5 Reasons to Get Your Family Outside in Every Season
“I’m afraid to say anything right now; I might start crying.”
I heard my sister say those words as she stepped onto the beach to watch the sunset with me. We were at Acadia National Park watching our tweens run in the surf together and marveling at the beauty around us. The sun was setting over the mountains behind us, the salty breeze making us feel more alive than we had in weeks.
It was a perfect evening, reminding me of all the reasons families need to be in nature.
We spent a couple of hours wandering around the beach and park that night, not wanting the magic to end. And I couldn’t help but wish it was always that easy to get my whole family out enjoying the outdoors together.
Especially my own little family of four, because lets’ face it, watching the sunset on the beach isn’t something we do every day. In fact, most days (especially in the winter), it’s a thousand times easier to spend our free time reading by the fire, watching movies, or playing video games than getting outdoors.
I think I speak for most parents when I say it’s relatively easy to get our kids into nature when the weather is nice and when their ages are in the sweet spot – old enough to walk and stay close by but young enough that they don’t have so many competing priorities.
But when the weather is a barrier and our kids are really small or entering tween/teen land, we often need extra motivation to get them (and ourselves) into nature.
For this, I find wisdom in the words of nature researcher Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods:
“Time in nature is not leisure time;
it’s an essential investment in our children’s health
(and also, by the way, in our own).”
-Richard Louv
I also find strength and validation when other families, small businesses, and even big companies offer encouragement for families to get outside more often – especially when reading stories like this one from REI’s #optoutside movement and these stories I featured this time last year on the Togetherness Redefined blog.
And every time I make the effort to get my family into nature, I find heaps of reasons to get outside in every season.
(Not to mention nature makes me feel calmer, more focused, and so alive; it’s my therapy.)
Here are my top five.
I even threw in a few inspirational nature quotes about each reason to give our efforts some extra oomph. I hope they’ll help you feel good about making the effort to get your family outdoors today.
#1 - Wonder
"If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." ~ Rachel Carson
"There is nothing more musical than a sunset." ~ Claude Debussy
"A monk asks: Is there anything more miraculous than the wonders of nature? The master answers: Yes, your awareness of the wonders of nature." ~ Angelus Silesius
"It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility." ~ Rachel Carson
"The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The wonder of nature does not become smaller because one cannot measure it by the standards of human moral and human aims." ~ Albert Einstein
#2 - Curiosity
"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." ~ John Muir
"Provide lots of opportunities for children's natural curiosity to manifest itself. With very young children, our role is one of supporter and guide." ~ Lilian Katz
"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright." ~ Henry David Thoreau
"Never lose a holy curiosity." ~ Albert Einstein
"Curiosity killed the cat, but where human beings are concerned, the only thing a healthy curiosity can kill is ignorance." ~ Harry Lorayne
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn." ~ John Muir
#3 - Connection
"Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leave you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing, and listen as Heaven whispers, "Do you like it? I did it just for you."" ~ Max Lucado
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." ~ William Shakespeare
"God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools." ~ John Muir
"No human being should ever have to fear for his own life because of political or religious beliefs. We are all in this together, my friends, the rich, the poor, the red, white, black, brown and yellow. We share responsibility for Mother Earth and those who live and breathe upon her ..never forget that." ~ Leonard Peltier
"The same stream of life that runs through the world runs through my veins night and day." ~ Rabindranath Tagore
#4 - Respect
"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Our downfall as a species is that we are arrogant enough to think that we can control Mother Nature and stupid enough to think it is our job." ~ Greg Peterson
"Forests are the lungs of our land." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
"We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them. We say we love trees, yet we cut them down. And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved." ~ Paul Morley
"When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can't eat money." ~ Alanis Obomsawin
"The painter strives and competes with nature." ~ Leonardo da Vinci
#5 - Understanding
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." ~ Albert Einstein
"I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright." ~ Henry David Thoreau
"There appears to be a deeply embedded uneasiness in our culture about throwing away junk that can be reused. Perhaps, in part, it is guilt about consumption. Perhaps it also feels unnatural. Mother Nature doesn't throw stuff away. Dead trees, birds, beetles and elephants are pretty quickly recycled by the system." ~ William Booth
"To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be." ~ Rachel Carson
*All nature quotes obtained from azquotes.com.
Want to chat more about getting outdoors with your family?
Here’s a list of 15 resources from the Togetherness Redefined archives just for you.
My personal favorites from the list are The Secret to Super Fun Camping at Home, 11 Ways to Happily Hit the Trail for the First Time, The Best National Parks for Family Adventures, and the podcast interview I did with a family of serial outdoor hobbyists. Those guys still amaze me!
Come on over to the email group and tell me your faves.
P.S. Here are a few photos we took of our kiddos that night at Acadia ⤵
