Source: Ashley Osborne, extension specialist for 4-H youth development

The weather is starting to improve and with it comes a great opportunity to get youth away from their electronic devices and encourage them to go outside to enjoy nature. According to Harvard Medical School research, getting outdoors has many benefits including increased vitamin D levels, increased physical activity, improved mood, improved concentration and quicker healing.

Here are some suggestions to help youth venture outdoors.

• Offer fun activities. Sidewalk chalk and bubbles are great inexpensive incentives for outdoor play. Many young people also like “fun chores,” such as walking the dog.
• Make it a game. Kickball and dodgeball are fun games to play together as a family or with a group from your neighborhood. You also can’t go wrong with a game of hide and seek.
• Lead an insect safari and encourage young people to look and listen for insects. They may even want to take photos of the insects they find to submit for a 4-H digital insect collection.
• Show youth the wonders of nature. Watch sunrises or sunsets or stargaze as a family. Take a walk and look at the different buds on different types of trees.

For more ideas on ways to get young people outdoors, contact the (COUNTY NAME) office of the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expressions, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability.

-30-

---

4-H