Outdoor Kids

You don’t have to work hard to get your kid to like playing in the outdoor arena. Climbing trees, splashing around in a creek, hiking through the woods…these are all things that fall into the “naturally enjoyable” category for most youngsters. Even the little intricacies they gobble up, like packing up their backpack, looking at the map and choosing their snacks. For the most part. So many of the intentional parent moves are about getting kids to do things that are good for them and a lot of them involve a lot of convincing. You very rarely have to convince a kid to play outdoors and enjoy themselves, but you will have to work if you are going to teach them to appreciate it.

There are a couple of reasons why.

Competition – I heard stats a couple of weeks ago about how visitation to the National Parks is trending down and the average age of the visitor is trending up. Now, I personally don’t know if this is true but it wouldn’t surprise me. I find my child’s attention is fought for every waking minute of his life. He has an army of electronic options ready to entertain him with thousands and thousands of choices. Constantly.

“Wired” Parents – It is easy to talk about how electronics have changed the world for our kids, but in my experience those same kids are being impacted by parents whose lives are also drastically altered by devices and connectivity. A quote my wife and I read the other day said that for nearly every parent in the country, the last thing they touch at night and the first thing they touch in the morning is their phone.

Exposure – As pleasant as my childhood was, we weren’t exposed to much appreciation for the

outdoors. We played on the ball teams when they were in season, went to beach in the summer if we were lucky, and reserved the outdoors for hunting or fishing. We would visit a state park or two each year, typically the same ones. The only National Parks we ever went to were Smoky Mountains and Mammoth Caves, both great places. And this was the exact same blueprint of every friend and family I knew growing up. Our exposure was limited by the routines and cultures we were familiar with.

So when I think of how I want my son to grow up knowing the outdoors and appreciating the wilderness, the plan requires some strategy. You are competing for attention, and there are a lot of competitors, so first we always strive to make things as enjoyable for him as possible. The hikes can’t be too long or too tough. Fatigue can ruin everything. We try to cut him loose a bit and try to not to constantly tell him what not to do (which is an easy one to fall into).

Don’t swing on that.

Stay out of the mud.

Don’t climb on rocks.

Again, these can be a mood killer for the young adventurers.

We try to build trips around something with some novelty for the young mind. A swinging bridge, a hidden arch, a cave to explore. We make a big deal of the snacks and food. They love to compare what they’ve packed. We try to coordinate to invite a buddy at every opportunity. As much as we like to be together as a family, having friends along is always a special treat.

We talk as a family about limiting time on electronics and collectively work to maintain balance in these areas. Although this seems overwhelming for some people to consider, I have found that once we turn it off and store it in the backpack, you forget all about it shortly after you start down the trail.

And lastly, we commit to exposing our family to as many diverse and engaging outdoor experiences as we can. Some big and some small, but definitely some of both. Every year, we are going to set goals about how many nights we want to spend in a tent, or days on a trail or on a bike. We talk about places we have dreamed of going and try to go to some of them.

And when we are not out there going, we talk about going. My son seems to write about it every year when he gets back to school when they ask what you’ve done over the summer. We watch outdoor-themed movies and shows about the parks. We try, as parents, to live out what we say in hopes to model important themes for him – that there are great things to be experienced outdoors. There’s excitement, there’s adventure, and there’s much to be learned. And the wilderness is a place to be enjoyed, experienced, and protected.

Sometimes, you might even have to harness it back in. Tonight, he said, “Is summer long enough to visit every place in the world? How could we do that and fit it all in?”