This sponsored post is on behalf of the Toy Industry Association’s TheGeniousofPlay.org initiative, which celebrates the many proven benefits of play. Any opinions included are my own.
Do you prioritize outdoor play in your family? Life can be busy, but there are so many barriers to actually getting outside and playing together. Weather, no matter where you live, can play such a role in making it hard to motivate kids to play outdoors. We traded in those monstrous New England snowbanks for 105 degree Texas heat, but it can take time and energy to plan that outdoor play time.
While exercise and activity levels are individual to each person, many people are becoming increasingly aware of the physical and emotional benefits of outdoor play and exercise.
Not only are these activities important for children to develop coordination and strength, but they provide opportunities for children to learn how to communicate, socialize, and play with peers. My son is adventurous and active, emerging from a long day of school, bursting at the seams with energy, begging me for a trip to the park or playground.
I’m grateful to have a little boy who is insistent on outdoor play, despite all of my personal excuses to prioritize other activities!
Here are 5 of my favorite ways to motivate kids (and yourself!) to play outdoors, so both you and your child can have numerous opportunities to grow physically, socially and emotionally no matter where you live, anytime of the year.
5 Genius Tips to Motivate Kids to Play Outdoors
1. Keep a List of Your Favorite Outdoor, Kid-Friendly Places
While some may have the ability to open a garage door to the driveway or a sliding door to a deck or backyard playground, others live in the city or in neighborhoods that don’t have those options. We love packing an after-school picnic and making a playground pit-stop before heading home for dinner. We have a running list of places that we like to visit, that are literally on the route to and from school. Playgrounds are obvious choices, but we also have our favorite baseball fields, soccer nets, bike paths and walking tracks.
2. Create an Outdoor Play Bin For the Car
Depending upon when the mood strikes us or if the weather cooperates on any given day, I keep an outdoor play bin in the trunk of my car. It’s organized with outdoor toys and sports equipment like lacrosse sticks, sidewalk chalk, jump ropes, baseball gloves, frisbees, sand toys, bubble blowers and soccer balls. Whether it’s an impromptu trip to the park or an unplanned stop at the grandparent’s house, there is always something interesting available to play with outside.
3. Set Up a Consistent Outdoor Playdate
Nothing motivates me more, than spending time with my own friends. Consider organizing a consistent, outdoor playdate at the park with friends, so the kids can entertain each other while playing outdoors at a playground or riding their bikes, while the parents exercise simultaneously by walking. Since we have a collection of unique ride-on toys, balance bikes and scooters that I also keep in the trunk of my car, we swap toys with friends on these days and that allows the kids to try something fun and new.
4. Rotate Toys and Keep Them Organized
When children are home and enjoying outdoor play, keep their toys organized in bins and create “parking spaces” for their ride-on toys and bikes. Keep seasonal bins or spread a variety of toys among a few bins which can be alternated for novelty. New toys, or even seeing an old toy for the first time in a long time that a child wasn’t successful with the year before, can be very motivating and quickly engaging children in outdoor play.
5. Sign Up for After-School Organized Sports or Activities
Community activities like soccer and baseball are generally cost-effective, and have a consistent schedule. I often find myself a lot more consistent when I’m accountable to others and I have made some type of financial commitment. While organized sports may not be for you or your child, our school has an extended day program, where the children get plenty of outdoor time to climb on the playground, play ball or draw with sidewalk chalk. Since I can’t always be there in the after school pick-up line due to my work schedule, I know if I sign him up for the after-school program at least one day a week for a few hours, he can get the outdoor activity he craves without any maternal guilt on my part.
The sponsored post is on behalf of the Toy Industry Association’s “TheGeniousofPlay.org initiative that celebrates the many proven benefits of play … and encourages parents and caregivers to make play an important part of your child’s day!” While compensation was received, the opinions included in this post are my own.
We love swimming, amusement parks and boat rides and parades
Going to our local park and beach. We also enjoy amusement parks.
We like to ride bicycles.
We like swimming.
We love to go swimming.
We like to walk down to the beach or work in the garden.
I follow you on YouTube
Laurajj Jacobson
We enjoy going to the beach.
Right now it’s digging for worms and playing on the playground.
I like to read outside or go on picnics.
We love to go Geochaching 🙂
We love to ride our bikes together and go hiking, Thank you!
We like hiking!!
we like to go to the park
We love riding bikes and playing street hockey!
During the summer we go camping a lot
My favorite outdoor activity with the kids is going bike riding.
I like to go to the park or go bike riding.
We love to hike and bicycle.
We like to go hiking and camping together.
Swimming, camping and fishing!!
I am a YouTube subscriber (Vikki Billings)
fishing
My daughters favorite outdoor activity right now, is at the park on the slide!! She can spend hours sliding 😉
Lately our favorite activity has been gardening. For the first time, we picked out fruits and veggies and planted them. It has been fun watching them grow and taking care of them.
We like to ride bikes
We love to go bike riding!
We like to go bike riding.
We love taking long walks around the neighborhood.
We like to hike and play kickball
Thank You for the giveaway… our family loves bike rides, tennis, & hiking in a nearby nature preserve.
I subscribed on youtube (Jen Moyer)
We like to go bike riding
We love hiking and geocaching
Yotube subscrber -groogruxking40
We like going to the park to hike the trails!
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I Subscribe to ToyQueen on Youtube as Thomas Murphy
We love to go to the park.