Still looking for that special gift for an outdoor-minded loved one? Check out the 2016 Outdoor Families Gift Guide, filled with fabulous finds from leading outdoor retailers both big and small. From casual to luxurious, OFM's Gear Team scoured the industry in search of unique, functional, and budget-friendly gifts to place under the tree this year. Happy holidays, and we wish … [Read more...]
5 Hiking Tips To Inspire Teens and Tweens to Hike
by Traci Lehman - Like most outdoor activities, hiking offers limitless fun that can be tailored to all ages. From easy nature walks to tiring mountain climbs and challenging multi-day treks, hiking promotes fitness, entertainment and hands-on education to anyone who partakes, especially kids. Why Is Hiking Important For Kids? For tweens and teens, the outdoors is less … [Read more...]
My Outdoor Family: Meet the Sages
Editor's note: The Sages- Clark, Kelly, Clark (8), Sophie (5) - are a homeschooling family who believes in "learning by living" with nature as their classroom. This month's "My Outdoor Family" column features Kelly's perspectives on a variety of outdoor-related topics, and readers can learn more about the entire Sage family on Kelly's blog, SageTribe: Adventures from our … [Read more...]
Great Gear: New guidebook helps first-time visitors to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Guidebook review -- Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park; first-time trip guide for families by Erin Kirkland It's never too late to begin planning next summer's family vacation, and in the case of national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton, a year may be considered prudent. In 2016, the National Park Service celebrates 100 years of enhancing visitor experiences … [Read more...]
How To Connect With Nature By Disconnecting in the Great Outdoors
by Bailey Gaddis - Collectively, much of humanity has developed a habit of dissolving into the vortex of technology; we log in to invisible connections and tune out physical surroundings. While technological capacities at our disposal can be fabulous when harmonized with the act of turning it all off to connect with nature and joy in time spent with family that … [Read more...]
My Outdoor Family: “Just Like Daddy”
by Andy Hawbaker Outdoor adventures have always been an important part of my life. Childhood memories are full of car camping, family bike rides, and annual road trips to the mountains. During young adulthood, I assumed having kids would put a damper on all that fun. How wrong I was. Adventures during my wife?s pregnancies were definitely shorter and less intense, but … [Read more...]
Nature Stewards: Four Fun Ways to Let Kids Participate
by Matthew Treadwell Fracking. Climate change. Mountaintop removal, overfishing, shark finning, oil spills, poaching, poisoned water, toxic air, deforestation, extinction. We're constantly bombarded with bad environmental news, and it's easy to become despondent, to feel helpless, hopeless. What do we do? What should we do? Besides living an environmentally conscious … [Read more...]
DucKsday Kids Rain Suit Review – Full Coverage Rain Gear for Active Kids
Active kids need equally-active outdoor clothing, and sometimes that can be hard to find. Outdoor family blogger Melissa Edge offers this review of the DucKsday kids rain suit, a one-piece wonder that performs well under kid-type pressure. A Belgian company, DucKsday is fairly new to the outdoor apparel market, but their kids rain suit has already taken the world by storm, … [Read more...]
My Outdoor Family: Connecting through nature
Editor note: ?My Outdoor Family? is a regular column in the Outdoor Families Magazine calendar. Written by readers who represent every facet of an outside lifestyle, these monthly opportunities seek to inspire and encourage, remind and reminisce about a personal love for and commitment to the outdoors. Not everyone is ready to tackle the summit of a mountain, just as some … [Read more...]
