Indoor Creatures

Fall is here and it's perhaps one of the most beautiful times of year in almost every part of our country, but most of us will spend practically all of our waking hours inside today. Think about a typical day, or what you did yesterday, and consider how much time you spent outdoors. Perhaps you spent 10-15 minutes here and there moving from your house to your car, or one building to the next. Maybe you even got in a 30 minute walk outside or spent 60-90 minutes playing a sport.

Most of us are awake for about 16 hours a day and probably spend around 2 hours of that outside. With the comfort and conveniences of indoor life (and responsibilities of academic or professional pursuits) we've become indoor animals without even realizing it.

Find your way back outside.

One obstacle to time outside is figuring out where to go. It can be time consuming to search for parks or nice outdoor spaces and feel confident that you found one that fits your needs or interests. Wouldn't it be great if there was a site that let you put in your zip code and then did all the work for you? It would be, and there is!

Discover easy, family-friendly activities for enjoying the outdoors, no matter where you are with https://discovertheforest.org/. This site also offers great tips, tools and resources to make your time outside more enjoyable and informative. Feel prepared and safe so that you can have fun and reap the benefits of time in nature!

Whether you've got children or not, the Children in Nature Network website also has a very robust set of free toolkits, reports, infographics and advocacy tools designed to help you (or your organization) connect children, families and communities to nature. Find your way into more nature time and then, if you feel inspired to do so, help others by visiting their ACT page which offers information on (1) personal action, (2) community action, (3) institutional change, and (4) policy and education.