1000 Hours Outside: Prioritize, Reclaim Childhood and Experience a Fuller life

by Ginny Yurich

This new book from Ginny Yurich, founder of the global 1000 Hours Outside movement, takes the reader back to the beginning of the movement, reminds them of the noble goal of balancing screen time with green time, and is an ideal starting point for those that feel they need to recalibrate but aren’t quite sure where to begin.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Outdoors, Nature, Book Club, Reference, Childrens

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Ginny Yurich is a Michigan-based, homeschooling mama of five kids, and she is the founder of 1000 Hours Outside, a global movement to help families match the average amount of time kids spend on screens each year with time spent outdoors. Ginny is a thought-leader in the world of nature-based play and its benefits. Ginny has a BS in Mathematics and a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Michigan. Find her online at 1000HoursOutside.com and join the movement on Instagram: @1000hoursoutside, Facebook: 1000 Hours Outside, and Twitter: @1000HoursOutsid

Reviews

[Lisa]

I liked the overall premise. I think I just would've liked to see an example of what this looks like for families that aren't homeschooling/ don't have a stay-at-home or work-from-home parent. Yurich keeps talking about the divide between when she was a public school teacher and when she started this whole thing. I still AM a public school educator (with no exit strategy in the works right now) and I want to see how this works in a more economically common family model

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love! Ginny has changed my outlook on parenting since I first discovered 1000 hours last year. This book is so good and just reminds you to get outside and enjoy these moments with your kids. The rest can wait. We need to bring back “childhood” the way it used to be!

[Jessie Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s not really much in this book. Craft and activity ideas that are either very simple or very overused.
Like, go for a walk. Pretty sure that takes up 15-20 pages in this book. Just said in different ways. I didn’t save one idea from the book because I felt like I’d seen it all a million times.
Also, it had a very clear audience lol. Young children in a heavily forested US state that gets 4 seasons. If that’s not you, not much in here for ideas.

[Megan Ley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love the concept and we’re doing the 1000 hour challenge. I think nature is good for people in a lot of ways we don’t think about and the author is right, but this doesn’t need to be a book. There’s probably an article or podcast interview out there somewhere that tells you what you need to know. The book felt like a lot of filler with no citations.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with outdoor activities for younger kids. I look forward to trying several of the ideas with my littles as we balance green and screen.

[Elevetha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the ideas looked neat to try with the kiddos. Some were not my style. Good to have on hand for a "rainy day" or just write down the most interesting to you for later use.

[Sarah Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book features many ideas with great photographs. There were not many new ideas but it is nice to have lots of ideas compiled in one place. Although this title is 1000 Hours Outside some of the ideas will be completed indoors after collecting supplies outdoors. I would recommend this text for elementary age children to select or inspire outdoor activities. Ginny Yurich’s other book, 1000 Hours Outside - Prioritize Nature, Reclaim Childhood and Experience A Fuller Life, is more informative for adults.
Our family did previously complete the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge. Once your family adjusts to longer lengths of outdoor time, less activities will be needed, as children design their own play more.

[Valorie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the 1000 Hours Outside challenge! I also follow the social media pages and completely agree with the philosophy. I found this book to be fairly shallow and comprised of a lot of statistics and references to authors/researches that felt disjointed. I think I just wanted more depth in each section. That being said, it’s a great introduction to the merits of time spent in nature for those who are exploring a lifestyle shift.

[Ally Puri · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are doing the 1000 hours outside challenge this year so this was a great read for me. Lots of fun ideas, they just aren't very practical. A lot of the winter activities are dependent on snow, which happens where I live but it's not constant. Not very many apartment friendly ideas which means I would need to take my kiddos out for the day at a park, etc. and I don't see myself spending an entire day far from home for one nature craft. Saving for when I have a house maybe!

[Joelle McNulty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting out of this book, but this was not it. This is an idea book for kids to do stuff outside, not a manifesto of why 1000 hours outside or anything of the sort. There are a lot of pictures. Some of the ideas are genius, and others are too basic, like go hiking or play in the mud. I will probably leave the book lying around though, because my daughter got some ideas from it the other week. Three stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[BreAnna Bray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book for someone unaware of the benefits of time outside and not yet participating in the 1000 hours outside challenge. It is an easy read and doesn't go too deep however there is also not very much new information for someone who has already read anything on the benefits of outdoor play. I really like how the chapters were split up.

