What I’m Doing Differently in Year 3 of our 1000 Hours Outside Challenge

Our family just wrapped up year 2 of the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge. Our first year, I wrote a little Q1 update you can read all about here. But a lot has changed for us!

When I started on January 1, 2024, I had a one-week-old and 20-month-old. We lived in a townhome without a private outdoor space beyond a small patio. Most days outdoors were spent on our e-bikes or at a local park. I’m sure many of the hours that gave us a boost to finish just in time for the New Year were those weekend camping trips. It was very much a part-time job on top of all the things that come with keeping a house and keeping small children alive.

This Year was Different…

This year looked SO unusual for our family. We had a lot of unexpected travel that kept us indoors (or on airplanes) during the best weather months. We also weren’t able to make any camping or big adventure trips happen. Most of our hours were spent in our new back yard or walking around the neighborhood. But that’s actually where the biggest struggle for 2025 came: the back yard!

I honestly thought having a private, fenced-in space would be the easiest way to get hours outside together. But after experiencing it, I’d say a lot of days were harder than others! My almost four-year-old certainly has a mind of her own and if she doesn’t feel like being in the yard, she just goes inside to play or read. Going inside is a little more accessible and convenient now that we’re not spending big chunks of our day away from home at local parks. The temptation for that extra comfort is just a little much.

So here’s the biggest shift I’m going to change in 2026:

I will no longer be tracking my children’s hours, but my own!

There are SO many questions in the 1KHO Facebook Groups: people asking what actually “counts” (as if there’s official rules), how to keep track of the time, how to dress when the weather is less than ideal, etc. But the one that always gets me is “who’s hours do I track anyway?”

For us, I’ve always tracked my oldest’s hours. The first year, her baby brother took a lot of naps inside while we hung outside our front door together. I would also count her hours if she spent special time outside with daddy while I got bonus housework done. But this year not only got a little more tricky for the independence reason mentioned above, but also because she started to go to school this fall during the warmest part of the day!

To be honest, I wasn’t sure we’d make it to 1,000 Hours Outside this year for that very reason. We were blessed, however, with an unusually warm fall (and now winter!) that’s allowing us to get more fresh air than ever before.

Now that you’ve been caught up on how it went, here’s how I plan to proceed in the future:

Why I’m Tracking MY Outdoor Hours This Year

I’m actually quite curious how many I can get when left to myself. I know that I’ll get a couple extra minutes during the back porch mornings and evenings and maybe even a little mom-solo hike here and there. Instead of pushing the kids out the door, I hope it will get me to go outside on my own without having to worry about their experience. I will also miss out on some outdoor time when I shoo them outside to finish making dinner or have special time with dad. Most of the time, I will likely be with one or all of the kiddos anyway and it will just keep my tracking simple.

How I’m Tracking my 1000 Hours Outside

Although I master-track our hours via the “official” app, with so many in-and-outs during the day, I’ve settled on something simple: my digital watch. I simply start or stop the timer when we go out or in. Then at the end of the day, I take a look at the timer and plug the total into in the app. That’s the easiest way I’ve come up with for tracking all the lives we live in a single day!

In the future, I think it will be fun to get a timer for each kid and have a “contest” to see who can get to 1,000 hours first in a year. Maybe there will be some kind of prize waiting for them, but I look forward to when they are old enough and decide to make it part of their life instead of mom dragging them along.

Why I’m Still Tracking

After making outdoor time a priority for my family, it feels a little silly to do this for a 3rd year in a row. Yes, we know we can do it and have already accomplished the challenge twice. That’s kind of a big deal to me!

But there’s something about keeping track that keeps me motivated. I’m not a super competitive person and really long, drawn out challenges are hard for me to continue in, but for some reason this is the first one that has helped me every. single. day. of. my. life. Plus it’s just a sweet habit that brings me joy in continuing the practice.

1000 Hours Outside Challenge is a Rhythm, not a Race

When I explain this challenge, it sounds like a LOT. And it is. It also sounds like I’m out to win some “fresh air mom award,” which also isn’t true.

The reality is that this rhythm we’ve created has changed our lives. And yes, that sounds dramatic, but I do believe these early days of motherhood would have felt a lot more heavy without having this to look forward to almost every day. I know without a doubt that my children’s temperaments are positively impacted by this rhythm and God has used our time outside to grow closer to each other and to Him. It’s not stressful; it has become a joy and a way we connect with friends, family, and our Creator in a much deeper way.

Slow, inside days are always a reality and busy seasons of life are bound to happen. The goal is intention, not a perfect score card.

For the one who wants to try, but feels intimidated:

I get it. To try this challenge is a big commitment.

But what if you took this on instead: for the next 5 days, try to get 5 minutes of fresh air every day. Open a window, step onto the porch, pause before getting into the car.

If you make that goal, try 15 minutes the next week: take a walk, meetup with a friend at the park, or opt to eat a meal outside.

I’ll just warn you now: it starts to get addicting. The boost your soul gets from a practice like this is invigorating. You don’t have to be an “outdoorsy” person, you just have to be willing to show up. Who you are now is good enough to try!

Sometimes we all need a little direction and motivation to get outside time in. Here are a few FREE resources I created to help facilitate this new experience for you:

Tell me: What are YOUR thoughts on the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge? Have you given it a shot before?