How to Get Kids Outside: (Even When They Want to Be Inside!)

Last Updated on October 27, 2025 by Audrey

Getting outside with kids can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task, especially in today’s society where we are already over-scheduled and struggle to find time just to take a few minutes for ourselves. This guide will help you with proven strategies to get outside more often with your children. If your goal is to increase your family’s time in the great outdoors, this guide will help make that possible!

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How to Get Kids Outside (Even when they don’t want to!)

We’ve all been there: you’re all set to go on a hike on a Saturday morning. You’re packed and ready, yet your kid refuses to go. What do you do? Even though my kids are outside frequently, and used to the family expectation that we’ll be spending our free time doing outdoor activities, we still have these moments of resistance. When this happens there are a few things I like to do to get us back on track and enjoy some fresh air as a family.

Start Small

If you’re just beginning your outdoor time, start small. All you need to do is bring your kid to a local park and play with them. That’s it! You’ll both make memories outside together, and hopefully, you will want to come back again and again. If it’s your first time at this park, go again next week, then choose another place to explore together.

Create a Routine

There are all sorts of ways you can get your kids outside. Some people like to track their hours outside with a goal of reaching 1,000 hours outside in a year. Others just want to start small: do one outdoor experience a week. Start small, choose the adventure based less on time and more based on experiences. I’ve never tracked our outside time. Mainly, because that takes away the fun I have with my outdoor time. I don’t need to quantify or put pressure on how much time we’re outside each month to meet a goal. We just, as a family, know our routine is to go outside. Often that means an after-school snack, then outside for a great time after school. Whether we’re playing outdoor games or taking a short nature walk (we live in the woods), we try to make the time outside meaningful and fun.

Invest in Good Gear

True story: we were up at our off-the-grid cabin, but the weather was really cold, rainy, and being next to the wood stove was super comfortable. However, we’d already done the puzzles, we played the fun games, read the books, and my kids were getting restless. My husband suggested we walk over to a nearby trailhead, but my daughter was adamant that she didn’t want to go on a hike. We heard her out, played one more round of Uno, but eventually said we all needed some time outside. She, being a five-year-old, started crying and screaming that she didn’t want to go.

We went anyway, and she had a great time! She was warm, dry, and happy as soon as we hit the trail. One of the reasons why this was possible was that she had the right gear for the weather. (Head to toe Reima rain gear, btw.) She stayed dry and got to explore the natural world, finding freshly popped mushrooms, falling leaves, and animal tracks along the trail. If we didn’t have the right gear, her previous argument that she’d get wet and cold and uncomfortable could have come true. Instead, she was able to forget all about her previous determination to stay inside. And when we got home, everyone warmed up with more indoor games and a warm lunch.

I have a full collection of articles on our favorite outdoor kids gear recommendations. But, I’ll say, you can never go wrong with Reima or Jan and Jul for any outdoor adventure, year round!

Follow Your Kids Interests

Following your kids’ interests is going to help them become more committed to outside activities. When kids have some buy-in, it makes outdoor time fun for them. That may mean investing in a swing set or trampoline for your backyard, trying out organized outdoor sports, or taking bike rides as a family. Find out how your child likes to enjoy the outdoors and let them explore that interest. I never thought I’d spend my summer mornings sitting next to a skate park, but my son loves skateboarding and scootering in urban settings. We live in the country, so that means I leave the trails and the lakeside shores that I love to explore and drive to town to sit in a lawn chair while my son tries increasingly risky maneuvers.

My daughter loves to visit playgrounds, so we often try out a nearby park to find the best ones in our area. Would I rather be biking a new trail? Sure, but a lot of the time we spend outside is about developing meaningful and positive experiences for my kids. I’m always up for new ideas and willing to give my kids chances to spend time outside doing what they love.

Outdoor Time for Young Kids

Getting young children outside has been, in my experience, the easiest age to encourage outdoor fun. Bring your toddler’s favorite indoor toys outside to explore their own backyard, blow bubbles on a warm day, play in the sand, take a short nature hike, or get some fun outdoor toys. The possibilities are endless for how to play outside with little kids. New activities, like running through a sprinkler, can create a sense of wonder. Playing familiar games outside can capture interest and keep little ones in their comfort zone.

Getting Older Kids Outside

Elementary age kids are the perfect age to try bigger adventures and do outdoor time in different ways. We love taking our kids on new outdoor experiences, whether that’s rafting, skiing harder terrain, or trying out longer day hikes. We’ve seen our kids really step up and seek those new adventures out. They’re excited to explore state parks or national parks in new places, but they also love returning to some of their favorite destinations. The Oregon Coast, and our week-long summer camping trips on the Pacific, have become a family tradition that we all look forward to. Skiing the same favorite mountain has allowed our kids to become intrinsically familiar with different ski runs and tucked-away forests. Big adventures are what we as a family crave.

Meanwhile, we also balance that with plenty of outdoor play at home, as well as in our town’s local parks. Throwing a baseball, playing hide and seek, exploring a shoreline, are all small activities that we incorporate into our daily lives.

Other Great Ways to Get Outside with Reluctant Kids

I’m going to call these my unpopular opinions on getting outside with my kids. First of all, I totally know we’re all doing the best we can with our kids. What works for me won’t always work for you. But here’s what we do:

No screen time on weekdays. This may sound extreme, but we don’t do any TV, video games, etc. on school days. My kids go to public school, so they already spend a big chunk of their day indoors. I think them using their free time outside is a great way to decompress after a long day of learning. That can include:
- playing on the playground outside the library,
- organized sports,
- free play in the backyard.
My kids know the expectation for evenings at home is enjoying time outside. We didn’t get very much resistance about no screen time because they’ve always been lower-screen-time kids. They’ve never had access to an iPad or tablet. They don’t have access to popular video games or free rein on YouTube. This was an early choice we made a parents and have continued to be low-tech with our kids, even on road trips! It’s not always the easy choice, but it has allowed us to be creative with how we spend our family time. From games outside to audiobooks on road trips, having fewer screens and less time on devices has made a huge difference in how we parent.
Organize play dates with friends. Take a hike with a friend from school, spend the afternoon on the lake with old friends, or just let your kids enjoy the trampoline in the backyard with new friends. I remember back to my own childhood, and so many of my outdoor experiences were through unstructured play outside with my friends. I know the world is a different place. Kids aren’t as unsupervised as they once were, but facilitating outdoor play dates is a great way for everyone to enjoy the outdoors together.
Listen to Your Kids: Not every day is going to be a big adventure. If they’re not up for an hour drive one way and a three mile hike on a Saturday, then readjust and choose something else to do as a family. This may mean a short trip to the playground, followed by family movie night and pizza instead. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the little outdoor adventures, and it may be just what your kids need.
Make outdoor time an expectation or tradition for your family: Just like we have the expectation that we’re going to end our days reading together, we have the family expectation that the large majority of our family time will be spent outside. It’s part of our family culture!

Quality Outdoor Time with Children

Spending time as a family outside has become part of our family’s culture. With time and creativity, you’ll find that your kids are eager to be outdoorsy kids.