Too Much Time Indoors Is Hazardous to Your Health

Snuggling inside a comfy blanket on the sofa with a warm drink on a blustery chilly day sounds wonderful. But as temperatures drop and daylight hours diminish, resist the urge to enter a state of hibernation. Remember that it's still important to get outside!

That's because humans aren't designed to spend the entire day inside. We need to spend time outside to stay healthy and happy. Sunlight (especially in the morning) improves mood and regulates circadian rhythms. Being outside promotes good vision by protecting against myopia. Plus, the air is cleaner! According to the EPA, "a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities."

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30 Minutes in Nature Every Day with My Kids: Week 1 of the #30x30challenge

Can you spot the mating butterflies?

Last May I tried to spend 30 minutes in nature every day for 30 days with my kids, and we're doing the same thing again this May. (Read about the benefits of time in nature in this post.) Here is how we spent the first week of our 30 x 30 Nature Challenge.

Week One of #30x30challenge

May 1 we swam at a friend's pool. Not exactly time in nature, but close enough for me. It was in the 80s and the first day my friend's neighborhood pool was open.

May 2 we hiked in a nearby park. My kids are great hikers. Also, my husband and I are willing to put up with a fair amount of whining. My husband does occasionally have to carry my 3-year-old on his back or in his arms, but mostly all three of my kids (7, 5, and 3) are troopers. I am so glad we started them young before they knew better! On this day we hiked some new trails we'd never used before. We saw tons of butterflies, and even got to observe two mating . They held still for a long time and didn't move even when my girls got very close. When they closed their wings, they were nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding leaves (see close up at top of post). Before the hike, we went to the farmers market, which I also consider time in nature.

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Make Time Every Day to Do the Things You Love

On a walk around 7:30 pm. The kids should have been getting ready for bed, but oh well.

Once upon a time I taught elementary school for many years in Los Angeles. Although working with kids was often rewarding, there was plenty about teaching that I did not enjoy. Some of the required curriculum was decidedly lackluster. Then there was the endless paperwork, the depressing home situations, the demoralizing staff meetings (your test scores still suck!), the discipline issues, the test prep, and the staff politics. Worst of all, I felt like a failure almost every day. In the beginning, I just didn't know what I was doing. And even later when I did, there was simply not enough time in the day to do everything, and certainly never enough time to do it well.

But despite the overwhelming pressures of teaching in low-income under-performing schools (often in danger of being "taken over" by the state), I decided for my own sanity to spend some time each day doing things that I enjoyed and considered important, even if nobody else cared that I did them (or even if my principal and other higher ups actively discouraged me from doing them). I read aloud to my students every day. We exercised every day. And we talked about poetry and sang songs every single day.

Turns out that learning to cope with an incessant sense of failure and always having more to get done than can possibly get done were excellent preparation for being a parent. Now as a parent of three little ones, when the sense of failure becomes especially overwhelming, I remember this lesson from my teaching days: make time every day to do the things that you love.

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How to Get Your Kids to Play Outside

Some weeks my kids practically live outside. But certain days they need a little nudge to go outside to play. Once I actually get them outside, mother nature usually takes care of the entertainment. Here are some ways I have successfully enticed my kids to go outside during our 30 x 30 Nature Challenge.

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13 Benefits of Spending Time Outside

On an after-dinner family walk around our block.

We've completed Week 1 of the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge (30 minutes outside in nature for 30 straight days). I'm posting weekly on my blog and several times throughout the week on Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #30x30challenge about our experiences and would love to read your comments and posts about your experiences completing the challenge as well.

For those who need some extra motivation to get outside, may I remind you that the benefits of being outside in nature are now very well-documented. I scanned a bunch of articles and quickly put together the following list.

Spending time in nature

• reduces stress
• improves attention and memory
• speeds recovery from surgery
• reduces pain
• promotes good health
• boosts immune function
• improves creativity
• improves mood and energy levels
• boosts empathy
• relieves anxiety and depression
• improves cognition
• extends life span

Sources: Spending time in nature makes people feel more alive, study shows; Medical: Spending time outside has many health benefits; The Claim: Exposure to Plants and Parks Can Boost Immunity; Connecting With Nature Boosts Creativity and Health; Take Two Hours of Pine Forest and Call Me in the Morning; The Value in Reconnecting with Nature; Health Benefits to Children from Contact with the Outdoors & Nature

I'll mention one more benefit I reflected upon this week: community! When we spend time outside in our neighborhood, we frequently cross paths with our neighbors. These impromptu interactions lead to learning each other's names, planning play dates, and the borrowing and lending of tools. 

Here is how our first week of the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge went. 

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30 Ways to Enjoy 30 Minutes in Nature with Your Kids

Image credit: David Suzuki Foundation

This May I'm joining the David Suzuki Foundation's 30 x 30 Nature Challenge (30 minutes outside in nature for 30 days) and I hope you will too! I'm going to skip right over the part where I convince you how important it is to spend time in nature each day (see a cool infographic about that here), and dig right into the deets. I'm hoping to post weekly on my blog and several times throughout the week on Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag #30x30challenge about how we are doing and would love to read your comments and posts about your experiences completing the challenge as well.

I plan to do this challenge with my children: 30 minutes of time outside with my kids every day, but I will also accept separate time if necessary. For example, I sometimes go for a walk with my youngest in a stroller for exercise in the morning (while my older two are at school/ preschool), but then if the older two spend 30 minutes in the backyard in the afternoon, we've completed the challenge! But I'd prefer to do it all together if possible.

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