Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids

Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids

Author: Rebecca Cohen | Language: English | ISBN: 1402254369 | Format: EPUB

Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids Description

Review

"Fifteen Minutes Outside is full of fun, creative ideas that make it easy for busy parents to give their kids much-needed outdoor time in any season. The games, crafts and projects presented in the book fit perfectly with National Wildlife Federation's Be Out There® movement and offer simple ways for families to connect with nature and each other."
--David Mizejewski, Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation

(2010-11-03)

"Research now supports what our grandmothers already knew to be true: time spent outdoors is good for our health. In this book, Rebecca Cohen offers 365 prescriptions for healthier kids and healthier families." Daphne Miller, MD, author of The Jungle Effect: Healthiest Diets from Around the World--Why They Work and How to Make Them Work for You

(2010-11-05)

""Every family will LOVE getting outside every day with the fun & easy tips in this book! Today, more than ever, we need to preserve our kids' love of the outdoors. Rebecca P. Cohen gives us everything we need to make outside time happen!" Whitney Ferre, author of 33 Things to Know About Raising Creative Kids, www.creativelyfit.com.
(2010-11-08)

""Ready to get up and go? Open the pages and start to discover 365 amazing ways to connect and engage with your kids! Keep it in your kitchen, your car and by your bedside 'cause your family is about to be inspired."
Pediatric Psychologist Dr. Lynne Kenney, author of The Family Coach Method (2010-11-15)

"Rebecca P. Cohen reminds us that we can be ourselves with our kids and grow closer as a family starting with Fifteen Minutes Outside every day. This is a must read book for people who want to bring more joy, connection, and fun into their family."
Mike Robbins, author, Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken
(2010-11-19)

"Every parent wants to keep their kids healthy, but it often feels like a struggle. Rebecca's imaginative and fun ideas help even city dwellers like me take the 15-minutes a day challenge."
Frances Largeman-Roth, RD, senior editor at Health magazine and author of Feed the Belly: The Pregnant Mom's Healthy Eating Guide (2010-11-29)

"Outdoor lifestyle expert, Rebecca P. Cohen, author of Fifteen Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids, highlights the top 10 easiest vegetables and herbs to grow in your garden. How does your garden grow?" (Tiny Green Mom 2011-02-18)

"And while an occasional snow day is fun, when they pile up, kids get a little rowdy. I just read about this book that might help you keep cabin fever at bay." (Lady and the Blog 2011-02-19)

"If you've never learned to appreciate nature when the weather isn't sunny and warm, dare to venture outside your comfort zone. Not sure how? Pick up Cohen's upcoming book 15 Minutes Outside: 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids (Sourcebooks, March 2011)." (SheKnows 2011-02-16)

"Fifteen Minutes Outside is the inspiration of outdoor lifestyle expert Rebecca P. Cohen's commitment to spending time outside with her family every single day for a whole year...I need a book like this." (SheKnows 2011-02-22)

About the Author

Rebecca P. Cohen is a gardening and outdoor lifestyle expert whose mission is to inspire people to get off the couch and discover how simple it can be to incorporate an active, outdoor lifestyle into a busy schedule. The mother of two small children, Rebecca incorporates the outdoors into every aspect of life, bringing invaluable tips and inspiration into her product lines, television segments, and website, rebeccaplants.com. Rebecca is the National Wildlife Federation's Be Out There™ Spokesmom.

Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1402254369
ISBN-13: 978-1402254369
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Review originally posted on MoanaSaves (dot) com
"What if I got outside every single day, and what if I could get my kids to come along? It would be easier to pull this off in the middle of summer, but what if we did it all year round, no matter what the weather was like?"

These are Rebecca Cohen's words in the introduction to her book 15 Minutes Outisde, 365 Ways to Get Out of the House and Connect with Your Kids. At the time when Rebecca had this outdoorsy idea she and her husband had demanding corporate jobs and it seemed the moments she was at home were spent indoors rushing from one demand to the next, leaving her at the end of the day feeling exhausted and unfulfilled in regards to time spent with her children. Well, I'm not a working mom but I can definitely relate with the life of running around without really spending time with my kids outside.

After reading this book I think I can honestly say that it's my new best friend. 365 ideas of how to spend meaningful time with my kids outside? This translates to: 1) bonding time with my children 2) cleaner house because we're outside! 3) getting the wiggles out 4) great health benefits 5) increased appreciation of nature 6) low to no cost entertainment ... and the list goes on and on. This book's worth is priceless!

Last week was spring break and I took the opportunity to try a few of the book's ideas on my kids. Our first favorite was "get to know a tree" where one person closes their eyes and another leads them to a tree where they use their sensory skills (excluding sight) to observe the tree. That person is then led to a central location where they open their eyes and try to guess what tree they touched. My kids loved trying to fool Mommy with this fun activity.

Fifteen Minutes Outside is a book dedicated to families who want to spend more time outside and are looking for some simple, creative ways to have fun in the great outdoors. The book lists ideas for each day of the year, in chronological order, and it serves as a good reference for those parents who want to do something but could use a quick reference to generate ideas.

Most of us are fully aware that children do not play outdoors the way they did in the past. Television, computers, electronic games, and other things have taken the place of physical activity and the health consequences are obvious. Adults are often equally bad, watching television or spending excess hours online when they could be enjoying some outdoor time with the family. This book aims to get you and the kids out of the home and into contact with the great outdoors and it has enough suggestions to keep you and the family busy for a very long time.

I agree that everyone should try to spend more time outdoors and as I read the different ideas presented in this guide, I noticed a few things. For one, some of the ideas require certain, specific materials that some families may not have available and may require making a small purchase. However, others are cost and trouble free and involve nothing more than walking outside and playing a game, picking a plant, or gathering leaves. The majority of the ideas involve no expenditures- all you need is access to a lawn, trees, flowers, etc., and the physical ability to get to them.

Most of the ideas presented in this book are obvious and I like that the author took the time to come up with a different activity for each day of the year.

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