{"id":231,"date":"2022-01-07T04:18:32","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T04:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buoyantbloomer.com\/?p=231"},"modified":"2023-08-12T00:27:53","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T00:27:53","slug":"1000-hours-outside-while-living-in-a-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buoyantbloomer.com\/1000-hours-outside-while-living-in-a-city\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Achieved 1000 hours outside while living in New York City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”]\n\t\t\t[et_pb_row admin_label=”row”]\n\t\t\t\t[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]\n

From the moment lockdowns came for New York in March 2020, we started incorporating outdoor time into our schedules. Toddlers have such short attention spans, and our then 2-year old was not going to sit home without intense parental involvement. It was so much easier to bring him outside to walk, scooter, or play in the playgrounds (I shudder remembering how all the playgrounds were locked from mid-March to Father’s Day). A had a morning outing which happened right after the virtual circle time I hosted (morning song, a dance party, and a book reading), and an afternoon outing which in that year occurred after my work day ended. We didn’t track our hours that year, but we easily spent 750 hours outside as we always strove for a minimum of two total hours per day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, I finally tracked our hours starting on New Year’s Day using a printed tracker from 1000 Hours Outside<\/a> (they also have an app, but the joy of bubbling in the hours with colored pens actually made me excited!). I am happy to report that we hit 1000 hours on December 17, which was very fortuitous since we had to self-isolate the following week following a positive case in our son’s class. We definitely had way more hours outside from April-October, but even in the worst of winter, we never dropped below one hour once daycare reopened in mid-July 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are so many benefits to outside play, but first and foremost, it means you are not cleaning up after your child’s mess at home! Secondly, your child isn’t training himself to become reliant on screens for stimulation. Yes, you can have a structured day at home with no screens, but you are also not a robot. There will be moments when you cannot pull together one more invitation to play or set up an activity, and that is why having the dedicated outside time helps you marshal your bandwidth and energy more effectively. Lastly, nature is a known relaxant, and the benefit here is two-fold: 1) your child can better cope with any stressors in their life, and 2) they come back refreshed and ready for more “formal” learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can you learn outdoors? PLENTY! Outdoors, you can help your child identify flowers and plants, train yourselves to recognize bird calls, talk about the seasons and climate change, track the moon and stars, learn to bike or rollerblade or skateboard, and play with other kids on the playground. All solid learning opportunities in my book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though 1000 hours outside is really difficult to achieve with a younger child in a city, it is doable. Your child’s 1000 hours are your 1000 hours too, so it’s a benefit since it means that you too have reduced your screen time. Here’s how we achieved our 1000 hours:<\/p>\n\n\n\n