Strengthen Family Bonds With Family Activities
It is said that friends that play together, stay together.
The same thing is true for families that do a lot of things together. Family activities have many benefits. They help to increase both your physical and mental well-being.
Let’s take a look at family activities you can do together to make your family bond stronger.
What is the Most Popular Outdoor Activity?
It depends where you live in Australia, but many families seem to enjoy spending time together doing a water sport.
Going to the beach in Australia is popular. When you live inland, basing your family activities around waterways is also very popular.
Water based activities are great as you can incorporate many other things. At the end of the day’s play, you can end the fun with a campfire.
Best of all, outdoor family activities don’t have to be expensive. You can climb a tree, go gruffalo hunting and puddle jumping.
If you have a bit more money to spend, you can try hiking, paddling and taking a boat trip.
But, you should not let a lack of money stop you. Instead let your imagination run riot.
When eating out is expensive, bring a picnic instead.
What Makes A Great Outdoor Venue?
It depends on your interests. If you are not interested in learning surfing or going swimming, a beach family break is probably not your sort of thing.
When you are going to a campsite, you should choose one that includes as many varied family activities as possible.
Remember the weather is going to affect your family activities. Spending all day in the blazing sun is not good for you. Try to find somewhere that lets you mix and match outdoor activities with a few indoor activities.
Why Outdoor Activities Are Important
Outdoor activities are important for a variety of reasons.
When you spend time outdoors, there is a good chance you will be more physically active. Keeping fit and healthy is important for the entire family.
Spending time outdoors also increases your mental well-being. All of that oxygen helps the brain to produce more feel good hormones.
Sunshine helps the body to boost its production of vitamin D. At the same time, it is important to be careful with those precious UV rays.
How Long Should You Do Outdoor Activities?
That is up to you, but it is important to stay safe. Although sunshine is good for you, it is one of those things you can get too much of.
There is an argument for not letting the weather put you off from outdoor activities. After all, what would you do if it starts to rain in the middle of a nature walk or bike ride?
When you do outdoor activities, there is one thing you need to appreciate more than anything else. That is you need to be prepared for almost anything.
Provided you have got the right gear, you can enjoy outdoor activities come rain or shine.
Importance of Family Outdoor Activities
What makes family outdoor activities so important?
When you have been doing family activities for a while, you start to realise that family is about more than a bunch of individuals sitting around a campfire or lazing in a hammock.
You are a team. And as a team, you can work together and solve problems. That means when you get back home, you have a stronger family bond. There is nothing that your kick-ass family can’t do.
Improved physical health is one of the top benefits from outdoor activities. While your mates are sitting in front of the computer, you are out strengthening your body.
Getting into fitness when you are younger will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. As you get older, it is harder to achieve physical fitness.
When you are a fit as a young person, you are much less likely to experience health problems as you get older.
Apart from physical fitness, outdoor activities boost your self-esteem and self-confidence.
Knowing how to do basic things such as building a campfire or setting up a tent are both important skill sets to have. Both are not something that you do everyday.
Learning how to do a new activity or skill which is out of your comfort zone, massively boosts your self-confidence and self-confidence.
It makes you feel you are ready to take on the world.
Outdoor activities help to reduce mental stress and anxiety.
When you are out on a nature walk and the weather throws everything it has got at you, personal problems often fade. While you are walking, you may even come up with unique ways of solving them. That applies to both old and young family members.
Spending time outdoors lets you create many beautiful memories relating to nature. More than anything, it lets you create memories that will strengthen your family bond. You will have shared experiences.
Benefits of Outdoor Activities
You should never underestimate the importance of family outdoor activities. It has been shown that children who take part in outdoor activities from an early age have better school results.
They are often more enthusiastic about school and learning.
Many kids who spend time outdoors see nature as their classroom. They have a better sense of what they are all about.
They learn to both stand up for themselves and work better with others. People who work well in a team often have better self-esteem. That is one thing that you can get from spending time outdoors.
