Disclaimer: Just a heads up, this free article contains affiliate links. If you purchase after clicking one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost. Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Your support helps me continue to provide helpful and free content for you.
Are you considering taking part in the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge this year? It’s a great way to spend more time with your family and reduce your screen time.
It motivates families to be more intentional with how (and where) they spend their time. That’s why, today, we’ll tell you more about the 1000 hours outside challenge, teach you how to get started, and why we are participating again in the 1000 hours challenge this year.
Plus, we’ll give you 19 outdoor activities that you can use to conquer this challenge.
But know that the 1000 Hours Challenge is not just for kids!
But, first Get the 1000 Hours Outside Tracker
The “1000 Hours Outside Tracker and Journal for Families” is a specially crafted journal designed to motivate your family to engage in nature and help you achieve the goal of spending 1,000 hours outside.
- Weekly Outdoor Journal – 52 Weeks
- Yearly and Monthly Hour Trackers
- Inspiring Nature Quotes
🌿🌿 Get your 1000 Hours Outside Tracker and complete the challenge!
What Is the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge?
The 1000 hours outside challenge is a movement started by Ginny Yurich and her husband James. They learned that the recommended time for children to play outside was roughly 4-6 hours daily.
At first, this seemed like an exaggerated amount. Between school, homework, and the modern kids’ love of screens, fitting in even an hour a day seemed like a stretch.
And yet, when Ginny learned that kids were currently spending 1200+ hours per year on screens, she realized that 1000 hours outside had to be possible.
Once her family tried, they decided (in their own words) “to never look back.”
It’s no wonder they became so involved. Just check out some of these benefits of kids playing outside and being more active:
- Increased activity levels
- Improved imagination
- (Often) Boost in Vitamin D
- Better sleep
- Reduced anxiety and stress
- And much more…
And the benefits of playing in the great outdoors are more critical now than ever, especially as parents struggle to balance nature time with screens. But let’s be honest: kids can consume media for hours and hours a week if we let them, so it’s important to be proactive about breaking bad habits early on.
🌿🌿 Get our 1000 Hours Outside Tracker to motivate you to get outside this winter! And get hours of the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge.
Plus, when you think about it, anyone born after the year 2000 is falling into a bit of an experiment: how much will screen time really affect the development of children when they become adults?
As screen time is increasing with each passing year for kids (T.V., phones, tablets, computers, laptops, video games, and more), older generations are simply losing the ability to relate to what a “childhood” is.
And science hasn’t had adequate time to study or learn about the long-term effects of extended screen time in kids.
But by actively deciding to get your kids outside for 1000 hours this year, you can set them on track to be healthy and well-rounded adults.
You also won’t be alone. With Ginny’s 1000 Hour Outside movement having more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, parents have a clear desire to get their kids outdoors.
So, now, let’s take a look at:
- Why we are doing the challenge (and why you should join us),
- How the 1000 Hour Outside Challenge Works
- Ideas to get more outside this year
Why You Should Join Us on the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge
We learned about this outdoor challenge at the end of 2020. After almost a year in lockdown, we’ve decided to jump all in and try the challenge for 2021. We live in Canada, and while Emilie was born and raised in Canada, she needs some motivation to get outside in winter.
I’ll be honest: we failed to go outside for 1000 hours that year, but we were close. But most importantly, it helped us be more intentional about how we spent our time and made sure we went outside at least a little each day.
So I see that as a huge win.
In 2022, we didn’t do the challenge. We were on a really good routine, and going outside daily became part of our new routine.
We did weekly hikes in the winter. We did lots of camping with the kids from May to September. Plus, the kids started biking and were obsessed with it. We didn’t feel like we needed to log our hours.
But then November 2022 came with its polar vortex over Alberta. For the entire work week, Emilie stayed inside. I think she went outside only twice to pick the kids up.
That was bad.
So, we’ve decided to kick off 2023 with the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge again to stay motivated and survive the long Alberta winter season.
Emilie downloaded the 1000 Hours Outside app and monitored her time outside during the cold winter months. It was a great way to stay motivated and create a healthy routine. When spring came, she stopped compiling her hours, but we knew we were going outside plenty enough. Emilie and the kids spend all summer camping and playing outside.
The plan is the same for 2025. We’re starting the year being more mindful of the time we spend outside.
1000 Hours Outside Challenge: Getting Started
The 1000 hours outside challenge is precisely what it sounds like: you and your family need to spend 1000 hours outdoors.
You’re probably intimidated by that number at first glance if you’re anything like us. 1000 hours is a LONG time, primarily when parents work long hours and kids are at school or daycare most of the day.
So, let’s break this up into smaller chunks to see how feasible this really is.
🌿🌿 Get our 1000 Hours Outside Tracker to motivate you to get outside this winter! And get hours of the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge.
