1000 Hours Outside by Ginny Yurich

1000 Hours Outside: Activities to Match Screen Time with Green Time by Ginny Yurich

Overview

From guided Sunflower Dissections to making Acorn Candles, Yurich covers the gamut of seasonal activities for the 2-12 age range in this beautiful, well-organized book. For her book, new author Ginny Yurich is pulling from a treasure trove of responses to her website, 1000hoursoutside.com, and the flood of instagram followers posting with #1000hours tags. Yurich’s passion for spreading easy outdoor love is catchy. Our family has filled out the coloring charts for three years now, feeling more inspired as they’ve grown creative over the years. The book fans the same flame: a steady progression of more time outdoors.

The book’s beautiful design features activities organized seasonally with a table of contents for faster references. With 34 ideas per season, plus occasional expansion sidebars, the book sets out activities like a cookbook with all supplies + a framework of invested time up top. Only have 30 minutes? It’s easy to browse for a shorter activity under the current season. Many of the ideas are super simple, while others might require a cheap trip to the local store. Activities might be old with a slightly revised lens or entirely new to you, but the child-centered photography invites even the most reserved kids (like one of mine!) to want to try.

What we flagged:

• Snow Hot Tub (page 70) is happening here for our usual March hurrah. We already have our tubs picked out, just awaiting the Colorado spring dump.
• Snow Lantern (page 74) we’re doing now, freezing balls of snow and ice now to arrange this evening with finger lights leftover from a Kiwi Crate.
• Sidewalk Art (page 94) is even easier + more precise with a recipe for homemade chalk paint
• Fairy Doors (page 131) will add magic to kids on future hikes. There’s nothing more inspiring to my kids than hiding things along a trail!
• The Pumpkin Vase (page 224) is a new way to use our fave fall decor piece – the contrast of vibrant flowers against pumpkin shell looks so fresh!
• Mushroom Hunt! Lots of shrooms around here, especially when we camp. I’m excited to expand our forays with another new book, How to Forage for Mushrooms Without Dying, and then do Mushroom Art (page 276) with the finds we can’t eat.

Who is this book written for?

Written for young families who want to be more active and those who need a little extra inspiration to get out there. For families who already get out regularly, the book offers ideas for different things to do while you’re already out and could be especially helpful if there’s a less enthusiastic member in your crew.