The 1000 Hours Outside Challenge: What, Why and Tips to Succeed

Last updated on March 23rd, 2022 at 07:18 am

My first thought when hearing about the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge? Sounds great, but that’s impossible for us.

Both Amy and I worked — a lot. Our kids spent the entire day in creche (daycare). We lived in an apartment in a city. There was no backyard we could chuck the kids into to leave to their own devices.

But moving to Dublin, Ireland had an unintended consequence: more time outside. We had no choice. With no car, we either walked or took public transportation. Instead of driving everywhere like we did in Albany:

• We walked 2km to get groceries at SuperValu
• Rode bikes into the city center to catch a movie
• Spent hours at playgrounds in Phoenix Park, Inchicore, and Malahide

At the end of 2021, Amy started talking about the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge. Despite my initial skepticism (1,000 hours?! 3 hours a day?) we started tracking our time outside. We realized with existing habits, we were already tracking close to that goal.

And we loved the lifestyle.

In the rest of this article, here’s what we’ll cover:

What is the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge?

Ginny Yurvich started the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge in 2013. At the time, she was a mom of three, struggling to keep them healthy, happy, and busy. A friend suggested meeting and playing in a park.

“I thought it was the most absurd thing ever … I’m like, ‘Oh goodness, what are these kids going to do? … This is going to go so awful. So we went to this park … and we spread out our blankets…

And the kids just played. I don’t know why I was so dumbfounded, but I was just in awe.”[efn_note]https://www.today.com/tmrw/1-000-hours-outside-challenge-what-it-how-join-t214384[/efn_note] 

Yurich started researching the benefits of outside time.

“We did some research and read that striving for a goal of 4-6 hours of outside time within a day (what!?!?) was an ideal amount of time for children to spend, well, outside. This seemed excessive to us and quite frankly, way too long… BUT, we tried it. And you know what? We have not looked back. Our greatest times as a family, and my most successful times mothering almost exclusively point back to these fully immersive nature days.”[efn_note]https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/about-us[/efn_note]

Yurich started tracking the time. She realized it was adding up to over 1,000 hours over a year, and from there, created the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge. Its mission:

“The entire purpose of 1000 Hours Outside is to attempt to match nature time with screen time. If kids can consume media through screens 1200 hours a year on average then the time is there and at least some of it can and should be shifted towards a more productive and healthy outcome!”

What are the benefits of being outside?

I group the benefits of being outside in a few categories:

• Health
• Social
• The antidote to screen time
• An ingredient to quality time

The health benefits of being outside

The science is out: spending at least 120 minutes a week outdoors leads to better health and wellbeing. 20,000 people participated in the 2-year study. The findings were consistent across all age groups, including older adults. The timing of outside time doesn’t matter. It could be in small doses or a single outing. So long as you spent enough time outside.

Interestingly, the improvement in wellbeing peaked somewhere between 200-300 minutes per week. Your wellbeing didn’t improve much after that. [efn_note]https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44097-3[/efn_note]

We tout the value of “fresh air”. But the real MVP? Sunlight.

Studies show that increased sunlight exposure leads to:

• Improved mood (Leichtfried et al 2015; Gabel et al 2013; Te Kulve et al 2017)
• More vitamin D production. Vitamin D reduces the risk of poor bone health (Borg et al 2018)  and cardiovascular disease (El-Fakhri et al 2014)
• Reduced risk of MS (Hoel et al 2016)[efn_note]https://parentingscience.com/kids-need-daylight/[/efn_note]

The benefit of sunlight that blew my mind? Improved eyesight. Turns out that pressing my face against the television to cheat at Duck Hunt didn’t hurt my eyes. But lack of sunlight did.

Dr. Christopher Star, an ophthalmologist from Weill Cornell Medical College, explains that:

“Dopamine, a known inhibitor of eye growth whose release is stimulated by light, prevents elongation of the eye. Lack of dopamine results in the eye becoming more elongated, resulting in nearsightedness… Researchers suspect bright outdoor light helps children’s developing eyes maintain the correct distance between the lens and the retina, which keeps vision in focus. [efn_note]https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/the_benefit_of_daylight_for_our_eyesight[/efn_note]

Indoor lighting doesn’t have the same effect. So children who don’t get enough outside time are more likely to develop near-sightedness.

In a study published in the American Academy of Ophthalmology, kids who played fewer sports outdoors showed more cases of myopia.

When children were allowed 80 minutes of recess during the school day, fewer became nearsighted when compared to children who were not required to spend recess outdoors. Many parents are already concerned about the lack of recess time during the school day. One study showed that for each additional hour children spend outdoors per week, their risk of being nearsighted dropped by 2 percent.

