Outdoor Parenting Books

Did you know the average time an American kid spends in outdoor free play each day is only 4-7 minutes? Meanwhile, the average child spends an average of 4-6 hours on screens each day with teens spending up to 9 hours a day using a screen. More and more research is coming out about the importance of kids spending time outside – especially engaged in free play.

It can feel overwhelming when the culture is to keep kids inside instead of sending them outside to play in the neighborhood until dinnertime. We have rounded up a variety of different books that contain a variety of outdoor parenting styles and inspiration for getting kids outside.

It can be so encouraging to read books from other parents or researchers that have found ways to incorporate an outdoor lifestyle. Whether it is a new way to track hours outside, learning the research behind too much time online, or just entertaining stories from parents who have firsthand experience taking kids outside, reading this genre is a great step to spending more time outside. The books in this list are written from a variety of backgrounds and I’ve tried to categorize these outdoor parenting books so you can find which books would be the most helpful for your family!

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Boy in a green helmet walking in water holding a long stick

Introduction to Childhood Outside

If you are just starting to explore books about the importance of getting kids outside more often, these four books are a great place to start!

I have included the page count and the audio book time (# pages/ hours minutes)

The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

416 pages/11 hours 58 minutes

This book is the only one in this list written before 2007 (the year the first iPhone was released). Written in 2005, Richard Louv sounded alarm that fewer and fewer kids were playing outside. He coined the phrase “Nature Deficit Disorder” and advocates for environment-based education. Louv discusses that the environment will be much more protected in the future if kids spend time outside when they are young. This book is a bit drier than some of the others on this list but it is included first since it is one of the foundation books of this genre!

Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich

224 pages/5 hours 56 minutes

Ginny Yurich founded the 1000 Hours Outside movement. This book is a very approachable read about the importance of unstructured play, sunlight, and boredom among other topics. This book shows the importance of making outside play a priority and why it needs to be incorporated in childhood today. If you only choose one book from this whole list to read – this is the one I would recommend!

Balanced and Barefoot by Angela Hanscom

256 pages/6 hours 27 minutes

Angela Hanscom is a pediatric occupational therapist who advocates for outdoor unstructured play. She witnessed a decline in sensory and motor skills in the children she was seeing as they spent more time on devices than in outdoor play. If you are interested in outdoor play from more of a therapist/education perspective and how ADD/ADHD/anxiety/depression may be connected with lack of big body outside play, this book would be a great place to start.

Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff

352 pages/11 hours 11 minutes

The author examines cultures quite different from Western culture such as Maya, Inuit, and Hadzabe in Tanzania to see how cooperative parent/child relationships are formed. This book spends less time focusing only on outdoor parenting, but a rethinking of how parents and children can relate to one another. The author also created a companion workbook with 52 exercises in parenting to try.

Girl in shorts and a t-shirt sliding down a snowbank in front of a mountain

Outdoor Lifestyle

These books focus less on the research of the importance of outdoor play (although there is still some of that) and more on practical ideas for taking kids outside!

There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather by Linda McGurk

304 pages/8 hours 39 minutes

McGurk is a Swedish-born author who realized the culture difference between how much time children spend outside in Sweden vs the US when she moved to the US. The author discusses her six-month trip back to Sweden to examine the differences in how kids are expected to interact with nature and the outdoors. This book is inspiring and motivating for making sure kids are spending time outside.

How to Raise a Wild Child by Scott Sampson

352 pages/9 hours 56 minutes

Scott Sampson was the host of the PBS show “Dinosaur Tales” and has a unique take on encouraging engaging kids with nature time. This book is similar to The Last Child in the Woods but has many more practical ideas for how to engage kids with nature. He incorporates technology as a tool, draws attention to the important balance between protecting nature while also being able to play in it, and gives advice for parents and educators of kids of all age groups.

Outdoor Kids in an Inside World by Steven Rinella

208 pages/6 hours 3 minutes

This book goes one step further than “How to Raise a Wild Child” and encourages camping, fishing, and even teaching kids how to hunt. This book might not be for every family (the author has a show called “Meat Eater” and is quite pro-hunting) but is easy to read, inspirational, and motivating for taking kids outside.

Adventuring Together by Greta Eskridge

224 pages/3 hours 54 minutes

Eskridge focuses on creating connections and lasting memories between parents and children. She includes ideas for both indoor and outdoor activities. She includes ideas for when finances or time are limited. The author is a homeschooling mom of four and while this book isn’t necessarily only about spending time outside, the general message of the book encourages family bonding, time outside, and learning new things together.

Two elementary kids sitting on grass looking at a mountain

Online vs Outdoor Generations

These books focus on kids needing to spend time in the real vs virtual world. There no doubt will be even more books and research coming out about this in the next few years as cell phones in schools, digital legacies, and regulations about protecting kids online become more urgent topics.