1000 hours per year comes out to roughly 84 hours per month. Since each month has around 30 days, you’re looking at just over 2.5 hours per day outside.
Again, that might seem absolutely insane to you right now especially if you’re living through a rough Canadian winter.
Emilie and I talked for a long time about whether or not we would be able to make this happen and, if so, what our game plan was.
Interested in joining the challenge? Check out their homepage for 1000 Hours Outside printable trackers. You can join for free and be part of a growing community dedicated to getting their kids more time outside.
How to Crush the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge
Let’s break down our strategy for the 2.5 hours per day and our different ideas to get our kids outside more often.
1. Plan Activities Ahead of Time
First, you should plan out your days/weekends by season to create a schedule. For many working parents, spending 2.5 hours outside Monday – Friday just isn’t an option. That means you could modify the schedule to spend 1.5 hours on weekdays and at least 5 hours outside on the weekends.
Again, this will depend on where you are and the weather. Spending 5 hours outside in -30 degrees isn’t just unpleasant… it’s downright stupid. It’s the same for expecting kids to play outside when it’s crazy hot.
When you think about the challenge over the course of a year, you can plan to spend more time outside when it’s nice. That way, you don’t feel guilty for staying cozy indoors on those stormy days.
🌿🌿Get our 1000 Hours Outside Tracker to motivate you to get outside this winter! And get hours of the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge.
2. Reward Yourself for Getting Outside
I know it’s silly and we should all be motivated to be active all the time and eat nothing but strawberries and yogurt, do yoga all the time, and read motivational mental health books and blah…blah…blah.
Look: motivation comes and goes (and I find it tends to do the “going” part more often).
There are some beautiful Saturday mornings that even I would rather sit inside and relax. It happens less often since I’ve been in Canada (where beautiful, sunny days are a coin toss at best), but it still happens. And that’s OK. Because sometimes it’s good to push yourself through those lazy Sunday mornings to get outside.
But during those times, why not treat yourself with something you wouldn’t normally get? On days when we have a long car ride for a hike, for example, we don’t mind stopping for those Lil’Donuts at McDonalds for the boys…and lots of coffee for us.
So don’t feel bad about indulging in a little guilty pleasure now and then if it motivates you to get out and get moving.
3. Reward Your Kids for Good Attitudes
As we just mentioned, you’ll also want to reward your kids for their good attitudes while playing outside. Normally it takes a while for kids to warm up to the idea of going outside, what with Disney making such awesome stuff (Encanto has been playing non-stop for weeks), video games getting more real by the second, and about a million apps that come preloaded on tablets.
But once kids get going, it can be hard to get them to stop.
Reinforce this good behavior with something fun and special, like hot chocolate in a thermos to fight the cold.
4. Bring Snacks… Lots of Snacks
This one goes without saying for any parent of a toddler. Snacks are the ultimate lifesaver when your little ones are losing it. I don’t know why something as silly as an apple slice can turn an entire day around for a kid, but it’s a currency you’ll want to have on hand.
5. Track Your Hours!
This last tip is essential, and it’s the one most people struggle with. You should definitely take a few minutes every day to track your time outside. Otherwise, you’ll start for a few months, get sloppy, and just give up.
But by then, you’d already invested so much into it and had likely seen more positive habits forming!
By not tracking your hours, you make it easy to fall back into sitting around more than any human was ever meant to. 😊
It doesn’t matter if you do this in the 1000 Hours Outside tracker, your daily journal, on a spreadsheet, or through the 1000 Hours Outside app. Just make sure to track those hours and stay motivated throughout the year.
1000 Hours Outside Monthly Breakdown (If You Live in a Cold Area)
If you live in a cold area as we do (Welcome to Alberta, Canada!), you may wonder how you can go outside that much in the wintertime.
Every winter in Alberta, we get at least one week (if not more) of consistent weather at -40 degrees outside (without the windshield)…
It’s awful, and with the expectation of going to school and work and maybe doing the cool freezing water experiment, we stay inside.
(Fun Fact: -40 degrees is where Fahrenheit and Celsius cross paths… that means it gets so cold that science literally stops caring about conversions).
1000 Hours Outside published a great monthly breakdown for those living in countries with harsh winters.
- January: Average of 1 hour a day for 31 hours for the month
- February: Average of 1 hour a day for 28 hours for the month
- March: Average of 2 hours a day for 62 hours for the month
- April: Average of 3 hours a day for 90 hours for the month
- May: Average of 4 hours a day for 124 hours
- June: Average of 5 hours a day for 150 hours
- July: Average of 5 hours a day for 155 hours
- August: Average of 4 hours a day for 124 hours
- September: Average of 3 hours a day for 90 hours for the month
- October: Average of 2 hours a day for 62 hours for the month
- November: Average of 2 hours a day for 60 hours for the month
- December: Average of 1 hour a day for 31 hours for the month
Download our Winter Activity Challenge to motivate you to get outside this winter! And get hours of the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge
I love this monthly breakfast as it gives you an idea of how to succeed at the challenge. For example, we love hiking with our kids and try to do weekly hikes all year round (even in the wintertime).
