This Chilling Video Might Make You Kick Your Kids Out of the House -- To Play Outside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5W6GxAI3c

One of my favorite parenting blogs, Free Range Kids, posted this absolutely incredible (and somewhat chilling) advertisement from the health food company Nature Valley Today. In it, grandparents describe their childhoods, filled with fishing, blueberry picking and even fending off bears. What do the kids spend their time doing? It involves a lot of glowing screens.

The video is chilling. What can we as parents do?

I wrote last week about my efforts to wean my daughter off of screens and why. I’m not naive enough to think it won’t be an ongoing battle throughout her childhood. How am I working on getting my toddler outside? Here are a few of the activities we enjoy doing:

1. Growing our own garden, both on our balcony and in the backyard.

2. Visiting “pick your own” fields of beans, berries and whatever else we can find.

3. Visiting zoos, public gardens, splash parks and public parks and allowing her to run free.

4. Running in sprinklers, playing in kiddie pools & sand tables.

5. Visiting friends’ backyards with play equipment & tree swings.

Comment below: How do you get your kids outside? Do you think free play is important?