Outdoor Parents Outdoor Kids ~ A Book Review

April 2, 2012

Moving right along with our Spring Book series (let's just call it a series for fun) I've got a book review just in time to help you get outdoors more this spring and summer (and hopefully all year round) with your family.

Last summer when Damien and I went to Outdoor Retailer in Utah we were given a copy of Outdoor Parents Outdoor Kids: A Guide to Getting Your Kids Active in the Great Outdoors to read and review.

Good gracious it's taken me a long time to get around to writing this review. In my defense, it's good timing really since everyone has the outdoor itch during this season.

We are in the transition season between winter skiing and spring hiking

Outdoor Parents Outdoors Kids is an overview of different outdoor activities you can do with your kids. A humorous how-to guide for bringing your kids into the oudoors.

Eugene Buchanan wrote the book from a father's perspective, sharing his experience as an outdoorsy guy figuring out how to incorporate his children into his outdoor pursuits. To share with them his love for nature and outdoor sports. Buchanan includes a lot of other people's wisdom and experience to cover a wide variety of activities in this book.

If you've read FIMBY for any length of time you'll have picked up that we love being outdoors with our kids. It's a key part of who we are.

Our family started by hiking and car camping (with a tent). That grew into backpacking and a regular practice of one day a week outdoors together. And just this winter we started backcountry skiing (as well as using that same gear to ski at the local ski hill). You can read the story of how that all started here. We also have a Family Outdoors resource page.

But back to the book. Buchanan covers the activities I mentioned above and more. Bicycling (around the neighborhood or touring), swimming (think snorkeling, surfing as well as swim team), climbing, fishing, padding, etc.

Outdoor Parents Outdoor Kids is a comprehensive overview, as well as an amusing read, for what you can do outdoors with your kids beyond nature walks, especially if you already love the outdoors and aren't afraid to do the extra work required to bring kids into that love. Because let's face it, going backpacking or having a paddle adventure with kids isn't an easy walk in the park, though it is very well worth the effort.

I think Outdoor Parents Outdoor Kids is best read as an introductory book to enjoying the outdoors (beyond the neighborhood soccer field) with your kids. If you want to pursue in depth any of the activities he writes about you will need to do more reading and research.

The other point worth mentioning is that most families can't financially afford to try all the options Buchanan writes about. The gear required for a whole family to do these activities, even to rent the gear for a day or weekend, is expensive. Most of us are going to have to pick and choose from these options and for that reason I found the book a bit too broad. But then again, it's an overview.

If you are just starting out on this path of family outdoors you'll probably want pick an inexpensive activity, like hiking or maybe cycling if you already all own bikes, and slowly build from there. Most of us will not be investing in backcountry tents, roadbikes, kayaks, a canoe, a jogging stroller, fishing poles, skis etc.

Our approach was to start simple and slowly over years add to our activities and gear. We've been hiking every week, all year round for years now and just this year we started skiing as a winter activity. It didn't happen overnight.

The book is a great introduction to a bunch of outdoor sports and activites and it's funny to boot. There are lots of stories and ideas to get you thinking but it might overwhelm an outdoor novice family. There are no gear lists or in-depth instructions.

My personal (unsolicited) advice is start simple and go from there. As a parent be open to new experiences and invite your children into that but also share with them those things you already love and do.

If you are interested in going deeper into Family Outdoors we've started a subscription forum for that very purpose. Click here to read more.

And if you want a good overview to the possibilities of the fun stuff you can do with your kids outdoors check out Outdoor Parents Outdoor Kids.

Jennifer @ kidoing! on April 2, 2012, 4:35 p.m.

Renee, I'm in receipt of my new (used) copy of Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature and Survival of Children that I look forward to reading. Thanks for this book review; I will add the title to my list (maybe my library has it).

On a totally different topic, I was just thinking of Easter baskets and wondering..."what does Renee do?" Do you give the kids baskets? And what do you put in them?

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- renee on April 2, 2012, 6:51 p.m.
  
  Nothing. We've slowly phased that out. Funny you should ask, this is what we did one year: http://www.outsideways.com/easter-bunny-scat Over the years we have slowly moved away from connecting holidays with chocolates, candies and gifts (and other activities that have no inherent meaning for our family). Except for Christmas, which is a big gift celebration for us, as our birthdays. This has happened as our kids have naturally outgrown those activities and as we have made a conscious choice to move away from that type of consumerism. Perhaps if you want to continue an easter basket tradition it could be a new spring book or something?
  
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  - Jennifer @ kidoing! on April 2, 2012, 9:06 p.m.
    
    Yes! It's good to see this. It's exactly where our heads are, too. My daughter doesn't believe anymore and I don't feel the need to perpetuate for my son (who is scared, by the way). In the past, I have given socks, books, and maybe a fruit leather. I was thinking maybe a children's Bible this year to tie it into something that is more meaningful. I also recently found some nice used books.
    
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    - Mel on April 3, 2012, 2:33 p.m.
      
      I'm eaves-reading here, but a we like to keep Easter simple, but still do something. It's more about welcoming spring for us. I usually give my boys a couple Earth Balls, a new spring book and something homemade. Last year I knit them bunnies, this year I made them each a new pair of pants made from men's shirts that I got at a thrift store. We like celebrating the turn of the seasons ;) ity
      
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Ashley on April 2, 2012, 8:09 p.m.

I love the idea of giving books relevant to the season/holiday rather than candy. Great idea!

Also, we've been reading through your list of recommended books on Spring and have thoroughly enjoyed them! We particularly like Patricia Polacco's books and ended up getting about 5 books by her at a library run this past Friday. She's fantastic! Her illustrations of Babushka make me want to give Babushka a great big squeeze and perhaps be tickled by a hairy mole on her chin, as strange as that sounds....Her book, Thunder Cake, was truly timely for us as we have horrible, scary storms and, with the exception of my husband, would all love to bury our heads under the bed.

Keep up those recommendations - it has led to the discovery of several new favorite authors for us.

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Jen @ Anothergranolamom on April 3, 2012, 11:55 a.m.

David Sobel wrote a book called Wild Play that has less to do with gear and activities and more to do with building stories around the simple activities you do with your kids outside. Like you, we are slowly building our outdoor gear. We've hiked for years, but in the last two years have bought all the equipment for backpacking with our family. With 4 kids, it was quite an investment, but now we should be set for a while. We love just being outdoors with our kids, and sometimes feel the "fancy" stuff gets in the way.

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Natalia on April 8, 2012, 12:52 p.m.

Great review - I am getting the vibe that if you already do a lot of outdoorsy type stuff with your kid/s this might notbbevthe book you need?

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- renee on April 8, 2012, 1:49 p.m.
  
  I feel that if you have a few activities you like to do and want to go deeper with those then this is not the book for you. If you want to know what's possible and consider a wide range of option then this is a good book for you.
  
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