Connecting with Kids in Nature – Every Day

Published on January 9th, 2017 Updated on January 10th, 2023 By Linda McGurk

Confession time: I’m terrible with New Year’s resolutions. It’s not due to lack of trying – every year the intention is there. I’ve tried resolutions, bucket lists and words of the year. And every year I end up feeling like a failure by the time February or March rolls around. Apparently I’m not alone, since fewer than one in ten people who make a New Year’s resolution feel like they succeed. The only silver lining in this is that people who make an explicit resolution are ten times more likely to achieve their goals than people who don’t.

But there IS one thing that has worked for me as far as goal setting goes since I became a mom. And it’s not so much a last-minute vow on New Year’s Eve as a conscious lifestyle change that has had a profound effect on the way I live and parent.


Whether your goal is to lose weight, get fit, eat healthier or hike 1,000 miles, statistics show that you’re more likely to succeed if you break it down in small, measurable increments and create consistent habits that you can stick with in the long haul, than if you just jump on the latest fad and hope for the best.

For me, that habit is to get outdoors with my daughters every day. It may just be for half an hour some days, if the weather is challenging or time is tight, but it’s the one constant that I won’t compromise, no matter what. 

I’m excited to share these and other thoughts about creating a daily nature habit in my guest post Connecting with Your Kids in Nature over at Childhood 101 today. Make sure to check it out! Meanwhile, I’ll go back to working on that outdoor play bucket list…

P.S. If you’re better than me at New Year’s resolutions and enjoy a good challenge, there are a lot of fun ones to choose from this year, including the 365 Mile Challenge, a monthly “get outdoors” challenge, the 52 Hike Challenge and the 365Outside Challenge.

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