Why Outside

So, why do we participate in the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge (link is to their Facebook page)? Well, once you realize that the average American child spends somewhere around 1200 hours a year with their faces in some sort of electronic device or eyes glued to the television you begin to remember that when you were a child you spent most of your time outside of school ... well, being outside. Somehow along the way we've lost this. Instead of sending the children out to play in the yard or in our neighborhoods we simply allow them to turn on the TV, flick on the computer or tablet, turn on the game council and completely veg out!


Not only is this not healthy because they're most likely snacking during that time and not burning the excess calories so you end up with over weight children ( check out some statistics ) but we're also not nourishing their minds and letting them expand their imaginations. Oh, sure, those games are entertaining, TV has become everyone's standard past time, and information is no farther than a click away on most electronic devices. My children would actually ask, prior to us starting this challenge, to go outside and play and if the weather wasn't what I had predetermined to be perfect I'd redirect them to an inside activity.

Then I learned about the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge and it opened my eyes! This is the fourth year (I believe, it could just be the third) that we've done this challenge. The goal is to get at least 1000 hours outside during the course of a year. That averages out to be something like 20 hours a week of outside. And yes, I can hear some of you now ... but, we have homework to do after school (most non-homeschoolers and some homeschoolers) there's no way we can get 20 hours outside during a school week! But you can get some hours no matter what your afternoon activities are. 1000 hours seems like a GIANT goal but it can be reached. We even passed the goal one year.


The first year that we started the challenge everyone started on Labor Day and ran until the following Labor Day. That year I didn't make 1000 hours because we had such a harsh winter that I literally could have been harming my children since the temperatures that winter here in Michigan were well below zero even before the wind chill. Even still, we did spend time outside that winter ... building snow forts, igloos, and sliding down the mountain of snow at the end of our street. 

The dates to start have varied since that first year but I still go from Labor Day to Labor Day (it's easier for me to remember). And some years we make the goal, some years we pass it, and some years we fall short. But it gives us a goal to work towards and ensures that at least some of the time we won't all be on our electronic devices. I keep track of the hours we're outside each day in a notebook and post our new year to date totals (along with our weekly total) on our Facebook page each Saturday evening between 6-9 PM depending on the time of year.

And since we started this you'd be amazed with what my children will find to amuse themselves outside with. Of course that's changed as they've gotten older as well, but at least they're outside each week for several hours. They're enjoying nature and learning about it. They're spending less time on their electronic devices (which seem to accumulate more each year) and certainly less time in front of the television. We've gotten rid of cable because the only time of year we'd even really use it was winter! That's a hidden money saving bonus that we hadn't thought about at first! 

Just give it a go. Start whenever you want. Strive for even five hours outside each week and watch your children bloom.