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

400 pages/10 hours 32 minutes

Released in March of 2024, this book is a must-read for parents, educators, and anyone who works closely with kids. Haidt did extensive research into how social media and the internet has changed how kids’ brains are developing. Haidt provides research about the spike in mental health disorders after the release of the iPhone along with illustrations of how social media creates loneliness. He offers practical solutions for ways that schools and parents can begin to handle the rapid increase of kids with smartphones over the last decade. Spending time outside is just one piece of his solution. This book is a call to action, and the sooner intervention is done, the better!

The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter

320 pages/8 hours 52 minutes

This is the one book on the list that isn’t necessarily directly about children but the content can be applied to children and parenting! Easter works to understand people’s need to be challenged and to be pushed out of their comfort zones. It is both entertaining and informative and will help you think about how you live your current lifestyle.

The Opt Out Family by Erin Loechner

320 pages/10 hours 26 minutes

Loechner used to have over a million followers on Instagram and as newer algorithm updates came out and the social media landscape changed, decided that their family would opt out of screens and smartphones almost entirely. She includes research and stories, and practical ideas for managing technology use.

Let Them Be Kids by Jessica Smartt

256 pages/6 hours 26 minutes

This book provides advice on how to raise kids exposed to creative play, getting to experience boredom, and spending time outside. This book is specifically written from a Christian perspective. (A few other books on this list are written by Christian/religious authors but this one is the most specifically written as a Christian parenting book.)

Books Focused on Education

Some advocates want reform from the government level with access to free play, how kids interact with nature, and how schools are set up. Some families choose to homeschool or other alternative schooling methods to help kids spend more time outside. These books give a variety of perspectives on the education aspect of outdoor time.

Call of the Wild and Free by Ainsley Arment

336 pages/9 hours 6 minutes

Call of the Wild and Free is specifically written to families with the desire to homeschool. This book provides inspiration for fostering a love of nature, prolonging wonder in childhood, and making the world a classroom instead of attempting to replicate the classroom inside of a house. The author is passionate about kids spending time outside and teaching kids to love learning.

Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy

304 pages/9 hours 13 minutes

Free Range Kids addresses the dwindling lack of kid independence from both a cultural and legislative perspective. Skenazy argues that kids needed more independence, more outdoor time (including unsupervised time), and less cultural judgement of parents allowing this. Skenazy is a founder of the “Let Grow” project that tries to normalize kids today being independent in the physical world while protecting them online. Jonathan Haidt (author of Anxious Generation) is also a co-founder in this movement along with Peter Gray (author of Free to Learn).

Free to Learn by Peter Gray

288 pages/9 hours 57 minutes

Written by a developmental psychologist, Free to Learn argues that free play is the main way kids will learn how to problem solve, get along with others, and become successful adults. Gray asks questions about the current education system and suggests various changes that could be made for child-lead learning within the school system.

1000 Hours Outside: Activities to Match Screen Time with Green Time by Ginny Yurich

288 pages/(no audio version)

Ginny Yurich (author of Until the Streetlights Come On, listed earlier) wrote this very practical book full of ideas of how to get outside no matter the time of year! The book includes supply lists, detailed instructions, and how to expand activities further. The photographs and layout of this book are beautiful and it would be a fantastic gift for any family with kids at home! Ginny also hosts a fantastic podcast full of more ideas and inspiration for getting outside!

Boy walking along a riverbed on the rocks

Where to Find These Books

The Library and Libby

Our favorite place to get books is for free at the local public library or on Libby, the library’s audiobook database. If your library does not have the physical copy of a book you are hoping to read, it is worth asking a librarian if they are able to order a copy for you! Most libraries have a form for requesting books to be purchased. It is a win-win because you are able to read the book and another person will be able to discover the book on the shelf later on!

If you prefer audiobooks (many busy moms do!), most libraries have access to audiobooks online! The Libby app is free to download – simply enter your library card number and the catalogue for your library will display.

Some libraries have huge catalogues and others are more limited on their choices depending on demographic areas. If you have a library with a small selection, there are actually libraries where you can get a free online non-resident card!

Amazon/Audible

If your local library does not have the book or audiobook you are looking for, all of the titles in this post are available on Amazon as a physical book, on Audible as an audiobook, or as a Kindle copy.

You can save money on Amazon by purchasing gently used copies. Thriftbooks and Half Price Books frequently have great deals on gently used books as well!

Libro.fm sells audiobooks and supports independent book stores and gives you two free audiobooks when you sign up for a free account! Libro.fm is wonderful because you actually own and can download the mp3 file of the book unlike Audible that must be streamed on their platform.

Book Clubs/Book Swaps

The titles in this post would be great book club or book swap books since they can spark great conversations and have a lot of practical application ideas.

If you are part of a nature club, choosing one of these books and passing it around would be a fun activity for the year!

All of these books can help provide encouragement or fresh ideas to spending more time outside. We would love to hear if there are any particular books that you have read that stuck with you or changed the way you think about parenting!