How to Get into the Routine of Playing Outside
I remember being a kid and playing outdoors from sun up until sun down. Most of the time my friends and I rode bikes and scooters around the neighbourhood, all summer long. I have fond memories of these times and can still close my eyes and feel the 90’s summer breeze flowing through my crimped hair.
Now that it’s May and the sun is shining brighter and the temps have risen, it’s time to head outdoors again. You can bet that a huge smile spread across my face that first day that the girls spent hours playing outside, with no complaints about being cold. Our Canadian winters sure are long, but we do make the most now that the new season is here.
Yet after months of being cooped up indoors and with so many distractions inside {I’m looking at you, devices!}, sometimes kids do need that little push to make new habits of simply ‘playing outside’.
How to Get into the Routine of Playing Outside:
Shed winter routines:
It’s time to celebrate the extended hours of daylight! After dinner when homework and chores are complete, why not take a short walk as a family or head to your favourite local park? Starting with even 15 minutes of outdoor play a few times a week will help you and your family break away from your indoor-focused winter routines.
Break out the outdoor toys:
The winter months always feel as though they’re dragging on. With so many months since last being able to play outside in the sunlight, your little ones may have forgotten about their favourite toys from last summer. Pick a weekend to pull out all the outdoor toys from storage and have your little ones help you. They will be reminded of all the fun things they can now play with again!
Learn new skills:
Learning to ride a bike is a major milestone for any child. Not only will they learn a new skill, but it will teach them a few valuable lessons like perseverance and bravery. It will also give you some precious bonding time and memories that you will both remember for years to come.
Mattel has some great new sporting goods products in stores now.
Helmets, protective gear, bikes and scooters – there’s Monster High, Barbie and Hot Wheels themed goods to keep your kids occupied, safe, happy, active, and entertained – all summer long!
Let’s give another HOORAY for summer – and for playing outside again!
Disclosure: I received product to facilitate this review, all opinions are my own.
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We visit the park often.
Everything! Biking, swimming, running, trampoline, hiking, scooter, skate, etc!
Biking and swimming are family favorites here!
We take our grandkids to the many of the beaches on the lower island during the summer and they stay busy running into the water etc. If we are at home they love to run through the sprinkler!
swimming!!
They play sports.
going to the park and swimming
Swimming, soccer and biking keeps my kids active
My kids do a lot of swimming.
Swimming,biking and going to the park.
Getting on bicycles keep my kids active in the summer. They love it.
My son looks to look for frogs and butterflies in the nearby nature areas.
We live out in the country, so playing with neighbor kids isn’t always an option. This year I decided to create a summer planner. Each day they have to do one hour of physical activity, and I listed options for them to choose from. If the weather is nice, they are supposed to spend the afternoon outside and they have to pick 2 challenges from my list. The list contains things like: shoot 50 baskets, play catch for 20 minutes, ride scooters in the driveway for 20 minutes, etc.
My kids love riding bikes and scooters, jumping on the trampoline, going swimming and playing at the park.
We go on bike rides.
mountain biking and swimming
I work in an office all day so any chance I get to go outside, I’m there!
My kids like to ride their bikes, go swimming, run through the sprinkler and go to the park.
Having our pool set up! They’re in it pretty much all summer.
We live about 10 mins walk from the beach, about 5 from the park… we keep her busy!
the park being directly across the street from us is fantastic!
beach,bike riding,hiking and they love collecting rocks for their collection
biking and scootering
They love bike riding, playing basketball, playing at the park, gardening and swimming. Thank you!
MY granddaughter keeps active during the summer playing on her trampoline, balance bike, backyard play set, and going to the park and more.
My grandkids love swimming, bike riding and their scooters.
Swimming and going to the park!!
We are out from morning until nap time then put right after nap time. Hard to get them into bath
going for bike rides
My kids go to summer camp so thats keeps them very busy in the summer!
Does cleaning their rooms count? Lol we usually make a trip to the school playground and let them run around for awhile everyday in the summer!
Sports, playground & bike riding.
Our kids play outside more if we go too!
biking, swimming, bubbles, side walk chalk, playing on the playground
You feel so much better when you outside
Going to the park, beach, hiking, swimming, …
swimming, hiking
My daughter helps me out in the garden, we go for bike rides, jump on the trampoline, play in the pool, go for walks. We spend most of the day outside as long as the weather is nice 🙂
BASEBALL BIKING AND SWIMMING
My kids invent games to play in the backyard ie: a version of baseball that has points for each base you get to seeing as there are only two of them. We also love to bike in our neighbourhood, to the grocery store, to go garage sailing etc… Thanks for the giveaway.
We go bike riding and to the park.
My kids love biking and swimming.
Swimming, playing at the park, playing outside, and riding their bikes and scooters keeps my kids active in the summer. We also go for hikes which is fun exercise for the whole family.
We go outside to play pretty much every single day there’s nice weather! We’ve joined a hiking group for preschoolers for the summer too, so we’ll go on hour long hikes and learn about nature and animals.
At the park and beach all the time in the summer
Bike riding and swimming !
they like to go swimming, ride their bikes and just playing with their friends
My grandchildren keep active in the summer by going to the community spray park, riding their bikes, swimming, dancing, and running around outside.
I myself keep them active because we are always outside biking, parks, etc Love it
Love bike rides
We have a swimming pool in the backyard.
Playing soccer, bike riding and swimming at the beach
Lots of outdoor toys.
My god daughter Kyra would love this for going to park 🙂
We go camping every weekend and make a point to bring no electronics so the kids will have no choice but to find something to do.
We do a lot of out door swimming in the summer and they love biking.
They go swim in the pool
swimming
We usually do stuff on weekends bike ride fishing hanging with friends
We usually do stuff like bike ride fishing hanging with friends
Swimming and the dog
swimming
We love Geocaching together 🙂
hiking and camping
Camping and Karate.
we love getting outside and going for walks and making trips to the playground
My grandchildren keep busy with riding their bikes or scooters, swimming, soccer and baseball.
The nice weather is incentive…winters are sooo long here!
We go for lots of bike rides, play at the park, walks
Biking & swimming!
Swimming, biking, camping, hiking, touring…all of it!