How to Make the Most of an Outdoor Family Trip
Family outdoor journeys are a great way to strengthen your bond with one another and allow you to create memories that will last a lifetime. Outdoor holidays allow you to easily remove distractions including the many various forms of technology that usually consume our everyday lives. Getting outdoors and enjoying the many forms of activities and recreation available will allow your family to really connect with each other in ways that have sadly become quite rare in modern families who are living busy lives.
We’ve gathered some of our most favorite outdoor activities that are well suited for families. We hope these ideas will inspire you to book an outdoor adventure with your family in order to experience the many benefits that are associated with such a holiday.
Go on a Fishing Trip
Even if your family isn’t really into fishing, such a trip can teach many valuable life lessons. Fishing is great for teaching children patience and can instill the fact that good things come to those who wait. Because there is a lot of down time with fishing, it’s a great time to have important talks with your family far removed from distractions like phones and TV.
Regardless of whether you actually catch any fish isn’t really important, as simply renting a boat and being on the water or setting up a nice shoreline spot with idyllic lakeside views makes such a trip worthwhile. If you do happen to catch fish, it’s a great way to show your kids that food doesn’t come from the wild all clean, gutted, and shrink-wrapped in plastic. You can show them all the work that goes into preparing food by teaching them skills like skinning and deboning a fish.
Of course those that would rather like to see the fish survive can simply catch and release. Just remember to snap a few photos of your catch to allow your kids to remember the satisfaction of having achieved something.
Stone Skipping
OK, so stone skipping may not be the most exciting activity on the planet, but the idea is to get your kids to enjoy the simple things in life. Even simple activities such as stone skipping can be fun, especially when you create a bit of friendly competition around it.
Family outdoor adventures are great in that there a numerous activities that cost little or nothing to enjoy. Finding seashells on the beach, birdwatching, fossil hunting, or collecting natural objects like leaves or pinecones for craft projects are all great free activities you can enjoy with your kids.
Before the days of video games and phone apps, the outdoors were the place where kids learned to find fun and let their imaginations soar. Enjoyment can still easily be found in nature, you just have to introduce your kids to it.
Outdoor Sports
Wherever you plan to take your family outdoor adventure, you can be assured there will be a number of opportunities to enjoy a vast array of outdoor sports. Depending on your location, you might find kayaking, mountain biking, golfing, whitewater rafting, abseiling, or surfing available. Whether you’re planning a family whitewater rafting adventure down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon or want to enjoy some epic Australian surfing in places like Bondi or Ulladulla, you can be assured that local stores will be able to set you up with all the equipment you’ll need.
When travelling interstate or abroad, be sure to research the best outdoor equipment stores for all the necessary sporting equipment you’ll need or a well-known surf store where you can check out all the latest surfboards, leashes, wetsuits, and everything else you’ll need to catch some truly memorable waves.
Even if you’re not familiar with certain sports, you will often find that there are classes and tours readily available in countless locations where you can learn how to surf or mountain climb by knowledgeable instructors.
Building Sand Castles on the Beach
As stated before, the outdoors is a great place to let your children’s imagination and creativity blossom. If you’re planning a beach getaway, bring along tools to let your kids build sand castles or sand art. Alternatively, you can use beach materials like seashells, beach rocks, and seaweed to create designs or art along the shoreline.
Allow your kids to use a camera to explore the art of outdoor photography or bring along some art supplies to paint outdoor landscapes together. There are so many creative ideas for outdoor art projects that will encourage your children’s creativity and may introduce them to lifelong hobbies.
Lace Up Your Hiking Boots
Another way to spend some family time together is to go on a hike. With rates of obesity climbing every year, getting active outdoors is one of the best ways to keep your family fit and healthy. Hiking can be as challenging as you want it to be. Most national parks or wilderness areas have hikes designed for all fitness levels and you are almost certain to find a trail that is suitable for your whole family.
Nearly every child enjoys animals, and hiking allows your kids to see animals living wild in their natural habitats outside the confines of a zoo. You need to experience the outdoors up close and personal to respect it. Introducing your children to nature at an early age will have them wanting to care for our planet and can encourage them to be more Eco-conscious later in life.
Have Yourselves a Treasure Hunt
Nature is filled with treasures and many of them are just waiting to be found. Seek out fossil shark teeth along beaches or try your luck at finding gold and gemstones. Metal detecting can be fun for the whole family, as you try to unearth old coins or lost jewelry on beaches or in parks. Just make sure to obtain permission if it’s needed for collecting certain items in certain areas. There may be laws in places like national parks which prohibit the removal of certain objects.
Another popular treasure hunting activity is geocaching. Popular worldwide, you use a GPS or other navigation device to seek out special containers that have been hidden in specific locations. The locations or coordinates of “caches” can be found posted online via a number of websites. Inside containers, you’ll find a range of different items and usually a logbook for players to sign. You are welcome to take an item so long as you replace it with an item of similar value.
Do a Bit of Star Gazing
Another exciting activity to enjoy while camping or even from your backyard for that matter is to take time to search the night sky. At night, you can stargaze and teach your kids the many constellations, seek out far away planets, and possibly even spot a shooting star. Space is something that fascinates all of us and observing the night sky is a great chance to explore the idea of space with your kids, discussing possible life forces beyond earth or our comprehension.
Storytelling by the Fire
Campfires have long been great for telling spooky ghost stories, but it can also be a time to tell fun or important real life stories to your kids. Songs and histories of various cultures have been passed down for countless millennia, most of which were taught or told around campfires.
Campfires are a great time to teach your kids about life and your family tree or to answer questions they may have about things. Campfires provide a calming safe place where your family may find it easier to open up and talk about things that may be causing them stress. This may be a good time to provide them with solutions. Of course it may just be an opportunity for your family to share exciting things that are going on in their lives and what their desires for the future may be.
Enjoying Quality Time Together
Regardless of what you choose to do on your family outdoor adventure, the main goal is to spend quality time together. It’s not what you do that is important; it is simply that you’re taking the time to really connect with each other. Most of us are always busy with work, school, or other responsibilities, that we seldom get a chance to do things with our loved ones. Outdoor-based vacations are perfect for unwinding and enjoying some healthy fun together.
As you can see, there are so many things that you can do together outdoors as a family and many of these things are affordable on any budget. While these experiences may not cost much, they will provide you and your family with countless priceless memories they will cherish forever.
