So we recently returned from an amazing 3 day family vacation in Yosemite. And, if you’ve ever been to Yosemite, you know just how beautiful and breathtaking it is.
Our kids were in heaven.
Not only did they get to spend most of the day outdoors, they were surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
Honestly, we couldn’t have asked for a better vacation.
And I loved watching them…the kids. Seven of them, ranging in age from 4 to 12 years old.
The beautiful thing about kids and the great outdoors is exactly this:
They can stay outside forever. And I’m not kidding. Forever. “When it gets dark” is still too early.
They don’t whine, complain that they’re bored, or shout “stop touching me!” The only slight disagreement I ever heard was about who had the biggest walking stick.
Their legs never stop running/climbing/jumping/skipping. Well, save for 20 minutes of my uphill hike with Little Sister in tow who was “too tired to walk mom”.
They don’t need toys. They have sticks, rocks, dirt, water, snow…you name it…nature has them covered.
They work together. Helping each other up rocks, picking out sticks for each other, and the older ones watching out for the younger ones.
They take risks. From rock climbing to crossing fallen trees over flowing creeks, kids like to test their limits. Admittedly, I had to hold my breath (and my tongue) a few times. It’s always a fine line between giving them some room to explore and making sure they don’t fall off a cliff or something.
Little Sister sure put us to the test when she insisted on crossing one of those fallen trees. The drop may have only been about 5 feet, but to the hubs and me it may have well been 100. She confidently and without hesitation set off across that tree trunk with the hubs following close behind practicing “touch supervision”.
She made it safely across, I could breathe again, and she was so proud.
And it’s for all these reasons that kids need to get their daily dose of the great outdoors.
They absolutely need it.
We do too.
It reminds us that less is really more, that being unplugged is SO good, and that we (I) need to relax and trust our children when it comes to taking some risks.
The great news is, we don’t need to be in Yosemite to do all these things.
All we need to do is simply open our front door, get out, go, and get muddy. Because kids do nature right and it really is their most perfect playground.
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Risk-taking was always the part I had the hardest time with — especially physical risks. Glad you had a great vacation!
Beautiful description! My boys enjoy nature so much and we’re always looking for ways to get them outside. I’m jealous of your trip to Yosemite — I’m hoping to take a trip up there soon. Thank you for the reminder of how important nature is!
SO true!!
Recently (for spring break) we decided to go out to East Texas. Tatum. Podunk. Middle of no where!
Really.
My family there (my Aunt, 2 of her daughters, and their children) live in two mobile homes…on dozens of ACRES of land.
No electronics. No playstation. No Nintendo.
They (my cousins/Aunt) suggested I allow the kids to bring their Gameboys (or whatever) because “there’s NOTHING to do out here.”
I admit, I was a bit concerned. WHAT would WE DO with these kids for the afternoon?!
So I allowed them to bring coloring supplies. That was all. Because…we were gonna spend time with our family (dammit!). Undistracted!
And that we did. And they played together outside (because there’s not much room or stuff to do inside of a double-wide). All day!
They even found a stray dog…who had stray puppies…and we ended up keeping one (!!)
And when it was time to leave…we weren’t ready. THEY weren’t ready!! So…we checked in to a hotel (locally) and went back the next day!
I was worried for absolutely no reason!!
You are SO right. Outdoors. Unplugged. Is the essence of life (especially for children).
BTW, I do realize that I always seem to have a story to tell on your blog
It’s just that…I *SO* understand and can relate to your message!! (and I’ll “prove” it to you via a story). LOL
Yosemite is one of my favorite places. I can’t wait until we can travel west and take my family there. We are huge outdoor proponents. I encourage my boys to be outside every moment the weather is good enough. And if they are outside, they aren’t on the computer or in front of the TV.
Thanks so much for this valuable post. Yosemite is the perfect family vacation. My husband has had our 8-year-old son out in the deserts of Nevada camping for spring break this week, and I know they’ll come home crusted in dust and full of stories about bugs and boulders. I’d be there too except I have school work to do, but I’m back on the camping bandwagon after graduation in Dec.!
Really like your site!
Ah! I love this. And so true. When we go camp, one of my favorite things to do is to sit back and just watch my kiddo. It’s amazing.
Best,
Tina
One thing we do in the summer is ban all electronics until after 1 pm. The kids don’t want to stay inside if they can’t play their Wii, computer, etc so they head outside. Come the hot afternoon and I don’t mind so much when they watch a tv show or play computer for 30 minutes. AFter 1 pm we still limit electronics to 30 minutes to 1 hour for the entire rest of the day and frequently they just stay outside anyway. It works so well for us.