1000 Hours Challenge

When lockdown first came into force back in 2021 my kiddos were recently turned 4, 1 & 1. In the days when all we could do was walk we got into the habit of being outdoors as a family. I would try my best to entertain the kids at home in the morning while my partner worked and then we would spend every afternoon out walking. I really enjoyed finding hidden gems on our doorstep and I found that the kids all got on better when we were out of the house.

During this time I came across the 1000 Hours Challenge, which was set up to encourage children to match their screen time with outside time. (It is estimated that a child in today’s society spends at least 1000 hours a year in front of screens). The aim of the challenge is to help families connect more to the outdoors and spend time together.

As we were spending time outdoors anyway (due to lockdown!) we decided to give it a go. We are now in our fourth year of recording our hours outdoors and I would say that for us being outside is just embedded in our lifestyle.

The first year when we hit 1000 hours, at the end of October, I was delighted and so proud of my little squad. We had made a real conscious effort to utilise our small garden, eating outside when we could and continuing to explore our local area. Year two was a little harder and we scraped in on the 31st December with 1002.5 hours!

In 2023 we hit 1000 hours at the end of October and it seemed to come easier last year. The kids are so used to and really enjoy our time outdoors and now choose outdoor adventures when given the chance.

I’m not super strict on counting minutes- I tend to round up or round down to the nearest half hour and I guess it all evens out over the year. It is also your own personal challenge for your own family circumstances so you can decide what hours to count. For example, when camping we count all awake hours but we don’t count the hours while we are asleep, while others do.

The kids all love and are now very used to being outdoors. Their relationships with each other blossom when outside and they definitely argue far less! We have discovered, explored and adventured over many wonderful new places (many of which have become favourite places to now visit) and we have found a love of camping!

Also in the current financial climate, entertaining the kids outside is so much cheaper than having to pay for indoor entertainment- often all that is spent is a coffee and ice cream!