One short hike with the kids can easily take 4 hours (which is also a two-for-one if you participate in the 52 Hike Challenge as well).
Then, on a camping weekend with the kids in the summertime, we are easily outside for 10 hours a day (if not more).
The hardest is the work/school days. We are lucky to work from home on a flexible schedule, so we drop off and pick up the kids from school. On nice days, we usually stay at the school playground for an hour before heading home.
In the fall and spring, we try to ride the bikes to school, so we can easily get 2 hours outside on those days.
So, now that you have a better idea of how to do the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge, we will list fun activities you and your family can do outside.
1000 Hours Outside Ideas for the Family
Below you’ll find a list of activities you can do with your children to crush the 1000 Hours Outside. Ideas are for most seasons.
Year-Round Activities for the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge
- Dinosaur hunting: we hide dinosaurs along a walking path we live by.
- Become archeologists: we also hide dinosaur “bones” in the sand or dirt to dig up.
- Play Pokemon Go with insects: the boys capture bugs and look at them with a magnifying glass (without burning them, though… that’s just mean).
- Continue the 52 Hike Challenge: we started a 52 hike challenge that, as you can imagine, requires 52 hikes in the year. For more information about that, check out our post on the 52 hike challenge here.
- Create a treasure hunt: homemade treasure maps can be loads of fun. One parent has the treasure, the other makes the map.
- Spend lots of time at public parks and playgrounds: this just gives mom and dad a break for an hour or so.
- Take the kids jogging on an outdoor trail: we’re big on exercising with the kids to spend more time with them and stay in shape. Plus, we think it sets a good example.
- Teach the kids soccer, baseball, kickball, and basketball
- Bring Tabata workouts outdoors: these 20-minute workouts are super intense, but our kids love doing them with us. Because they’re fast-paced workouts, the kids don’t get bored with it.
- Create stories with action figures in the backyard: having the boys set up the action figures and tell stories as they see on their favourite shows is great for the imagination.
- Conduct fun science experiments like Mentos in soda: these “messy” experiments are a lot more fun outside than in (less clean up, too)
- Learn cool survival skills like starting a fire or building a small shelter: While camping, why not brush up on some of those skills you learned in the scouts (or if you’re like me, on the skills you always wished you’d learned as a kid).
- Find constellations in the stars: outdoor time doesn’t need to be during the day. You can sit on a nice patio and stargaze with your kids.
- Play tag, hide and seek, or capture the flag: always a family favourite. These games are easy to blow 20 minutes while burning tons of energy.
- Drive to a nearby city and walk around the town: one thing I’ve learned recently is how big the world really is. You can likely find a town you’ve never been to within 30 minutes of your home, get out of the car, and walk around a bit. If it’s a really hot day, grab some ice cream for the stroll.
Summer 1000 Hours Outside Ideas for the Family
- Go camping (a LOT): we can’t wait to go camping again. That’s a great way to get 12-14 hours of outdoor time in a single day (no… the sleeping part doesn’t count in the hours… even if it’s in a tent…).
- Eat outside for picnics: we love eating outside when we can (again, less cleanup).
- Swim in local rivers or lakes: our boys love swimming, but indoor pools are way less fun. Make sure a lifeguard is on duty or that you’re with your kids 100% of the time near open water, depending on their age.
- Beach day! (it’s Canada, though, so it’ll be on the lake): while on the lake, why not build some sandcastles?
- Go paddleboarding:
Winter Activities for the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge
- Go skiing: Skiing is a great way to get lots of hours outside in a day. With the price of lift tickets, you don’t go skiing for only an hour.
- Try snowshoeing: Snowshoeing, with cross-country skiing, is one of the best activities to do when it’s cold outside since you burn so much energy it keeps you warm.
- Find a frozen lake and ice skate: This is one of our new winter activities. Can’t wait to ice skate on the frozen Lake Louise in Banff this winter.
A mix of the above activities and, hopefully, more, is how we plan on conquering the 1000 hours outside challenge.
Playing tag for 30 minutes, for example, can be a daily activity before taking the kids to the park.
Final Thoughts: Why You Should Join Us on the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge
We hope you found this article helpful, and, for our part, we couldn’t be more excited about taking part in this challenge again this year.
Here’s what we want to know from YOU, though: do you have any other ideas we can use for that list? Let us know in the comments section.
