City Kids Get Outside Challenge

City Kids Get Outside Challenge

You can tell they’ve been craving the outside time when we get a block from the park. Their walk turns to a skip to a gallop and to a run in the matter of moments and then they are racing to the playground.

City kids spend an inordinate amount of time being reminded to “use indoor feet” and “stop climbing on the furniture!” This is even worse when you don’t have a backyard.

Our family lived in New York City for about two years and while there were many good things about it, there are things that were hard. Our apartment was small. There was a yard out front and a park down the street, but they needed a grownup to take them to either.

Gone were the days of – “You can’t run in the house, why don’t you go play outside!” Followed quickly by the slam of the back door.

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To further complicate matters our twins didn’t have recess at their school. (Cue gasps. I know it’s terrible. I still can’t really believe it.) Apparently not everyone got the memo that physical activity is essential to learning.

So, as you can imagine, I was on a mission.

My city kids needed more outside time. There are never enough moments in our day, but I needed to set aside a few more for fresh air and gross motor movement, and free play.

Want to join us?

Join the #CityKidsGetOutside Movement

When

Feel free to start your outside challenge whenever it works best for you.

We have done this challenge ourselves whenever I feel like we need to increase or revive our outside time. It works best for me when I choose a month – say October – and commit to spending some time together outside every day for that month.

After a month it starts to just feel like part of what you do and you’re likely to keep going even after the challenge ends.

Who

Anyone who feels like they just don’t spend enough time outside.

I call this the “CityKids” challenge because we found outside time especially rare living in NYC, but anyone anywhere can participate.

What

Challenge yourself, your kids, and your family to spend more time outside. Take the next 30 days to kick start more outside time. You can define “more” however you want for your family.

Download our cheat sheet below to give yourself some simple ideas, but feel free to invent your own as well.

If you share your adventures on social media please use the tag #citykidsgetoutside so we can follow along and so you can inspire others to join in!

Other places that inspire our outdoor adventure include:

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30+ Outside Ideas to Get You Started

  1. Beach Day – yes, even in the off season, those are actually some of our favorite beach experiences.
  2. Snack Outside
  3. Bring some coloring books and crayons outside on a blanket.
  4. Practice Catching and Throwing
  5. Paint, Hide and Find Rocks
  6. Make Pinecone Feeders (inspired by the Outdoor Adventure Book) or these gorgeous ones.
  7. Visit an outside area at a local museum. (We went to the MakersYard at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum)
  8. Go Camping
  9. Hike and Look under the trees for treasures and different kinds of leaves. Take these paper bag journals with you. Or look up in the trees for birds.
  10. Draw Maps (inspired by Treecology)
  11. Create with Chalk
  12. Go Bike (or Trike) Riding
  13. Go for a Walk – Here are 12 Walk Ideas for Toddlers and Up to get you started.
  14. Read a Book Outside
  15. Visit a Pumpkin Farm or Apple Farm. For New Yorkers, we LOVE Alstede Farm. Or go Berry Picking in the Spring and Summer.
  16. Watch caterpillars turn into Butterflies and release them!
  17. Blow bubbles or if you want to have a little after dark fun THIS looks awesome!
  18. Make Body Shapes with Your Friends at the Park
  19. Explore a Pond.
  20. Take some BIG boxes and other building materials outside.
  21. Visit a Farmers’ Market
  22. Jump Rope (we didn’t have one so I ordered 2 of these)
  23. Rain Collecting and other experiments
  24. Go for a Photography Walk or Scavenger Hunt
  25. Make Rain Paint (kool aid and rain = paint)
  26. Sight word Chalk game or Chalk Math Game
  27. Visit a new Playground
  28. Play Soccer
  29. Play the Listening Game. Sit outside. Cover your eyes and listen. How many different things can you hear?
  30. Invent a playground obstacle course. (Up the stairs, down the slide, run around the structure…)
  31. Look more closely at the worms or snails that crawl around outside.
  32. Explore your neighborhood more closely with this free printable scavenger hunt.
  33. Try fishing at the nearest lake, river, dock or pond.

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City Kids Get Outside Challenge with FREE Printable

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