[Juju · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great quick read! My copy has lots of highlighted parts and I know I will add more down the road. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I am glad that I have found the 1000 Hours Outside as a parent raising kids in this day and age.

[Kathleen Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of great ideas in here, but there are a good amount of bad ideas, like handling wild animals. Some of the practices are a gray area, like anything that leaves something behind or alters the environment. Read up on leave no trace and use good judgment.

[Rachel Purcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! Super quick read and inspires me to get outside! Love the explanations behind the pros of outside time.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many awesome ideas on this book! I’ll be pulling this out each season. So glad I bought it!

[Stephanie Loux · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a part of the 1000 Hours Outside Official Group on Facebook for a long time (maybe years?) without realizing there was a book, podcast, and app to go along with this mission so it was fun to read about the why and the research backing getting children outside as well as tons of ideas. I love being outside so much that my kids light heartedly groan when I announce “It’s a beautiful day today!” because they know I will expect them to be outside for some part of the day. When they were younger and I was a SAHM to 3 under 5, being outside lifted everyone’s moods and gave a break to the day. I used my double BOB stroller so much during the 5 years we had it and all of my kids started riding bikes at 3 (thanks to strider bikes before then) and we would be outside several times throughout the day. We camp some, we do lots of sports, hiking, walking our dog, biking, playing in the creek and more. I’ve even folded laundry out on our porch because it makes me sad to be inside when it’s so beautiful out. She said near the end of the book that everything is better outside and I agree! I grew up in Iowa and have lived in KS and IL as a young mom and now that we live in sunny Colorado, I don’t take that for granted. In the age of screens constantly at home and at school, I think this book and podcast is really important for all families. Kids need to learn so much more than a screen can teach them like balance and risk assessment and more. As a substitute teacher, it’s definitely eye opening to see how much schools use technology for better or for worse…so it definitely fall on the parents to make sure kids get time outside to play and explore. The podcast episode I listened to about ADHD was saying how kids are always home and parents are annoyed with not having their own personal time and how it should be that way and that kids should be outside exploring and playing with other kids. I don’t agree with all things but do recommend this book and podcast.

[Neil Pasricha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginny Yurich wasn’t enjoying motherhood. It was September 2011 and the Michigan mom of three felt exhausted, trapped, pinned down by 12-hour stretches of “crying, screaming, diapers, noses, sweeping, one-handed cooking, and the minutia that accompanies life with little ones.” A friend mentioned that education guru ​Charlotte Mason​ says children should spend 4-6 hours outside a day. “No way,” Ginny thought. “How can anyone do that?” But she didn’t have anything to lose so figured she’d give it a shot. She packed sandwiches and took her kids to a field one morning along with that same friend. “That day changed my life,” she told me. “They played and played. They invented new games. They jumped off logs. They weren’t fighting. And I had my first adult conversation since having kids.” (She found out later this Charlotte person lived in the 1800s!) Anyway, the energy from that day powered Ginny and her husband Josh’s “1000 Hours Outside” movement which has grown from a focus on homeschooling their five kids into a ​viral Instagram feed​, popular ​1000 Hours Outside podcast​, and even little ​coloring sheets​ to help the sticker-chart people among us (hi) track our progress. Which is? 1000 hours outside a year. Simple! Almost 3 hours a day. Tiny compared to our roots but massive compared to the 10-minutes-outside-a-day culture we’ve evolved into. Where does the book come in? Well, it’s a full-color, 287-page flipper offering 136 ideas for outdoor family activities conveniently organized into Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall. From “Hot Chocolate Hikes” (what it sounds like) to “Snow Hot Tubs” (putting on your bathing suit and filling a kiddie pool with hot water in the winter) to “Fairy Doors” (painted cardboard and popsicle stick ‘doors’ to put at the base of tall trees), this is a simple reminder that nature has deep powers and encourages all of us to peel ourselves off the screens.

[Alexandria Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is amazing. There are so many practical ideas separated by season and my whole family loves it (my kids stole it from me almost immediately). So glad I bought this new.

I love all the real photographs of kids doing the activities. Somehow that makes my kids want to do them more.

But I also love how no idea is too complicated- they can all be done with household materials completely on a whim.

