just let them go outside. Kids are amazing at figuring out what to do once they are out there; we just need to give them plenty of opportunities to do it. Schedule outdoor time into your day and make it a priority. You can even combine activities if your schedule is busy: eat meals outside, or do school/learning/reading outside. 

If you want more specific tips and ideas, I totally get it! Here are some of the things we have done to make outdoor play an ongoing part of our day.

1. First, here are some supplies that would be good to have on hand:

• First aid kit (see above benefit on "risky play")
• Drinking water (all of that playing means kids need extra hydration)
• Snacks

That's really all you need to have. For real. Kids can find all kinds of "play things" in nature itself:

• sticks
• rocks/stones
• dirt/sand/mud
• water
• tree bark
• flowers/plants
• grass
• tree stumps

Still, if you want to give kids a "creativity boost", some of my kids' favorite "bonus tools" are these:

• Shovels
• containers of some sort (bucket, pot, dish, cup)
• Spoons/ladles
• Knives (for cutting plants or limbs; use your discretion as far as kids' ages and ability to use safely)
• Rulers (to measure plants, bugs, etc)
• Notebooks and pencils (to record their findings, make a treasure map, draw an insect/bird, etc)

2. Usually kids are great about finding things to do just by being outside (and it's important for adults to let them have this self-directed play rather than telling them what to do!) But what about if the kids are struggling to figure out what to do, or just don't want to be outside? My kids definitely have these times, and they usually respond well to "challenges". Here are 10 ideas to help "jump start" kids' creativity. You can even make them an "outdoor challenge" for this summer and have kids check them off as they do them, or write them on slips of paper to put in a jar and have the kids choose one when they need an idea. 

• Build a fairy/mini person house
• Create new "recipes" using only things found in nature
• Create an obstacle course and go through it
• Go on a scavenger hunt/treasure hunt
• Pretend to be explorers in a new land and record your findings
• Make a maze/obstacle course for an ant
• Outdoor school, where you can only teach/learn using outdoor items
• Outdoor "tea party"
• Nature art (create something using mud, flowers, dirt, rocks...)
• Make a game out of things found in nature (tic-tac-toe with sticks/rocks, for example)

3. There may be a few things to consider for different weather, (because not every day is going to be a perfectly clear and sunny 75 degree day). Rain is a very common occurrence where we live, and we have also had our share of 90+ degree days! When this happens, we may need to make some adjustments, but we still try to make outdoor time possible. On rainy days, as long as there is no lightning or other dangers, my kids just treat it like any other day. We have rain boots and rain jackets, but they don't always use them; I have plenty of photos of my kids getting drenched in the rain outside, perfectly content and laughing. I make sure to have towels ready for them when they come inside, but that's about all that changes. 
On particularly hot days, we have done a few different things: we try to get our outdoor time in earlier in the day before the heat really hits, or spend the day near some water (river, lake, etc) to help us keep cool. We also try to stay in the shade as much as possible, and wear sunscreen and/or appropriate clothing to protect us from the sun, as well as drinking lots and lots of water.

4. I've mentioned this a few times in this post, but it bears repeating: let your kids direct how they are going to play. It's great to give them a few tools and ideas to get them started, but once that is done, step back and let them figure it out. Kids will miss out on a lot of the benefits of outdoor play and learning if all they are doing is what you tell them to. So let go of the reins, step back, and enjoy watching these kids learn, grow, develop, and create.

5. One last idea for filling in some of those outdoor hours is to provide kids with some age-appropriate outdoor chores. Just about any age is able to pitch in somehow to help maintain your outdoor spaces, as long as you are able to supervise and give adequate instruction. Here are a few ideas for "outside jobs" that kids can help with, starting with ones that even little guys should be able to do, and ending with those that are more appropriate for older kids:

• Cleaning up the yard before a parent mows (toys, rocks, sticks, etc)
• Cleaning up grass after a parents mows
• Watering plants
• Planting seeds/plants
• Weeding
• Wiping down outdoor furniture
• Helping to wash the cars
• Hosing down the patio or sweeping it off
• Setting up the sprinkler
• Mowing the lawn 

Raising Rices and I hope that you have gained some helpful tips and ideas in this post to help you get started in getting 100 hours outside! Don't forget to go to Raising Rice's blog to grab your free outside hours tracker! There is a printable version to mark off for the entire month, as well as a digital daily image to post on social media. We hope you will join us in 100 hours outside and making summer 2020 count!

We will see you back here later this week for our next post in the series: summer reading!