You have learned new skills and overcome difficulties.
Can spending time outdoors improve memory?
The jury is out on that one. However, it would seem that people who spend more time outdoors have a quicker recall.
That means they are better at retrieving a memory. Once they have learned a new skill, it appears to stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Stress is a part of every day. Spending time outside does not mean you are going to avoid stress.
No matter what you do, you are going to run into stressful situations in your life. One thing that is going to be different is the way you handle stress.
People that do a lot of outdoor activities can often go on to solve stressful situations in new unique ways. In other words, outdoor life has taught them to think outside the box.
Can outdoor activities reduce anxiety? It would appear so.
You will encounter worrying situations when you are on a road trip in the outback. Perhaps the road in front of you has flooded. If so, what are you going to do?
Are you going to worry about it or deal with the situation? Most would choose to deal with the problem and get on with it. Ultimately, that is how you reduce stress.
Walking and hiking help to improve your physique.
You don’t have to do extreme sports to get fit. Did you know that walking at a speed of 4 km per hour for a couple of hours can get you fit for life?
Walking is one of the best ways of maintaining and achieving a good physique.
Outdoor activities help to improve your focus and better your sleep. When you are outdoors, you take on board more oxygen.
Oxygen is the strongest antioxidant known to mankind and can do wonders for our overall health. Your focus and the quality of your sleep are both important health indicators.
Spending time outdoors is the best way to develop new hobbies. Before you know it, you are a water skiing champion.
When kids go on school trips that involve outdoor activities, they often come back having formed stronger bonds.
The same thing happens in a family. When you want to enjoy stronger bonds with your kids, spend time taking part in family outdoor fun.
Spending time outdoors gives you a naturally better body. A new term is slowly creeping into our daily lives.
The term functional fitness means that we are ready to cope with many of the things that life may throw at us.
How To Plan Your Outdoor Activities
When you want to make the most out of your time in the outdoors, planning your activities is important. Going hiking in the outback is not going to be safe unless you are prepared for it.
Research Your Target Destination
Researching your target destination is something you learn when you are in The Forces.
Before you set off on your expedition, make sure you do as much research as possible.
Think about your family unit as its own army unit. What do you need to know to make your mission a success?
You need to know the weather, camping conditions and make yourself aware of any precautions you need to take.
Invest In The Right Gear
If you are going to take part in sport activities or perhaps get into hiking, you need to invest in the right gear.
Having the right gear makes you more comfortable. Not only that, but the right gear keeps you safe. Going kayaking without your life jacket is not something you want to do. That would simply be too dangerous.
Make Room For Creature Comforts
Don’t forget about your creature comforts. When you take your hiking boots off or remove your wetsuit, it is nice to have a few creature comforts.
Creature comforts can include anything from your favourite socks to your iPad to chill out with a few games before bedtime.
Prepare Your Body For The Activity
Don’t underestimate how important it is to prepare your body for the activity.
You may not go away every weekend. That means it is important to keep fit in between. Take part in gym classes and try to do activities that relate to your family’s hobbies.
If you like hiking, maybe your family can invest in a fancy treadmill that has a range of incline settings.
Welcome Breaks and Stretch
Don’t turn your family outdoor activities into a chore. If you do, they will soon become boring.
Take plenty of breaks and stretch out to enjoy what you are doing.
Family Outdoor Activities Ideas
Stuck for ideas? When you don’t want to spend the weekend taking on the family next doors in a water balloon fight, there are more adventurous things you can do.
Once you have got the right gear and experience, you can take part in white water rafting, hiking, climbing and mountain trekking. If that is not exciting enough for you, you can try your hand at caving, mountain biking and camel riding.
One thing is for sure, as far as family outdoor activities go, we are spoiled for choice in Australia.
Final Thoughts
Getting involved in family outdoor activities is not only good for the body. It is good for the soul.
You learn things and get the opportunity to grow as a person. Just two more reasons, you should take part in more outdoor activities.
