Do you want your kids to grow up healthy and happy? Instead of becoming a helicopter parent, set a strong role model and lead by example. Give them a healthy and happy home and home life. Keeping the home squeaky clean and their tummies full are important, but so is spending quality time as a family. If you can spend that time in natural settings, all the better.
Ditch the housework for the weekend, or better yet, hire professionals to take over some of the peskier chores, and explore Alaska with your family. Known for its scenic imagery, exceptionally diverse wildlife and untainted wilderness, Alaska is the ideal place for outdoorsy families and parents raising kids.
Your little nature aficionados will not only learn to feel genuine compassion and respect for other living beings, but also become more independent, inquisitive and creative. Their love for nature will help them realize that protecting the environment is a meaningful way of contributing to the community.
Kids grow up fast but memories last
Miscommunication is not reserved for dysfunctional families. Kids have their own inner lives that you might not know anything about. Although you have their best interest at heart, they could feel abandoned or feel other negative emotions. Before you know it, your little ones could become moody teenagers who keep secrets from you and avoid being in your company.
Don’t miss the window of opportunity to build stronger bonds with them. Create open communication with your kids, establish family traditions and seek impactful ways to create new memories. Family adventures outdoors are the epitome of family bonding. They are times that both you and the kids will be enthusiastic about.
Outdoor activities that you spend as a family are a way to learn more about your kids and get them to see you as someone to look up to and open up to when in doubt. Besides, you will cherish the memories of these family trips for as long as you live, and that’s rewarding in and of itself.
Teaching your kids valuable life lessons and skills
Whether you decide to take the family on a trip to a forest, a camping site or the town park, you will have the opportunity to teach your kids various life lessons and skills. You might not be the most prolific source of information on survival skills, but that’s fine: these trips are more about spending time outdoors together as a family anyway. What’s more, one day, your kids will fly the nest to live lives of their own. Make every precious moment of their childhood period count.
Spending time outdoors: a powerful stress relief
You are under a lot of stress. The dreary commute to and from work, the fast-paced work environment, a tight schedule that leaves just enough time for basic chores but not much for anything else. This day-to-day routine resulting takes its toll eventually.
Spending time outdoors with your family is a way to have the best of both worlds: a sense of unity with your family and nature combined with the warm feeling of fulfillment and the bliss that comes with finding utter peace and serenity.
All in all, spending time in nature is healthy. It is a form of exercise that can help your little ones build stronger immunity and is bound to benefit their overall wellbeing. Last but not least, spending time in nature is fun, and fun is always an effective stress relief strategy.
Make the most of your own free time
You might have been longing for some alone time so you could visit a beautician, go on a shopping spree or just stay at home and binge-watch your favorite show. You work hard and you deserve the time off doing what you enjoy most. But ask yourself this: will any of these activities result in an unforgettable experience? Not likely. On the other hand, spending time with the family outdoors will give you all a chance to do something new and invigorating together, and that’s never a bad idea.