Families have gotten so busy trying to maintain sports, extracurricular activities, and quite frankly, overly distracted with technology that we have forgotten the importance of prioritizing outdoor time. I believe that a lot of health issues could at the very least be aided, or at best cured, with extended quality time outdoors. It has been proven time and time again, that fresh air and sunshine improve the quality of life for every individual.
Children especially, spend significantly more time indoors than any other generation. In fact, a research study from 1994 shows that Americans spent a staggering 87% of their time indoors, 6% in vehicles and only 7% outdoors. Those numbers average out to around 21 hours indoors, about 1.5 hours in vehicles and about 1.5 hours outdoors. In recent years that number has drastically fallen to a mere 4-7 minutes according to National Recreation and Park Association.
Unfortunately, we have replaced our outdoor time with electronics and devices. Whether that be television, video games or “doom scrolling” social media. We are an addicted society and our physical and mental health are suffering because of it. After researching for myself, it was a rude awakening on what our household needed as well. Although we don’t spend an abhorrent amount of time on electronics like the numbers below; we still spend too much time inside and not nearly enough outside. I compacted the surveys so you don’t have to! Below is a breakdown of time spent on devices by age group from surveys done in 2021 and 2025 by Common Sense Media (0-8 Years) and (8-18 Years). (These are averages combine TV, Gaming, Video-Chatting, Electronic Books, Social Media, and Homework.)
Infants (0-2 years) – 1 hr. and 3 min. per day (383 hrs. and 15 min. per year)
Toddlers (2-4 years) – 2 hrs. and 8 min. per day (778 hrs. and 40 min. per year)
Early Childhood (5-8 years) – 3 hrs. and 28 min. per day (1,265 hrs. and 20 min. per year)
Tweens (8-13 years) – 5 hrs. and 33 min. per day (121,545 hours per year)
Teens (14-18 years) – 8 hours and 39 minutes per day (189,435 hours per year)
Something we have always wanted to do to combat our personal use of devices and our time spent indoors is trying the 1,000 Hours Outside challenge. This couple found that children actually need an average of 4-6 HOURS outside for the best health and development! After they had that discovery, they founded 1,000 Hours Outside to encourage families to spend more intentional time outside in nature. Imagine the growth and benefits you would see in your child if they spent their time outdoors instead of on electronics. 1,000 hours a year or 4-6 hours per day may seem wild, but below looking at the chart above I think we can all see that our children have the time!
We would LOVE for you to join us on this journey as we spend 1,000 hours outdoors in the next year. We are going to start December 1st and would love for your family too also!
Here is a link to track your progress: Free Trackers
Here is a link to their blog for tips on how to get started: All the Things
If you join us please reach out by email or in the comments! We will keep you updated on our journey through Instagram and Facebook, so make sure to follow along.
