I always love the new year because it’s a great time to set goals and intentions for the upcoming months. One of my goals this year is to be more intentional, with spending and time. To be more intentional with time, I decided to do the 1000 hours outside challenge! We love going outside to play in the yard, walk, and do hikes. Before our son was born we loved doing long day hikes and camping on the weekend. Since he’s been born though, hiking and camping have taken a back seat. As I try to be very intentional with how I spend my time this year, it seemed like a no-brainer to participate in the 1000 hours outside challenge!
What is the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge?
The 1000 hours outside movement was started by Ginny Yurich to encourage children and families to spend 1000 hours outside. She notes that the average American child spends nearly 1,200 hours in front of screens and only a few minutes a day outside. The movement encourages families to reverse that and spend the majority of their time outside away from screens. The website has a ton of great ideas and information to encourage families to get outside. She also has a great podcast that I just started listening to.
The website breaks it down so that depending on where you live, you aim to spend the bulk of your time outside in the summer for cold environments or winter for warmer environments. She recommends spending, on average 1 hour a day outside in the month of January and February, and increasing it monthly to about 5 hours a day in the warmest months.
How will we spend our time?
Last year, while my son was a tiny baby, we were outside every nice day in the summer. Just playing on a blanket in the shade. My son is still young, just over a year, so we haven’t introduced screen time to him. Hopefully, as we spend more time outside we can continue to minimize screens as he gets older. Now that he is a toddler, I look forward to being able to explore outside more. We don’t have many toys inside or out, so nature is our playground.
Where we live it’s super cold in the beginning of the year so we hope to get out as much as we can weather permitting. I enjoy the cold winter months but find it discouraging to want to get outdoors when the temperatures are frigid. Especially now, that I have to bundle my son up. It seems like we spend more time getting dressed than we actually spend outdoors.
My husband and I have done winter hikes, and I used to love skiing. While my son is a bit young to start skiing, we hope to go on hikes this winter. So far in the cold month of January, we’ve done neighborhood walks on those cold days and have maximized time outside on the “warmer” days.
We definitely look to get the bulk of our hours in the warmer days of spring, summer, and fall. When it warms up, we hope to go camping a few different times, visit New York State parks, and of course work on expanding our native garden! We have plans to put in a few raised beds and even explore canoeing! My husband loves to play disc golf, so we hope to visit courses in the surrounding areas. There is something special about New York summers, and I can’t wait!
Being Intentional with our Time
I like the goal of spending 1000 hours outside because it requires us to be intentional about our time. I’ve said a few times that I’m a better mom outside. While I’m half kidding, I find being outside personally is exactly what I need to fill my cup. As a mother, that is huge! I am more patient, pleasant, and all-around happy when I’m outside.
Even if you “fail,” you still win.
I love nature and fortunately, both my husband and I grew up with families that also prioritized time outside. We hope we can instill the same love of nature in our son. While he’s still very young, he already loves going outside!
One of the things I love about the 1000 hours outside challenge is even if you “fail” you still win. There’s really no failing in this. We never regret spending time outdoors, so even if we don’t achieve our goal, we still do in a way. While our plan is to be outside for 1000 hours, any time is better than none. I’ll be sure to provide monthly updates, mostly to hold myself accountable. I can’t wait to see how this challenge goes and where it brings my family this year!
