Earlier, we discussed why it’s so beneficial for kids to be outside. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that 60 minutes of daily unstructured free play in essential to children’s physical and mental health. Yet, in a single day, the average American kid spends 10 minutes outside and consumes 7 ½ hours of entertainment media. You heard that right:  youth in our nation are in front of screens for nearly one-third of their waking hours. Let’s change this!

So, HOW can we get our kids outdoors?

If you’re just starting out, try enticing your family outside, little by little, with walks around the block. Or sit on the front porch, chatting about your day. Even if you live in the city, you can enjoy the clouds, fresh air, singing birds, and strolls to a bakery.

Youth in our nation are in front of screens for nearly one-third of their waking hours. Click To Tweet

Maybe you’re already accustomed to spending time outdoors, but would like to increase that time and encourage more appreciation for it. Perhaps your kids run outside, and return 5 minutes later complaining, “Mom, I’m so booooored!”

Wherever your family falls, I’ve got ideas for you—after all, nature is my passion!

1. Learn new “nature skills.” Make a daisy chain, skip rocks, construct a teepee, blow a grass whistle, learn how to build a campfire. I recommend The Dangerous Book for Boys, for more ideas along these lines.
   
2. Create a scavenger hunt. This is so simple and fun. Look around your yard, and jot down the items that you see: acorn, dandelion, heart-shaped rock, 4-leaf clover. Pass the list out to your kids. Let them search, either as a group effort, or a race.
   
3. Watch Wildlife. Print a bird or bug checklist for your area. Mark off and observe the creatures that you spot.
   Take up photography. With whatever camera you have, whether it’s a phone, disposable, or fancy shmancy plaything with many lenses, use it to capture the flora and fauna around you: the unfurling of a fern branch, mushrooms hiding under tall blades of grass.
   
4. Use nature in art. Join a rock painting group in your area. These are cropping up all over the U.S. Martha Stewart even had a recent article about the emergence of rock art. Try leaf rubbings, sidewalk chalk, or stick dream catchers. Spray paint pinecones to use as ornaments. Arrange flower bouquets. Create a nature notebook, and have your child sketch plants and creatures (see #3 above) as he identifies them. Try your hand at constructing cairns—or rock towers—together when you visit a location with lots of loose stones. I love the ideas from The Homeschool Scientist and encourage you to visit that site for more inspiration.
   
5. Play in the rain! A little water and mud never hurt anyone. Don’t be afraid to let kids get dirty, and to get dirty yourself. Make mud pies. Splash and jump through puddles, or just roll around on the ground. Kids, and their clothes, are washable.
   
6. Take care of outdoor pets—whether it’s feeding backyard chickens, throwing a frisbee for your dog, or riding horses. Animals need our attention, and their care give us a good excuse to enjoy being outdoors.     
7. Spend time gardening. Not only do you reap what you sow, you learn in the process. As you work alongside your kids, use the opportunity to talk about pollination, the water cycle, the importance of bees, and nutritional benefits of the foods you’re growing. Add even more fun with a fairy garden.
   
8. Grab some equipment. Air up the bike tires and go for a ride. Learn to skateboard. Fly a kite. Jump rope. Toss a ball back and forth. Play with squirt guns. Let them find treasure with a metal detector, Blow bubbles. Shoot bows and arrows. The options are limitless.
   
9. Make bird feeders. This can be as simple as spreading peanut butter on an empty toilet paper roll, and then covering it in seeds. If you’re handy, try building a wooden birdhouse using a plan like this.
   
10. Challenge your kids to a boot-camp-like workout, or an obstacle course. My boys particularly love this. Create a succession of activities:  jump 10 times on the trampoline, crawl under the swing, go over the log, pull up five times on the big branch, and so forth, until they reach the finish line.
    
11. Go outside at night. Set out a big blanket, pass out warm drinks, and find the constellations.
    
12. Get in the water. If—like our family—you’re lucky enough to live near a creek, it can provide hours of entertainment. My kids fish after school on a daily basis. In the summer, they hunt for crawdads, kayak down the stream, or float in tubes. It’s all I can do to get them inside for meals!
    
13. Have a picnic. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want. PB&J sandwiches, some fruit, and drinks are all you need. On the other hand, you can make it a special meal with appetizers and sparkling grape juice in wine glasses. These are memory-building activities.
14. Bring games outside. Games like checkers, chess, Chutes and Ladders or Sorry all work well for picnic table play. We’ve tried bringing card games outside, but often ended up with a windblown version of 52-card pick-up!
    
15. Train for an event. Kids triathlons are cropping up regularly now. Visit Kids Triathlon to find an event near you, or access a free training program. Try a mile fun run, or a 5k glow or color race. Train together, day by day, strengthening their muscles and teaching them how to pace themselves. Working towards a goal is very motivating, plus it’s great bonding time for families. You could also join a local running or biking group, to get involved with the community.
    
16. Get to know your area and what it offers. We live in the Ozarks, surrounded by hills and forests, streams and bluffs. There’s no shortage of trails or campsites, but so many people miss out on these amazing resources all around us. Find out what special places your area holds. Check out Alltrails.com to find trails in your area.
17. Explore new places. Whenever we move, or just vacation somewhere new, one of the first things we do is look up the area’s unique features: nature preserves, animal rescue centers, etc. When we lived near the border of Mexico, we frequently went to the sea turtle rescue center. We hiked at Laguna Atascosa, an ocelot refuge. We explored Alligator Lake at Estero Llano Grande, a World Birding Center. We’ve even visited the World’s Largest Fork, in Springfield Missouri.
18. Learn about and sample edible plants. We’ve made dandelion cookies, using a recipe from The Splendid Table. Try nibbling cattails (stalk and top spike), or sample redbud blossoms on ice-cream, add kelp to soups, or decorate cupcakes with lovely violets.
    
19. Record your findings. Buy a cheap rain gauge and monitor it during storms. Use a thermometer to track high temperatures throughout the month. Catch a tadpole, then draw and write about the daily changes you observe. Consider setting aside a designated area in your home to display nature items that your kids collect.

What can we add to this list? How do you get your kids to spend more time outdoors?