There’s no denying that kids these days don’t spend as much time outdoors as they did even ten years ago. And while there are undoubtedly different factors influencing the habits of children of today’s generation, that doesn’t mean the great outdoors should be a strange concept.
In fact, it’s never been easier to encourage your kids to get outdoors more and even get excited about it, too.
Let’s take a look
Start With Something That Feels Fun
One of the fastest ways to kill a child’s enthusiasm about something is to make it a boring educational experience. You don’t want to do that. They don’t need to know they’re developing the resilience of connecting with nature. They just need to be having a good time.
Start with activities like fishing, camping, hiking somewhere with a payoff at the end, or anything that involves them getting a little bit dirty.
Once they’ve built up good experiences outdoors, the enthusiasm will follow naturally.
Let Them Have a Role in the Planning
Kids are far more invested in something they’ve had a job in choosing or planning. Let them pick the activity, vote on where to go, or be in charge of one part of the trip, be it picking the snacks or choosing the playlist for the drive. It gives them ownership before things even get started.
Make The Journey Part of It
A long drive to a destination can feel like an obstacle to get through, or you can make it part of the experience and something to enjoy before you get to the main attraction.
It’s all in how you frame the journey, and if you’re making it fun somewhere along the way, kids will suddenly become more engaged in what you have planned for them.
As well as building fun into your journey, try to loosen it up too, add in flexibility to travel time instead of treating it as dead time. This makes the whole trip feel much bigger than just the destination. Plus, even if you’re cooped up in a vehicle, you can still take in the great outdoors around you as you make your way to where you’re headed.
Take Trips That Put Nature Front and Center.
There’s a difference between a trip that happens to be outdoors and one where nature is the whole point. Camping, hiking, kayaking, stargazing, etc are all activities where the natural environment is the experience rather than just the backdrop. For kids, this will land differently, especially when they’re doing something for the first time.
If you’re taking an extended trip, booking an RV resort that gives you a base in nature is well worth looking into. You get to be embedded in the environment you’re encouraging your kids to be more invested in, and you have the space to go on adventures and make memories, all without your kids being glued to screens for the entire trip.
You don’t need to make a big song and dance about getting outdoors. Simply make it fun, make it seem like a natural thing you should be doing, and before you know it, your kids will be begging to get out more.
