When you have some time off to spend with the children, keeping their interest engaged can sometimes feel like an arduous task. Especially if your children are used to spending a lot of time online, or are avid phone or PC gamers. These children quickly get used to the ‘overstimulation’ playing online provides.  

So, how do you get your children to fall in love with the outdoors? Simple. You wow them with a fun, attention-grabbing activity, like one of these:

1.   Mini Obstacle Courses and Races  

Regardless of whether you have a lawn or not, a little creativity is all you need, to set up a mini obstacle course event for your children. Imagine this: the little (or large) patch of green in front of your house, transformed with crawl slides, slip and slides, rope ladders, barrels or stools (or borrowed dining room chairs) to crawl over and under, and you’re already five obstacles in!  

You’re really limited only by your creativity here. Not only is it good physical exercise, but you can also use this opportunity to teach the children valuable lessons in healthy competition, fair gameplay, teamwork. Especially if you’re splitting up against each other in teams and working on different approaches.  

You will also happily tire them out, which is essential. Growing children need their sleep, and to sleep well, they need plenty of physical exercise. Now I know no parent thinks that their kids aren’t active enough. But at home obstacle courses are a great way to make sure that this activity is also all-round for them.  

2.   Park Them at The Park 

If you do not have a lawn, or even if you do and simply want a larger space to play in, make a regular habit of taking your children to the local neighborhood park.  

Whether you move the home obstacle course to the park, or have a sprawled out, hide-and-seek meets paintball style water balloon fight, neighborhood parks are underrated in how much good they do for children.  

Your children will be able to run around unrestricted, get plenty of exercise, and even play with other children their own age. It’s great for helping children socialize across age groups, and also provides a great way for you to have an absolute gala with your kids, with minimum planning involved. And plenty of sun, too!

3.   Hiking and Camping  

Of course, taking up planned outdoor activities with children is a great teaching opportunity as well. Whether you’re camping with your children just off your friend’s farm, or out in a national park, both camping and hiking are severely underestimated for both beginner hikers and experts.  

Short overnight camping trips and short-distance hikes over moderately rugged terrain are a great way to introduce your children to the wonders of being out in nature. You can even start with day trips to national parks and sites, and progress to overnight or longer adventures, where you camp out as well.  

You will not only be able to give your children important lessons about how to explore nature safely, but also slip in snippets of essential life hacks, like identifying poison ivy, detecting and avoiding snakes, etc. You don’t have to be an expert yourself, just willing to explore and learn.  

But your children will develop a love and respect for the outdoors that will last them their entire life. Not to mention, camping and hiking teach children to play well together and build cooperation and teamwork like no indoor game can.

4.   Tandem - On Bikes or Not! 

When it comes to outdoor activities, biking is always an option. In areas that have harsh winters, you might have to hang up the wheels for the late months. Otherwise, biking is a great way to spend time with children.  

Not only does biking allow you to explore more areas with your kids, but also naturally teaches your children a modicum of independence, while still following rules. There are small decisions to be made even when biking on the same trail in a group, and you can be there and keep an eye on your kids, as they figure it out.  

It doesn't even have to be pro-level stuff. You can start as small as biking around your block, and move up to rougher terrains- and more adventure!

5.   Canoeing, Rafting, Boating, Paddleboarding!  

If you live close to a water body, there’s an entire array of watersport activities for you. Places to paddle board in London, for example, can be easily located, and are easy to access when traveling with your family. Depending upon your children’s age, you can start teaching them how to fish, how to row, how to paddle out in placid waters- after making sure they know how to swim, of course.  

The best part is the sheer number of water activities. You can take up progressively tougher adventures as your proficiency and teamwork progresses. Not only is it so much fun, but it makes for excellent family time for you and your children.