I think one thing it needs is a checklist in the back for every activity cause I’m dying to check off every single one of these with my kids.❤️

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've met 1000 hours outside the past few years, so I picked this up for our journey in keeping to obtain it. This book is a good resource for when kids need an idea for some activities or more structured play. There are lots of easy to implement activities for across the ages of childhood, complete with photos and detailed instructions.

[Anna Shamery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this while Lucie and I are trying to get our outside hours in this year. Interesting to learn more of the research behind why being outside is so good for everyone. I will take away her reminders that unscheduled time is so good for kids.

[Hayley Vander Vennen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this challenge!! I don’t have kids yet, but I am excited to try this in 2026:)

[Giuliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 highly recommend

[dels_bookmarks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is attractive and well laid out. There are glossy pictures aplenty, with each activity given one page of text and one page of images - split into four perfect seasonal sections.

The trouble is, it looks nice, but I don’t think it is very useful 🤷‍♀️

The simple ideas (building a sandcastle at a beach, taking a thermos of hot chocolate with you on a cold day, etc) don’t need a page long explanation. And the tricky ideas (like building a nature weaving loom) need more, probably with step-by-step instructions.

The 1000 hours outside concept (which I love) is about unscheduling children’s time. Letting them explore, play, move their bodies, and connect with nature - not provide a list of activities and tasks.

It was not written for us in NZ, so this is not a criticism - just a note, but it is not suitable for our environment, especially where we need to consider te ao Māori.

It is often not sustainable (unless you happen to have a spare, used, clear plastic shower curtain lying around?), and suggests changing things in the natural environment and even interacting with wild animals.

It may suit very new parents or those nervous about getting children outside. Other parents, and all teachers should look to New Zealand and/or bush school publications for ideas. Or better yet, just take your kids outside and see what happens 🌞

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more. The kids’ kindergarten teacher is a huge proponent of the 1000 hours outside movement, and thanks to her I joined the Facebook group, follow her blog, and read (and loved) her first book. This book was pretty simple and a little repetitive. Maybe I’m a little ahead of the curve since we go to play-based schools that value messy play and outdoor time but the only new thing to me was the outdoor winter hot tubs. I feel like I get more ideas for creative play from the Facebook group. I also would have liked more practical advice, like how to layer appropriately, ways to minimize the mess (for people like my husband 😅), like mixing soap in with paint, maybe some basic plant/animal identification charts, and a list of activities like what you can download off the website. And while the paint/construction ideas are nice for when you’re at home, I would have liked more ideas for leave-no-trace activities and those that use more objects found in nature. The pictures are pretty and I like how it’s organized.

[Rachel Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great content! I would have liked some citations for references with regard to statistics and different authors and such. Otherwise I think it’s an awesome concept and I look forward to getting outside more with my kids.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great ideas to get the kids outdoors. We have been following along with Ginny's 1000 hours challenge for over a year now - This book is a great accompaniment to inspire us.

Ideas for all seasons. Good fun.

[Melissa Lawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great resource for families who are wanting to get outside more! We found so many fun things to in the dreadful winter of North Dakota. It definitely brought us joy! I’m excited to do the rest of the season’s activities!

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leaf Rubbing

Leaf Piles and Obstacle Course and Hurdles

Nature Collection Display

Map and Rate Each Playground on Criteria

Leaf Mask

Use a Pumpkin for Hammering practice with Golf Tees

Leaves, contact paper wings

Bubble art
Put bubbles into muffin tin with different colors. Dip a bubble ring and blow onto paper. Tape any parts you want as negative space.

Bug Hotel
Use an old wooden drawer or frame that's 3" deep. Stuff with natural materials like hallowed stems, twigs, tree bark, pine cones, dried grass, dead leaves. Adult drills hole in back to hang up.

Rock Stacks
Different size flat rocks, putting large rocks at bottom. Rock bridge

Magnifying glass (clear water bottle filled with water)
-color game: pick a color. Find an item that color then look at it under a magnifying glass. Do they look how you expected?
-wet vs dry rocks
-plant parts
-bugs under plants and leaves
-ice
-hairbrush
-feather

Follow the leader
-bouncing on a ball, thru water
-mimic movements, sounds and gestures

Leaf Crown
-staple leaves to paper ring

Egg carton scavenger hunt
-rock, twig, pine cone, shell, leaf, grass, fern, acorn, berries

Stick First

Nature Journal

Leaf rainbow art


Petal-Stained Glass
Draw a flower or geometric shape on paper with thick black lines. Cut out the white leaving just the black line design. Place the black lines facing down onto contact paper. Fill-in gaps with leaves, petals, grass, etc. Then place another later if contact paper. Hang your art piece in a window.

