How outdoorsy are you & your dc? New years resolution starting early

[Littlepiggyinablanket]

Just out of interest how outdoorsy & sporty (indoors & outdoors) are you & your dc? And what do you do on a regular basis?

We like to be outdoors as much as possible but aren't particularly fit. OH fishes and shoots and as a family we Geocache which is great for exploring new areas and getting you out and about.

I do want to get fitter next year to eventually get back to riding (too heavy at the moment) and have been debating parkrun (but the early start on my only day off keeps putting me off).

DD20 doesn't do anything anymore but was part of a lot of clubs/after school activities when younger. She is definitely not someone who likes to be outdoors

DS18 is in a football placement and plays/trains 7 days a week.

DS9 plays football and geocaches with us

DH and DD (8) does mountaineering, indoor and outdoor climbing.
DD and DS (7) both do trail running.
We lake swim and paddle board.
We like to go out foraging and forest walks. Next year we're hoping to get bikes and add cycling to our outdoor activities!

In the spring and summer we are always out, paddle boarding/kayaking 2/3 times a week, love a good bike ride around some local lakes I pack a picnic and make an afternoon of it, swimming, camping as much as we can, dh & our son do a lot of wild camping on some land which we have permission to be on

in the winter it’s harder and mainly just the dog walks & indoor swimming for the kids

both dc have expressed learning to ski or snowboard so I’m going to look into that!

we have all been really poorly from the day school broke up so haven’t been out as much as normal, we are all feeling better (ish) now so will make sure we all spend some time outside over the next few days.

during school times it’s getting the balance of school work done and being out and about

We're pretty outdoorsy, 2 small boys and live in a flat...we have to walk them regularly 😄

My top tip is to have a spare coat and spare trainers for all DC...as things will inevitably get wet/muddy and not necessarily dry overnight.

Other top tip is to see if your local council pools do free swimming for under 16s. Ours does so it's a really cheap afternoon out for the whole family (adults are about £4 each and then another few £ for parking)

We are a really 'outdoorsy' family. I couldn't imagine staying inside for more than a day even in bad weather with my two - they are like dogs that need walking! We all go a bit crazy if cooped up! My key tip in UK is get really good warm waterproofs. Lidl have excellent and really reasonably priced fleece-lined waterproof dungarees (£5.99 I think and coasts (£10) IN STORE THIS WEEK. My kids will choose to go into our (very small) garden in the rain just to play with water pistols, play in mud kitchen and jump in puddles! DS5 and DD7. Because we've always been outdoorsy and done lots of walking a 5 mile walk to them (with sweetie stops) is totally doable - either coast path or moorland/mountains. Away with family this past couple of days whilst on hols and not up to much we have done roller skating on a promenade/pier for an hour, obstacle courses at the play park (timed to add fun!) and a 1.5hr hill walk and puddle jumping. (Wales - The weather has been cold and mizzly) Weekly during term time they have a swimming lesson and do gymnastics (1hr) and horseride one evening after school. In the summer we go to the beach and swim / rock pool / body board at least once if not 2-3 times a week. We cycle (woodland trails) about once or twice a month, go for lots of walks, kayak and SUP in the summer etc. NB We live in the SW. Bare minimum we walk to school and back half a mile each way in all weathers. Reading this back it sounds a lot. But we still have plenty of downtime - just spend minimal time on screens apart from 30-40 mins before bathtime to wind down. Compared to A LOT of friends' children my two are very capable physically and brave, gung ho allrounders - climbing up and down steep hills etc, cycle, able to push themselves on a walk uphill for a reasonable amount of time, decent swimmers (25m at 5 years old), riding pedal bikes at 3.5 - 4 years old. My DH and I are both outdoorsy and sporty and wanted to share our love of hobbies and the outdoors and carried them in slings when very little - so outdoor life and 'adventures' are the norm to them - I think (but obviously don't know!) that they (and other friends children with similar lifestyles) will always be physical and love there outdoors. It's such a part of our life balance and mental well being / happiness.

Thanks for the replies! Getting lots of inspiration!

We're not outdoorsy at all, although DD (4) loves playgrounds so we spend a lot of time in parks. We're in London and make specific trips to big parks across town to explore the differenty types of playgrounds. We aren't homebodies and do get out every single day, but in winter it's usually to a museum, theatre or other attraction. DD does lots of sport - ballet, PE daily at school, weekly swimming, gymnastics. But all indoors. I do swimming and fitness classes - always indoors.
Next month we're moving near to a couple of big parks so we'll probably do more walking around the parkland when the weather is better - at the moment whenever we go to a park we spend all our time in the playground. Still a bit jaded after lockdown when we had to walk around parks and weren't allowed in playgrounds with 2 year old DD!

This is what we tend to do - don't overthink what you're actually doing outdoors, just go out and do some messing about, would be my advice! Take a flask of hot choc if you think it'll help as an incentive (I did this a lot when mine were very little) and a small ball or soft frisbee etc for playing with. Other useful stuff for messing about - a bit of rope, a freezer bag to hold stuff you've collected, binoculars, and the ultimate...walkie talkies!! Mine LOVE these and we live very close to big rock escarpments and forests so we have lots of scope for using them. I also often take folding sit mats - they take up so little space but very useful for a hot choc stop on wet ground!

I'd say we're outdoorsy but not sporty - in fact, the latter is probably the reason for the former, to try and compensate. We have paddleboards and a canoe, and we're often out on those in good weather. But mainly we're just mucking about near water/up trees/on moors. (National Trust membership is handy for this is you're not very rural.)

Don’t let the weather be an excuse. I run 3 times a week whatever the weather (apart from ice - dangerous) and my DDs join me fairly often, either on their bikes (I do 5k with each of them, swapping over which child half way round my run) or I scoop them up for my last 2k and they run with me. We’ve done that this week in wet and mud and it’s not been an issue. If you wait for nice weather you’ve no chance.

3 DDs have all been indoor climbers, horse riders, cyclists and sailors since about 8yrs old, and before that we always walked alot and spent time outdoors. They are now 16,16 and 17. Still do regular climbing indoors and out, sail twice a week during the sailing season, swim outdoors, cycle and walk.

Very outdoorsy - have a dog, DD has horses, do a lot of farm-y things as we live semi-rurally, and have a smallish house larger garden anyway.