Optimizing Your Outdoor Summer
By Dr. Kailey Fargo
Summer is finally here! Beaches, sunshine, popsicles, watermelon slices and sunsets call to every child who has spent the last year stuck in a desk. But behind every joyful child is an apprehensive and stressed parent that finds the change in routine and increased childcare needs overwhelming. Summer camps, sport tournaments, beach passes, and zoo memberships are just a few of the many possibilities available to us here in Minnesota!
I’m here to share with you a simple, yet motivating activity I have discovered for myself and my daughter that helps get us outside as much as possible. There’s an initiative called “1,000 Hours Outside” and it’s simply a tracker for counting yearly outside time. That’s it, simple! There is something satisfying about hitting the start and stop button, and watching the time accumulate that makes our outside time that much better. The group offers both a tracker app and fun interactive coloring tracker sheet for kids to fill in as they accumulate time (example below). If you do the math, 1000 hours divided out over the course of the year is a little more than 3 hours per day, which is a lot! We have done a little bit of improvisation to help accommodate for the harsh Minnesota winters as it was challenging to get out 3 hours every day in the winter. We are aiming for 1 hour per day in January and February, 2 in March, 3 in April, 4 in May, 5 in June and July, 4 in August, 3 in September, 2 in October and November, and 1 in December. It is definitely a challenge and we are a bit behind our target (sitting at 425 for the year so far) but having this goal absolutely gets us out more than we would on a daily basis.
I would invite and encourage you to join us in this challenge, either starting now or next year. It’s a fun and easy motivator to get those kids (and adults) outside!
We promote whole body health at Chiropractic Health & Wellness. We recommend eating healthy, participating in aerobic activities, taking supplements as needed, and preventative medical care. If you have pains preventing you from enjoying the summer activities give us a call at CHW to see how we can help you find relief naturally.
