Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Playground
  • Surfacing
  • Parks
  • Athletics
  • Aquatics
  • Play
Home
  • Playground
  • Surfacing
  • Parks
  • Athletics
  • Aquatics
  • Play
  • Playgrounds Make a Great Place for a Play Day
  • Critical Lightning Detection
  • Rules of the Red Rubber Ball Book Review
  • 3 Overlooked Benefits to Building a Playground in Your Community
  • Play Spaces for All Abilities

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Playground
  3. Nature
  4. 5 Ways to Get Your Children Outside

5 Ways to Get Your Children Outside

Nature
March 19, 2018
PGP Contributor
By Amy Honigsberg on
  • facebook-f
  • twitter
  • envelope
  • print
3249
5 Ways to Get Your Children Outside

Have you ever thought to yourself how nice it would be to go back to the time when technology wasn’t the central focus of our children’s lives? Do you remember when children were playing outside until dark with the neighborhood kids? In this day and age, you may find it difficult to pull your children away from phones, tablets, and TV screens. Take the initiative this spring to get your whole family outside and enjoying the fresh air with these five tips!

Take Walks After Dinner

One of the easiest tips we have for how to get your family away from the screen is to start taking a walk after dinner. To ease into this new activity, we recommend going once a week or making it part of your weekend traditions, when you may have some more free time. In the summertime, you can increase the frequency of walks after dinner since there is no worry of finishing up homework before the next school day. This is also a great time to get your kids to use their bikes, scooters, rollerblades, and skateboards some more!

Playing in the rain

Play in the Rain

You know the saying, “April showers bring May flowers!” Springtime often means plenty of rainy days, which are usually viewed as perfect TV binge-watching days. Take a break from that new Netflix series or Disney movie marathon and pull out some old sneakers or rain boots. You know kids love to get messy! Move the party outside by playing in the rain! Have a puddle jumping contest, create a relay race in the backyard, play some football, or do a slip and slide! You may have some extra laundry to do once you get back inside, but you’ll also have some great memories for your children to look back on.

Explore Nature

Take a step on the wild side! You don’t have to go as extreme as going on a safari, but you can explore nature locally and have it be an active, educational, and fun experience for the family. Not sure where to start? There are more natural preserves and conservatories around you than you think! Consider making a checklist of all the parks in your area and visiting each of them. Make sure you do your research before you go to figure out what is available at the park. Each park is different so you may find yourself walking, hiking, biking, or enjoying other activities or events. Regardless of what activities are available, sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy nature. Make sure you take time to collect any documentation the parks or conservatories have so that you can learn more about the history of the park and of the area. 

Add a Playset to Your Backyard

While going to a park is a great way to get your family outside, sometimes it’s easier to stay at home. Adding a playset to your backyard can be a convenient way to get your children off of their devices and playing outside without having to leave. A playset can be used all year-round, but the real fun starts at the beginning of spring! By having a swing set in your backyard, you are giving the children a chance to make childhood memories and enhance their gross motor skills. Introduce your children to the simple game of cops and robbers or buy extra accessories to increase the number of activities on your swing set. The extra additions can help to keep the kids entertained and can also extend the life of your playground. 

If you’re installing your swing set yourself, we encourage you to make the process of building it a family event. This will help the children see the fruits of their labor and make them value having a swing set much more.

Planting a Garden

Plant a Garden

Planting and maintaining a garden is the gift that keeps on giving! Get together as a family to figure out what kind of vegetables or flowers you would like to plant and buy the seeds at the store. When it comes time to finally plant, you can place the seeds in your flower bed if you do not have space for an actual garden in your yard. Your children will love watching the plants grow and your wallet may even thank you too!

It may be hard to get your children outside and moving with all of the different types of entertainment available these days. By adapting a few of these activities, your family will be up and moving in no time!

Add new comment

About text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
PGP Contributor
Amy Honigsberg
Published 5 years ago
Last updated 1 month ago
3249
2
min read
A- A+
  • facebook-f
  • twitter
  • envelope
  • print

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

More About

Oct 30, 2013
Nature

Hands-on-Nature Anarchy Zone

Rusty-Keeler
Jun 03, 2013
Nature

Sand and Water at School

John Sutterby
Sep 29, 2020
Nature

5 Environmentally-Friendly Actions Your Kids Can Take

Shawn Mack
May 19, 2021
Nature

Spring Activities for Kids

Erica R. Gibson
May 28, 2014
Nature

What happened? Anarchy?

Rusty-Keeler
Oct 30, 2013
Nature

Rediscovering Nature

Joe Frost
Sep 04, 2015
Nature

"Pop Up Play" Ideas

Kelsey Reaves
Sep 16, 2013
Nature

An unplugged, nature-centric vacation just may make you work better!

Anne-Marie-Spencer
Jan 15, 2014
Nature

The Adventure Play Renaissance

Rusty-Keeler
Sep 15, 2020
Nature

5 Tips for Kayak Fishing With Kids

Chelsea Smith
Jul 21, 2020
Nature

Introducing Your Baby to the Outdoors - 7 Safety Tips

Gerber Childrenswear
Apr 13, 2021
Nature

4 Tips for Camping with Kids

James Black

Nature Professionals

KOOP Adventure Play
KOOP Adventure Play
Organization
More
Pop-Up Adventure Play
Pop-Up Adventure Play
Organization
More
Bison Pumps
Bison Pumps
Manufacturer
More
Natural Playgrounds Company
Natural Playgrounds Company
Manufacturer
More
Home

Follow Us

Play and playground news and information since 2001

  • instagram
  • facebook-f
  • twitter
  • pinterest
  • linkedin

Company

  • Playground Magazine
  • Contributors
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Copyright © 2001 - 2023 Playground Professionals, LLC

Footer menu

  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions