*This is a collaborative post
The job of a modern parent can often be a very tricky and troubling one, especially with all of the modern tech in the world.
Kids are often more interested in playing videos games, watching television, and keeping up with social media than going outside, and it makes sense. It’s much easier to have fun with digital devices, as they give you access to everything at your fingertips. Using the right methods, though, it doesn’t have to be this way, and most parents will be able to inspire a great love for the outdoors in their children. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the options you have to make it easier for you.
Learning & Education: As the first option on this list, giving your child the chance to learn during their outdoor pursuits is a great way to make it more exciting for them. Of course, though, to avoid making this feel like school, it will have to be handled in the right way. Learning about the animals they are seeing or some basic survival skills will make their time in the wilderness a lot more exciting. Using a route like this, it won’t take long for your kids to become obsessed with the outdoors, though most won’t see this as a problem.
Sport: For some children, working as a team with their peers to accomplish a goal will be the best form of entertainment there is. To take advantage of this, loads of schools and community groups run their own sports teams. Enrolling your child for an activity which you know they will like is a great way to get this started. As they get older, though, they should have some choice here, and it will be important to let them choose their own sport.
Something More Extreme: Your children may already be involved with a team, and you will want to be looking for ways to increase their time outside if you want to make a difference. Going paintballing, for example, would give your kids the chance to try something very different. While only something which can be done irregularly, this can still help your kids, giving them the chance to experience something very different to normal life.
Imagination: Finally, as the last area to consider, most children will happily make it through their outdoor time with their imagination and nothing else. Being able to make games and creating rich landscapes out of nothing, it should be easy to see why they love to play so much. To help in inspiring this sort of behaviour, you could provide some dress up gear to make sure that they can get fully immersed while you sit back and watch.
Hopefully, with all of this in mind, it should be a lot easier to liven up the time to kids spend outside. Many modern parents neglect this space, however following a child’s lead and allowing them to express themselves freely is wonderful for everyone involved.
