Get Out And Play!
The Time is Now
As members of active outdoor communities, we all have a unique opportunity in this moment to reassert the benefits of outdoor play. Kids are not spending time in busses trucking from soccer field to tournaments and back. Playing fields and courts are empty. Organized sports as we know them, especially youth sports, have hung up their proverbial cleats.
Get outside now! This is a time to step away from the regularly scheduled sports seasons. The time is ripe to get outdoors and rediscover how fun and necessary play is in our lives.
Not Just for Kids
It’s been proven time and again that play is good for our mental and physical health, and we’re not just talking about kids. As we are spending more time in family units amid social distancing practices, this is a great chance for parents to join in with outdoor play. Outdoor sport lends itself so beautifully to social distancing. Hop in a canoe and count turtles on a lake of your choice, choose an easy hike to a hidden swimming hole, finally check out that rails-to-trails system with the kids. Play enhances access to a thriving outdoor lifestyle, and the time to play is now.
Where’s the Play in Outdoor Sport?
Although outdoor sport is often viewed through the narrow lens of “hardcore,” “epic,” or “technical” adventures, the natural world is actually a wonderful playground. It’s time to lean into the fun aspects of outdoor play and leave the suffer-fest for another time. Sometimes adventures can go off the rails and you end up hiking out in the dark, pulling a muscle, running out of water, taking on extra mileage, or portaging through pucker-brush. Now is not the time for that – and never a good way to engage new people of any age in outdoor sport.
Seek the type of fun that is actually fun in the moment. Play can help get you there, and is often the best way to get folks happily experimenting with new techniques, obstacles, or terrain. Keep it low pressure and remember time in the outdoors should be joyful – notice the wildlife, the views, and the freedom of moving your body outdoors.
Incorporating Play
Getting out for a bike ride, hike, or paddle doesn’t have to be strenuous or terrifying. In fact, we’ll often do more to improve at outdoor sport for ourselves and successfully engage others if we think about maximizing play. Head to the pump track, play tag in your kayak, or set up a silly obstacle course or scavenger hunt. It’s time to have some fun.
To learn more about how to add more play into the outdoor sports that you love, check out this free guide we put together with just that in mind. Here we share ideas on game play, terrain choice, and promoting discovery that can enhance the amount of play you’re able to bring to outdoor sport. Making any outdoor experience fun and playful is perhaps the best way to get people involved and wanting to come back for more. For additional free resources, join the OSI Community.
Play Can Move Us Forward
We all need to play, especially right now. We have the chance as advocates, mentors, educators, parents, and leaders to utilize this unprecedented moment to engage people of all ages in playing through outdoor sport. Making it fun and accessible is the best way to encourage lifelong participation. The outdoors offers us the ideal classroom for improving our mental, physical, and community well-being. Through this we can help more people build the resilience, confidence, experience, creativity, and skills to be better prepared to navigate our changing world.
Our Play Challenge to You
So, let’s take one more step. What are you going to do this week or over the weekend to bring play into your life? Who are you going to have fun with? Your kids? Your friends? Our challenge to you is to plan an outing that is pure fun and exploration. No big objectives, no intense skills training, and no drills. Share with us what you are up to and how it goes in the comments, on Facebook, or on Instagram. We can’t wait to hear from you!