1000 Hours Outside Challenge 2020: A Fun Way to Get Your Kids Outside to Play & Explore Nature by Mike Prochaska

My family is doing the challenge from 1,000 Hours Outside again – and I would like to invite you all to come do it with us! Ginny Yurich, the creator of the 1000 Hour Outside Challenge, realized that children spend 1200 hours a year on average in front of a screen, and this inspired her to start the challenge to get kids outside. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• It is not a race. You don’t have to do too many hours all at once. The point is to get kids outside in nature in all kinds of weather.

• Children are naturally drawn to unrestricted outside play, which contributes extensively to every area of childhood development. The importance here cannot be understated, and yet we are losing much of childhood to screens – about 1200 hours a year.
  

• The entire point of 1000 Hours Outside is to attempt to match nature time with screen time. If kids can spend 1200 hours in front and of screens a year, then the time is there. At least some of it can, and should be in my opinion, shifted toward more productive and healthier activities like playing outside and exploring the world!

So come on, join us! Print out your free tracking sheets and then get outside!

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