There’s no such thing as bad weather…

…Or to quote directly, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing”. These are the words of Alfred Wainright, the fell walker and author, famed for devising the 190-mile coast-to-coast walk across northern England. These are also the words that have become our family mantra since I gave birth to our first-born, almost eight years ago, in our quest to spend 1,000 hours outside each year.

This somewhat arbitrary target is inspired by 1,000 Hours Outside, a global movement to encourage outdoor play, set against the statistic that the average American child spends 1,200 hours a year in front of screens. The UK doesn’t fare any better with research from Ofcom finding that an eight-year-old child spends an average of 2 hours and 45 minutes online per day, or 1,003 hours per year. 1,000 hours outside over the course of a year is roughly 2 hours 45 minutes per day (and a few minutes less in 2024 since it’s a leap year!).

Before you decide this is unachievable, think about how much time your child already spends outside at their childcare setting. My sons’ school break and lunchtime equate to one hour outside. We arrive at school ten minutes early and spend another fifteen minutes playing football in the playground after pick-up. That’s already 1 hour 25. Only 1 hour 20 to go. We normally go to the playground for another 30 minutes, or if there is an after-school club, it often takes place outside, no matter the weather (think tennis, football, multi-sports). Fifty more minutes and we’ve met our daily quota. Football normally resumes in the back garden for another hour before dinner unless it’s pouring down with rain, in which case we know we’ll make up for it with more outdoor time another day. This might mean breakfast in the garden or playing for longer in the playground the next day. We don’t meticulously track our outdoor time, it’s more about a mindset – could this particular activity, whatever it is, be done in nature instead?

I grew up in a household which valued outdoor time. We camped; occasionally we camped in the back garden on a school night, if I begged my mum enough. We went on family bike rides. We embarked on frequent big walks. But I also played out in my street or in my garden on a daily basis. I didn’t have the latest gaming device or Nickelodeon on Sky TV and I honestly didn’t care. When I think of memories from childhood, they are almost always memories of outdoor play. Yes, I thought it was ‘cool’ when one of my friends was bought a new PlayStation and I was invited around to play, but there’s no lasting memory there that I cherish.

This article is not an indictment of screen time; the evidence for its toxic effect is contested, with the majority of the literature only looking at television time. And not all screen time is created equal; I’ve previously reviewed an education app in this very magazine and my children continue to use ten minutes of their daily screen time on it. Certain points, however, are worth making. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s (RCPCH) survey of 109 children and young people found that 88% thought screen time had a negative impact upon their sleep, 41% thought screentime had affected their play/fun and 35% thought screen time had a negative impact on their mood/mental health. The main recommendation from RCPCH is that each family should negotiate screen time limits based upon the way in which screens are used and the degree to which screen use displaces physical and social activities or sleep. My children, aged four and seven, are allowed up to one hour of screen time per day but only between 7am and 8am, and 5pm to 6pm. And it’s telling that on most days my children choose to forgo up to 20 minutes of screen time in favour of outdoor play. I know what some of you will be thinking: screen time is MY chance for some downtime and/or to get some work done. I don’t dispute that. Whilst my children are using their screen time, I do complete a lot of tasks – but I also get a lot done when they’re engaged in an outdoor football match to see who can score 20 goals first.

Not every child loves football as much as my two do, but the statistics show that the vast majority of children feel happier having spent time in nature, no matter the weather. Natural England collected responses from 2,048 children, aged 8-15, and found that 85% agreed that being in nature made them ‘very happy’.

So which outdoor activities might work for your family, and where does unsuitable clothing fit in? As a family of campers, we’ve invested in waterproofs, but we’ve got our money’s worth as almost every activity our children enjoy can be done outside. Does your 11-year-old fancy a run but it’s raining? Hello, waterproof trainers. Does your five-year-old feel like creating? A mud kitchen (bought or homemade) can keep two – to eight-year-olds entertained, and rain will help whatever concoction has been created to stick together. Do you have a sports-mad nine-year-old and a small garden? A basketball hoop can keep them occupied for hours, no matter the strength of the wind. Humans are made to spend significant time outdoors and they thrive when doing so. What changes might you make to help your children have a treasury of happy memories?

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