Ways to Get Your Child Engaged in Outdoor Activities

The great outdoors are calling, but kids aren’t necessarily going to listen. Healthy kids should have outdoor activity as a routine part of their lives, but in the age of easily accessible technology, it can be challenging to encourage your children to be engaged in outdoor activities. How can you help your healthy kids benefit from sunshine and fresh air?

Finding Something Fun

Pediatrics care providers recommend finding an outdoor activity that really drives your children to head outside on their own. If you turn going outside into a chore, according to Glendale pediatricians, it can backfire, making your children want to stay in even more. Do not threaten to take tech away, or otherwise coerce your kids into outdoor activity. Instead, think about how you can bring their favorite parts of being inside, outside.

If your child is really interested in adventure games on a phone, tablet, or computer, for example, try to find an outdoor activity that has similar features. Make up challenges for the family and get everyone outside playing. Healthy kids have healthy, active parents who go outside, too!

Relaxed and Flexible

Outdoor activities do not have to be formally scheduled or organized, and a go with the flow attitude may help bring your kids outside. Try a family trip to an interesting park, zoo, or outdoor play area, and watch your healthy kids enjoy nature on their own terms.

Reward participation in outdoor activities rather than punishing kids who stay indoors. If your healthy kids opt to play outside after dinner, try to head out with them to give the reward of family time, or bring out a special treat to enjoy outside – pediatrics care providers, of course, will recommend fruit, yogurt, or a similar healthy treat versus something less nutritious.

Talk to your kids about the benefits of going outside, from the social aspects to the ways through which outdoor exercise can help their brains, bodies, and moods. Your Glendale pediatricians can be a great resource for explaining the need for outdoor activity when raising healthy kids.

Be sure to follow pediatrics care guidelines while outdoors, including appropriate sun protection and weather-friendly clothing, adequate nutrition and hydration, and knowing what to do in the event of an injury while outdoors. Your Glendale pediatricians office can give you tips on how to make outdoor activity family friendly and safe.