So nature and sunlight are the bee’s knees when it comes to the health benefits of being outside. But physical activity is the final piece of the health trifecta.

Time spent outdoors correlates with physical activity. In other words, a kid outside will be running, jumping, and moving more than a kid inside (shocker, I know). It’s this increased activity that leads to better health and social outcomes (which we’ll cover below).

Considering the above, what’s the recommended outside time for kids? On the low end, 120 minutes per week, or about 20 minutes a day. The Australian Government Department of Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 60 minutes of physical activity a day. This doesn’t specify indoor or outdoor time.[efn_note]https://www.mykidsvision.org/blog/near-and-outdoor-time[/efn_note] Dr. Starr “suggests one to three extra hours per day spent outside, in addition to school recess time.”

The 1000 Hour Outside Challenge aligns with Dr. Starr’s recommendation.

The social benefits of being outside

Getting children outside facilitates more interactions with other children. Children learn to navigate social dynamics through these interactions. They have more opportunities to model behavior like taking turns and compromise. By spending more time outside, you’re giving children more chances to figure out how people work.

In an Australian study, researchers found a correlation between outdoor play and social savvy. Kids who spent time outdoors were more cooperative than those who didn’t (Hinkley et al 2018).

There’s also evidence that children who spend more time outside grow up happier, better-adjusted, and show more kindness (Sobko et al 2018).

Finally, studies suggest that the kind of play you get outside — physical, tangible play — helps young children learn new words. For example, concepts like “rough”, “fast”, “cold” are easier to grasp when you feel or perform them for yourself (de Nooijer et al 2013; Inkster et al 2016; Suggate and Stoeger 2016). Children better understand the physical world around them by spending time outside.[efn_note]https://parentingscience.com/benefits-of-outdoor-play/[/efn_note]

The antidote to screen time

The first time my son threw a tantrum, it was over CoComelon. He was furious we turned it off.[efn_note]According to this reddit thread we are not alone: https://www.reddit.com/r/toddlers/comments/qt1346/my_toddler_is_addicted_to_cocomelon/ [/efn_note]

For the uninitiated, CoComelon is the sing-along show with more than 120 million YouTube subscribers. The channel generates 3 billion views… a month. CoComelon’s parent company, Moonbug Entertainment, was acquired in a $3 billion deal.

What makes a sing-along show so valuable?

They cracked the code on visual and aural overstimulation of children. Each episode is engineered to be a high-velocity dopamine loop. According to Jerrica Sannes, a child development specialist:[efn_note]https://ph.news.yahoo.com/agree-disagree-educator-claims-cocomelon-150058117.html[/efn_note]

“Cocomelon is so hyperstimulating that it actually acts as a drug, as a stimulant. The brain gets a hit of dopamine from screen-time and it seems that the stronger the ‘drug’ aka the level of stimulation a show delivers, the stronger the ‘hit.’ This leads to:

1) the children experiencing symptoms of addiction and withdrawal, obviously leaving them completely dysregulated

2) a general discomfort in the speed of everyday life. 

The more they watch the show, the more the brain begins to expect this kind of stimulation. This makes it impossible for them to play creatively and without entertainment.”

This is why the screen is so alluring to kids. Physiologically, it’s a drug. No wonder why the “average American child spends only 4 to 7 minutes a day in unstructured play outdoors, and over 7 hours a day in front of a screen.”

Many have embraced strict restrictions on screen time. But removing a negative cue or trigger (the screen in this example) is an incomplete solution. The complete approach is to substitute negative triggers with positive ones. This is called the Habit Replacement Loop.[efn_note]https://charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work/[/efn_note]

The Habit Replacement Loop is why a good nutrition coach won’t tell you to just throw out the Ben & Jerry’s. They’ll suggest substituting it with fresh fruit of Greek yogurt.

The perfect substitute for screen time for children? Spending time outside. Over time, the positive feedback loop from being outside will grow, someday becoming more powerful than the pull of the screen.

An ingredient to quality time

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do once you find them

– Jim Croce, Time in a Bottle

I rarely see my parents in person anymore. Each year, we get a few days together. We are at the final 5% of our in-person time. It’s the tail end. [efn_note]https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html[/efn_note]

This means the inverse is true for my children. Both kids are younger than 4. It seems like we still have a lifetime together. But that’s wrong. 90% of that life happens in the first 18 years. For my son, I’ve used 20% of that 90%. My daughter, 10% of it.

I don’t have as much time with my kids as I think. You don’t either. 

