Survey Says Parents Think Their Kids Will Get Bored Outside After Just 30 Minutes

Getting the family outside to enjoy God’s great gift of nature seems more difficult in parents minds, according to this survey. The average parent thinks their child could only keep themselves occupied outside for just 32 minutes before boredom sets in.

Results of a survey of 2,000 parents with children between five and 13 years-old, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Claritin, reveals that less than half of moms and dads (48%) believe their child could entertain themselves in the outdoors for a half-hour. One in two parents worry their kids don’t have the same level of imagination that they did during their own youth and think technology might be to blame, and two in three respondents think technology makes growing up harder than ever.

Overall the study revealed the difficulty with kids and the outdoors:

• 72% believe their family doesn’t spend enough time outside.
• 49% report their kids find the outdoors boring.
• 59% estimate their family spends less than half their quality time together out of the house.
• 23% say their kids complain of a lack of friends in the area.
• 48% say they barter screen time with time outside.

The environment plays its part in the challenge of getting the kids outside as parents blame:

• Rain (44%)
• Snow (41%)
• Humidity (41%)
• Allergies (70%)

But it’s not all bad news!

• 63% say their kids seem happier after being outside.
• 65% of parents say their kids are getting outside more in the last year.

The top activities include:

• 45% have gone swimming.
• 43% have started hiking.
• 42% have begun gardening.
• 42% have been playing outdoor sports.

“Our survey shows that kids are happy after playing outside, but the challenge parents face is having the tools to motivate their kids to get outdoors for playtime. That is why Claritin has launched The Outsideologist Project, which provides expert-guided activities to inspire a love of the outdoors and aims to get 1.2 million kids to spend an extra hour outside per week,” says Catherine Vennat, a spokesperson for Claritin, in a statement.

Source: https://bit.ly/3oTg7k8