Feet Painting: weight butcher paper down with rocks on corners. Drizzle temper paint across the paper then let the feet walk over it. Spray down feet afterwards.

Clean up trash
-on return route of hike
-bag, tools, etc

Sunflower Dissection
-collrct sunflowers at different stages (bud, when they form seeds, and fully mature). See if you can find a sunflower where the pollen is still covering the stigma. These different flowers will help you understand how they develop.
-use tweezers to remove seeds. Count how many seeds you remove. Measure the diameter, height, and length of ray flowers and seeds.

Heart Hunt
-paying attention to leaf shapes helps you distinguish btw plants. Look at Bermuda buttercup, wood sorrel, clover, morning glories, radishes.
-if you don't find a heart then make one with leaves or your bodies.

Water carrying contest and long jump

Splatter paint
Dip paintbrush into paint then fling it onto a paper (wrist flicks, full arm motions, circular, up and down)

Tea party

Chalk scenes
Have hold lay down as you draw butterfly wings next to them

Summer sledding on sand or grass

Beanstalk Hideout


Sheet painting
Acrylic paint and clear shower curtain tied btw two trees

Some plants help loosen up the soil. Plant lettuces by your carrots and they will create an underground path for your carrots to grow along .
Cut carrots into 2" chunks. Mix with olive oil and salt at 400 for 20mins.

Barefoot for a Day
-walk like different animals (bears crawl, crab walk, bunny hop, frog jump, waddle like a duck). Try walking on your heels, toes, outer edge of your feet. How does it feel?
-toss a bean bag with your feet
-variances in touch allow us to develop our proprioceptive sense which helps us with body awareness.

Pooh Sticks
On a bridge everyone drops (not throw) their sticks into the water. Then quickly go to the other side of the bridge to see who's stuck appears first.
-study how your stick behaves in the water. Does it bob or spin or get stuck?

Vine basket weaving
(5-6) 2-3' pickable branches. Tie them together 3" from the top . Then weave vines in and out of the sticks at the base. Go as high as you like. Tuck in the vine when it ends and add another vine. Use these for May Day and place flowers inside them to leave at neighbors doors.

Butterflies
-have six legs that help them walk, the other (fake) legs are called prolegs. Prolegs help hang onto branches/leaves.
-best time to release a butterfly us an hour before sunset..-butterfly nets are soft
-butterdlues don't eat anything solid, only liquid. Attract a butterfly with a q-tio dipped in juice to watch it close up.

Frozen Flowers
-fill ice cube tray or muffin tin with flowers and water (1/4 full of the container) then freeze for 20 mins. Fill the rest of the container with water and freeze overnight. Child can explore with their flower ice.
If the water isn't as clear as you would like, boil the water and let it cool down completely.
Pansies, geraniums and mini roses are edible.

Hammering ice (with frozen dinos inside)

Pattern Spotting
-Fractals: repeated patterns of a particular shape that gets smaller and smaller
-try drawing the patterns you see in nature
-tessellatii is where all the shapes fit together without any gaps
-when you see patterns in nature, think about why they exist. What benefit do they give the plant or animal?
-wond blows sand into wave shapes
-sunflowers seeds spirals, artichokes leaves showcase the Fibonacci sequence
-epiderwevs shows a radial symmetry which is also found in sliced oranges or starfish
-peacock feathers is a fractal

Wild weaves
Tie four sturdy twigs into a square shape. Then wind string around the square from top to bottom. Each time you wrap the string around, wrap it another time around the twig to make it sturdy. On your hike, weave natural things (leaves, flowers, grass, twigs) into your square.

