A couple of years ago, I ran into an interesting study published by the CDC in February 2020.

• Children ages 8-10 spend a daily average of 6 hours in front of screens
• Children ages 11-14 spend a daily average of 9 hours in front of screens
• Teens ages 15-18 spend a daily average of 7.5 hours in front of screens

WOW – Can you imagine what those averages might be now that we have experienced the COVID pandemic?

I’d hate to even guess.

However, in 2022, I found a very interesting response to those numbers called the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge.

I took the leap and accepted the challenge, and boy was it DIFFICULT! My children were aged 3, 2 and 3 months when we started and the energy required to get myself prepared to go outside with the three of them felt like moving mountains. Especially where in our part of Kansas, we get about a week of mild spring weather, a week of mild fall weather, and then burning hot summers and freezing cold winters!

As we continued to slog through the challenge, my mindset began to change. I started to realize it didn’t matter if it took 10 minutes to get everyone ready to go and we only spent 5 minutes outside – my children still got excited and played and gained new experiences – and avoided an extra 15 minutes possibly in front of a screen.

My oldest two began to help themselves more – they learned to put on their own coats or jackets, put on their own socks and shoes, and find their stocking caps and mittens and coveralls if needed. They began to entertain themselves with imaginative play – and were happy to just have me outside to watch them rather than relying on me to entertain them.

We learned that even though it is hot in the summer, we can enjoy a popsicle in the shade. Even though it is cold in the winter, we can enjoy a mug of hot chocolate on a wagon ride around the block. We can spend hours and hours outside on a beautiful day, and we can stay up past bedtime on a beautiful night.

In 2022, we fell just short of 500 hours outside, and I was thrilled. Our 4th sweet baby born in January in our second year of the challenge, even at 4 months old, averaged 30 minutes outside per day. I can’t wait to continue to improve each year.

This summer, I decided to create a scavenger hunt for my children. As a teacher, you can bet I made the scavenger hunt as much of a teaching opportunity as I could!

Each scavenger hunt activity packet contains 10 things you can find outside in the summer with a “Letter of the Day” theme. My children are young, and I plan to use our scavenger hunt on our walks around town. Spending time with my children is always worth it, but I am glad that I have the scavenger hunt to introduce ideas and vocabulary such as “aquatic” and “amphibian.”

Have you heard of the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge? What is your favorite part about being outside? Let me know in the comments!