As we head into winter in Colorado, Generation Wild, a movement founded by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to reconnect children with nature, is sharing fun and easy ideas to keep kids playing outside throughout the colder months.
Generation Wild wants to remind parents of the magic of a snow day - and is encouraging kids and families to get outside and really play!
Children are spending more time on screens than ever before, and less time in unstructured outdoor play, leading to a decline in mental health.* According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more outdoor time is linked with better sleep, lower stress, improved motor development, lower obesity rates, and more positive behavior. Playing outside promotes curiosity, creativity and critical thinking.
Generation Wild’s list of 100 Things to Do Before You’re 12 includes many accessible outdoor play ideas for winter time:
- Roll down a (snowy) hill
- Build a snow cave
- Build a snowman
- Catch snowflakes on your tongue
- Visit a glacier
- Make snow ice cream
- Go ice skating on a pond
- Make a snow angel
- Celebrate First Day Hikes on January 1st with Colorado Parks & Wildlife
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) invests a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers, and open spaces. GOCO’s independent board awards competitive grants to local governments and land trusts and makes investments through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Created when voters approved a Constitutional Amendment in 1992, GOCO has since funded more than 5,600 projects in urban and rural areas in all 64 counties without any tax dollar support. Visit GOCO.org for more information.
