1000 hours outside... Is this even possible with British weather?!

[Moonandstarzz]

Dc aged 11 & 9... Aiming to do the 1000 hours outside challenge! Is it possible or am I just setting ourselves up to fail?!
Since Monday we've managed 5 hours, have a little printable tracker from the website..

Yes definitely just dress accordingly!

Yes, coats exist.

That's only an hour a day and it's June! Why so little even when the weather is good?

I know, it's just more getting the motivation.. I want us to be more outdoorsy as a family

Ermmm yes! Where are you that the weather has been too bad to go outside? It’s been fairly warm with the occasional wet day for weeks here in the NW.
Being outside in (almost) any weather is fine as long as you have the right clothes.

@KateyCuckoo school, afterschool activities & extracurriculars . We've also had rain here this week.

If you have your own outdoor space there is very little that can't be done outside in this weather, gaming on a PC/console is just about the only thing.

If you want to be an outdoorsy family you need to build it into your day. Walk to school and back. Take an easy travel dinner out on walks or a bike ride after school to a park/beach/woods stuff like stir fry in food flasks, chilli/spag bol work well too - rice/pasta in one food flask and sauce in another then play where you are that'd eat up 3 hrs a day.

Buy a tent and sleep out. That's a minimum of 8 hours!

Seriously though, I think that's insane for the UKs weather. Perhaps break it down into 100hour segments. Once you've done the first you can decide if you want to do more (or not)

Won't the kids have been outside at school in this weather? It doesn't have to be purely outdoor time with you.

And maybe if you're not an outdoorsy family starting with 365 hours a year might be better? Aiming for 1.5 hours a day for June, July, August, 1 hour for Mar-May and Sept-Nov and 30 mins for Dec-Feb?

Then up it the following year?

How does anyone, outdoorsy or not, summer or winter, manage to do only 30-60 minutes outside in a day? Are you only counting time that you are setting aside for a specific outdoor activity?

We’ve probably been outside for at least 4 hours today just doing everyday life and it’s been overcast/now thundery.

if you are trying to magic 3 hours out of your day every day to do specific, worthy, new things outdoors then yes that’s going to be a significant challenge, but you can surely count all the time you already spend outdoors just as part of your daily lives, surely?

How will people who work manage? When it's dark when you get home at 5?

@Chowtime last time I checked humans don't burst into flames if they go out in the dark. You stick your shoes on and a coat and go for a walk with a torch if necessary. Obviously some places might be unsafe but surely there are some well lit safe areas where you live.

1000 hours a year or month or what?

Remember that time in cars/vehicles doesn't count.

And none of that time was outside?

The dc walk to school & home themselves. Most extracurriculars & afterschool outside at the minute. I'm literally only tracking family time not the kids time outside (or me out with the dc or DH with them)

It's supposed to be 1000 hours in a year..

That's exactly what I'm trying to do eg runs, bike rides, playgrounds, park, football etc.. Our garden is tiny & we only sit out to eat or read so not counting that..

I’m not into this idea of tracking everything you do, eat, read. Just do the things you enjoy and forget about trying to always be achieving something.

The benefits of being outdoors don’t come from setting a stopwatch. Surely it’s about stepping out from that world of clock watching.

I'd count all the time outside. Also you'd up the averages when you have days off together- mucking about in garden/park, bike rides, walks etc. National trust have some lovely properties and do kid's events. We're a very outdoorsy family and just wear appropriate clothing.

As a rough calculation mine have spent 50hrs minimum outside in the last 7 days. Age 10 &12.

Tomorrow will be another 5 hours at least. Today was 2hrs after school.

Where's this idea of doing 1000 come from?

Why? That's why it's so hard!

Do you only count fruit and veg you eat when you're all together as part of your five a day?

https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/

Think it started around covid..

I'm literally only tracking family time not the kids time outside (or me out with the dc or DH with them)

That's where you will fail.

It's something to do with matching the hours a year children spend on screens. That said, the woman who runs the 1000 hours outside social media/designed the app etc. doesn't always meet the 1000 hours and has said endlessly that it's about the idea of getting outside more and not a stick to beat yourself with. But like everything, people get too emotionally invested and the Facebook group is full of petty drama about whether camping in a tent counts or not and the like, as if it really matters.

I don't think we have 'harsh' winters but it is dark early. I imagine it's harder for school-aged children than pre-schoolers. Me and my toddler more or less get there but a lot of toddler life is noodling outside.