Cloud painting
Lay a mirror on the ground, paint the clouds you see in the mirror onto a paper
.
Cozy reading nook/area outside

Jewelry making
Wrap tape around your wrist with the sticky side facing out and add flowers and grass to the bracelet.
-dandelion chain: choose dandelions with long stems. Pierce a small hole in the stem close to the flower, put another dandelion in through the hole.
-wear a string necklace and lace food like cheerios that you can eat as you hike

Play with gravity.-set up ramps and roll things down it

Trace the shadows aof animal toys

Nature tray
-mud pies, nature scene, fairy garden

Catch Tadpoles
-chedk local laws
-use a clear container with rain or pond water (not tap water). Feed them shreds of broccoli, spinach, lettuce. Wash your hands after touching them.
-when they start growing back legs, feed them fish food. Once they grow front legs, they need air so lower the water level and add rocks for them to climb onto. While they are froflets, return them to the grass near the water where you found them.
-befire picking up a frog, wet your hands, bc they are use to being wet.

Sidewalk art
Mix together water and cornstarch until there are no clumps. Then add food coloring. Warning food coloring can stain clothes. Paint with a brush or sponge
Or take small pieces of chalk crushed up in water to form a paint.
.
Color changing flowers (daffodils)

Snowball lantern
Make a ring of snowballs around your lantern then add another circle that's 1-2 snowballs less to form a snowball dome around your lantern

Woodcraft
-glove on your non-dominate hand to protect it. Use an old peeler to shave wood off soft wood (fresh, dry wood works best).

Fruit Feeder
Using a needle and thread, see through slice of oranges and grapes. Hang it outside. You can dip it in bird seed too.

Decorate an outdoor tree

Identify different types of frost

Using watercolors, paint ice sheets

Jar lantern with colored tissue paper

Frozen Bubbles
Below freezing temperatures
Bubble wand
Option 1: store bought bubble solution
Option 2: 1 part water, 4 parts dish soap and adadh of light corn syrup

Cool bubble solution in fridge for 30 mins. Blow bubbles outside. If the bubbles land on a soft spot like snow,they are less likely to pop. Admire your bubbles as they freeze.
Do different size bubble wands affect how the bubbles freeze?

Snow volcano
Full cup with dish soap, baking soda, and warm water. Add food coloring. Then add vinegar. The smaller the hole at the top, the higher the eruption. Form snow around jar.

Make some music
Hang metal kitchen supplies on a string tied btw two trees. Let kids hit the supplies with wooden spoons

Ice ornaments

Build a snow cake and decorate it with nature

Stained ice fort

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: this review is for the book subtitled “activities to match screen time with green time”. Goodreads refused to recognize that title, repeatedly shifting to this one. Leaving a review for a book under the wrong title is as helpful as someone leaving a product review based on the shipping process. But as it shifted to this book even after several tries, there is nothing else I can do. You’ve been told.

This was a helpful one-time read. There were many familiar ideas, also plenty of forgotten or unknown ideas. As a quick read, borrowed from the library, to read once, it was valuable. I listed in my to do list potential activities to enjoy through the seasons.

Potentially frustrating if not also from a temperate climate. Having read these types of books while living in the Philippines, the land of perpetual summer, I would have wanted to know that seasons were assumed. So here is that for those families. 💛

Her stated goal is to match screen time with green time. I know it rhymes, but I don’t find that compelling. We barely have any screen time; that is something I need to fix, not an incontestable virtue. Using screens well, like anything else, must be taught and practiced. The reality that so few do it well, with discipline and understanding, exposes how critical it is to insert oneself as the parent and actually train this skill! Screens are here to stay, but that does not have to be a negative thing. And taking screens outside would be the easiest way to “match screen time with green time”, if that truly were the ultimate goal.

Time outside, time active or quiet, time together or alone, time bored or creative. These are all goals for our family. This book was a helpful nudge for some more ideas to do that.

[Jurene · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the days when the internet rules the world of research and influence, it is refreshing to see such a well put together book for families to enjoy.

When I first picked up this book, I was wary of it being preachy in the lament of woebegone times of adventuring and the dangers of indoor activity. In all honesty, I believe there is comfort in the benefits of both. The comforts of home and protection from the elements - especially with a young brood - are too often disparaged in outdoor communities. And yet, there is ample research for those who want to find it on the dangers of screen time. Thankfully this book didn't exhaust those topics and dove straight into the ideas! A tactile pinterest board wirhout the mommy judgment oft founs on blogs. I found this book a great encouragement to find rest outdoors and to step away from the busyness of life. A balance. It's hard to find such balanced work in new publications. And I think the author achieved it.