When I was a child, we played outside all the time. We just knew we had to be home by the time the streetlamps came on or we were in big trouble! We rode our bikes all over the neighborhood, playing cops and robbers, watching the train flatten our pennies on the railroad tracks and simply having fun with minimal supervision.
Today, it’s a different world, but our children still need to play outside. Playing outside enables children to use their imagination and use those little gray cells in their brain and exercise the muscles in their body rather than being passively entertained by video games. Spend time outdoors with your children teaching them some of the fun low-tech games you played as a child. Remember Red Rover, Mother May I, Dodge Ball, Freeze Tag, jump rope, hopscotch, Hide and Seek, Simon Says? Other great outdoor activities that you can do with your children include roller skating, horseback riding, fishing, flying a kite, swimming, and hiking.
If you still want to incorporate some technology in your outdoor fun check out geocaching. Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. Check it out at www.geocaching.com. Whatever you choose, choose to play outdoors with your whole family.
Share with us some of your favorite things to do with your family outdoors.