How To Make Time To Adventure With Kids
So maybe you’ve heard how adventuring with your kids is amazing, awesome, and so worth it, but how the heck to do you make time for it? With work schedules, birthday parties, sports, shopping, meal prep, and LIFE happening all the time, how does one make time to adventure with your kids? It can be challenging! I totally get it.
But while challenging and stressful at times, making time to adventure with your kids is so important. Adventure instills in them a love for exploration, learning, independence, and freedom.
So promise me you’ll make time to adventure with your kids.
I promise you, you’ll be so glad you did.
How do you do it? I’ll show you how. Let’s go.
1. Plan It
If you want to make adventures happen, but are struggling to ever get out the door, you need to plan effectively. Block out time on your calendar to get out and adventure with the kids. Don’t worry if the weather’s not always perfect, there’s tons of options to do with kids during rain or inclement weather.
What matters most is that you are putting it on the calendar and not letting other things creep in and push it out. Yes, you could always do another load of laundry or bang out those veggie muffins. There is ALWAYS more work to be done. But sometimes we need to stop the work, clear the schedule, and chose to spend intentional time adventuring and bonding with our kids.
2. Do It With Others
One of the best things to make us stick to doing something is accountability! Be it a moms group, church group, or your neighbor – when you plan something with other people, you will back out less often. Of course you wouldn’t want to ruin or change their plans, right? So you’ll find a way to make it happen.
Plus, adventuring with friends is so fun! It can be a Mama date and play date all in one. Plan monthly adventures with other friends or family and stay committed to your adventure.
3. Cut Out What You Can
Hopefully this one isn’t too painful – but sometimes you need to cut something out, to make something else fit in. That’s just how it goes. You can’t do ALL the things. What is most important to you and your family? How important is getting out together, letting the electronics at home, laughing at each others jokes, being present in the moment, and building lasting memories? Is adventure important to you? Then make it happen.
Maybe you need to cut your favorite TV shows, or maybe it’s saying no to the extra curricular activities. Is your schedule busy and overwhelming or is it full and life giving? A full schedule does not necessarily mean bad. But if you feel pulled a million different directions trying to check all the boxes, maybe it’s time you delete some of those boxes altogether. Adventuring together brings unity, joy, and lasting memories. Know your priorities, than cut the schedule to reflect them.
4. Leave Things As They Are
We’re talking about the house here. The laundry, the dishes, the bathroom. This can be painful sometimes to swallow, but sometimes it’s the exact opposite. It can be freeing and liberating to leave the mess behind, say ‘farewell’ to the clutter, and join your kids in the sunshine! Leaving the house in order is a great habit to have, but sometimes it might need to be nixed.
We all know how houses are with kids… the cleaning is endless. Don’t get sucked into the, “well, just this yet” conundrum. Do you have an ‘adventure date’ planned on your calendar for this Saturday? Than make it happen! Don’t worry about the chaos you’re leaving, focus on the memories you will be making. Intentional, quality time with kids is one of the things parents want most. Leave the mess, and the regret of not going, and get out there with your kids.
5. Block Schedule & Batch Plan
In the first point we discussed that you need to actually PLAN an adventure and put it on your calendar. Now we’ll go into a little more detail of how you can schedule and do things a certain way that creates MORE time in your schedule, and therefore, more time to adventure.
At the beginning of the week or month, write down all of the things you want to get done or do on a consistent basis. Meal prep, laundry, and grocery shopping will probably always be on the list, but maybe you have an extra project like a helping out at school for an event, or re-purposing a piece of furniture. When you have everything before you (and yes, adventures with your kids should be on there) you can lay out your calendar to fit it all in.
BATCH Planning is when you do similar things together at one time, instead of individually. For example, making dinner. Instead of making enough servings for one night, make twice as much, or even times the recipe by 3 or 4. Put the extra meals in the freezer and boom, you have a few night’s dinner already planned.
Grocery shopping – can you do it twice a month, or once a week instead of always running out when you need something? When you consolidate and do things together, you create windows of time for other opportunities. Plan, batch, and block and you will have more time to adventure with your kids.
Conclusion:
Finding the time to get out and adventure with your kids can seem daunting. As a mom, I know the schedule fills up quickly and easily. But knowing how to make time to adventure with your kids is crucial for making it actually happen. We can dream and talk about all those things we’d like to do with our kids some day, but unless we sit down and plan it out, it most likely will never happen.
So stop the excuses, the busyness, the overwhelm, and make a plan for adventures. Brew a cup of coffee (Mmm, always makes the hard things get done faster), grab your favorite planner, and start making time to adventure with your kids.
Get Out, Go adventure.
Keep Reading:
7 Benefits of Playing Outside for Kids