When we sit together and read, Oliver finishes the sentences like they’re Taylor Swift lyrics. Annabel sits on my lap and shoves the next book into my hand. I’m washed over with this ridiculous feeling of contentedness. It feels unfair for one person to enjoy this much love.

I wish I could bottle up this feeling, sealing it with super glue and enough duct tape sink a boat.

Short of that, I want to make all our time together quality time. One of the easiest ways to amp up quality time is spending it outside, where we’re free from our self-inflicted problems and challenges..

Outside time breeds quality time.

How do you track 1000 hours outside?

There are many paid and free apps you can use to track your time outside. Pick any one that fits your budget and start tracking.

There’s the official 1000 hours outside app. This is what my family uses. Head outside, turn on the timer, then turn it off when you come back inside. It’ll track your time outside for the year.

Then there’s a variety of more general time tracking apps.

• Atimelogger
• Harvest
• Ihour
• Getoutside
• Timelogger
• Strides

All these work fine. However, one feature missing was seeing my family’s progress over time AND if we were on track to reach our goal.

So I built out a simple tool in Google Sheets to do that. You can set your goals, insert your time outside, and you can see how you’re doing on a daily basis.

(Tracking isn’t for everyone. Remember that hitting 1,000 hours isn’t the real goal here. The goal is to raise healthy, happy children. Having a specific number to shoot for is just a guardrail.)

You can download a copy of the sheet for yourself here. 

How do you succeed at the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge?

At the time of this writing, we’re on track to reach 1,000 hours outside. That’s despite living in a city and both parents who work (a lot). Here are some of the things working for us:

• We work remotely. I’ve been working remotely for nearly 10 years. My wife goes into the office 2x per week. Remote work gives you autonomy over your schedule. Between the two of us, we can squeeze an extra hour of time outside before the sun goes down. (Curious about remote work? Here are 10 remote jobs you can land with no experience.)
• Dublin is a great city to spend outside. Dublin (and Ireland in general) gets a bad rap for being a rainy, gloomy city. While it does rain nearly every day, the truth is we cycle through all 4 seasons in that day. There’s plenty of sunshine between the showers. This, plus year-round moderate temperatures (rarely dipping below 32 degrees Farenheight) makes Ireland a terrific place to spend outside.
• Consistency in the calendar. As a family, we keep a busy but consistent schedule. For example, every day after creche (daycare) we spend an hour outside. Instead of rushing home, the kids play,   then have a quick dinner before bed. On Saturdays, we spend another hour outside in the morning, then in the afternoon, we’re going out into town. Sundays we head to the local park, where we let our dog run off-leash while the kids climb trees, jump in the mud, or play chase. Develop consistency around getting outside first, then increase the intensity.
• Proximity to playgrounds and parks. The creche is a five-minute walk from our apartment, and on the way, we pass a small playground. It’s a natural gathering spot for all the neighborhood kids and parents after school. We also live close to two large parks, perfect for weekends and holidays.
• We don’t own a car. Errands like groceries, running to the hardware store, going to doctor appointments, etc. all need time spent outside. Even taking the bus requires walking. All that time outside adds up!
• We don’t have a TV. This means there’s no distracting movie playing in the background keeping you glued to the couch.
• We limit screentime to weekend mornings. There’s a tight window where the kids watch shows on the iPad. After that, the tablet goes away and it’s time to do something else, usually playing outside.

Again, this is what works for us, right now. It’s going to evolve with the seasons, the temperature, our schedule, and other commitments.

You might not have these benefits working in your favor. In which case, how do you get 1000 hours outside? Parenting blogs all over the Internet share their tips and activities. Here are some of my favorites tips, activities, and hacks:

• Keep a list of easy outdoor activities and games (e.g. tag, picnics, treasure hunts, Redlight Greenlight, etc.)
• Bring the toys outside. Blocks, cars, and dolls are just as fun outside as inside
• Get outdoor “vehicles”. The kids love nothing better than to push the wagon or ride the scooter/bike/skateboard
• Be prepared. Bring enough water and snacks to extend outside time. Wear weather-appropriate clothes: layers for the winter and puddle jumpers and boots if it’s wet. Keep sunscreen, bug spray, and band-aids on hand.
• Coordinate time outside with other parents. Nothing keeps kids happy outside more than someone else to play with
• Make it fun for the parents. The best gift for your children is a happy parent. If you’re loving your outside time, you’ll want to spend more time out, too. Find outdoor activities you enjoy, whether it’s gardening or sports or grilling
• Eat outside. Have picnics or do dinner al fresco
• Bring books to read outside
• Run the sprinkler on hot days

If you’re interested in tracking your family’s outside time against your goal, download a free tracker here.

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Sources:

Photo by Ben Wicks