Electronic grid

Get outside!

Are you and yours spending too much time tethered to the electronic grid? It has been reported that children spend a little over 4 hours per day, every day, in front of an electronic gadget of some kind.

While it is true that this doesn’t apply to all children and all families, it still leaves the question of what time is left for anything else. Perhaps it’s time to assess what you are able to do outside instead of inside.

Screen-Free Week asks that you do something very simple. Unplug yourself from the TV, Internet, and the various other electronic devices that you spend time with, for one week, from April 30 through May 6.

Here are some outdoor recreation suggestions for you and your little ones for this week, and perhaps even longer:

If your children aren’t in school yet, gather them up and go outside. It is a perfect time of year to start a small garden if you have space for one. Have your children help plan what to plant.

Go for a walk and while you are walking around your neighborhood, count the houses, name the colors you see, look for birds, squirrels and other critters. Keep a log book or small journal of what you see and hear.

Go to the Crocker Art Museum if you are in range of Sacramento. It is a truly wonderful place to spend time for children of all ages. If you live farther afield, choose a good art museum and go to it.

Walk along the river front in Old Sacramento, explore the old buildings in the historic area. Go back into downtown Sacramento, and take a walking tour of the many art galleries spread throughout town.

Take a hike on the American River Bike Trail. Pack some goodies and enjoy a picnic just about anywhere along the trail. Ride your bicycles on the trail on a different day.

Head out of town and explore Auburn, Grass Valley or Nevada City on the Highway 80 corridor. Visit the art galleries and cool little shops in the old parts of town.

On the Highway 50 corridor, go to Placerville and explore this historic old gold mining town. Head down Highway 49 to Coloma and see where gold was discovered at Marshall State Park. Have lunch or dinner at one of the fine eateries in Placerville.

Go further up Highway 50 into South Lake Tahoe. Continue through the “Y” towards Camp Richardson. A fantastic paved bike trail weaves through the forest on the lake side of Highway 89. Anderson’s Bicycle Rental’s is open. Either rent bikes or bring you own and ride the trail until it dead ends across from Spring Creek Tract. Walk the trail if cycling isn’t for you.

Walk along the shore of Lake Tahoe, from Camp Richardson to Taylor Creek. Read the signs along the way. Walk through the Pope and Baldwin Estates as you head to Taylor Creek.

Have lunch or dinner at the Beacon, or the Burger Lounge. For coffee, hot chocolate and goodies, go Alpina Coffee Cafe.

As you do all of these, keep writing in that journal you and your children brought with you.

When you get home, take some time to remember what you saw and heard, and what the favorite spots were.

Get out some paper, crayons, pencils, and paints and spend some time with your children painting, perhaps something from one of your jaunts, or something around your yard or in your head.

Read a story each day to your children. Go to the library with them and check out some books. Cuddle up and read, read, read.

Towards the end of the week, take your journal notes, drawings and paintings, and make a book chronicling all you did during your unplugged week. All it takes is a little tape, perhaps some twine, and your imagination.

Perhaps your unplugged week will turn into many unplugged hours, spent with your family, exploring, reading, painting, and reading. It’s a week well invested for building great family memories.

Obviously, this is written with the area close to where I live. It’s easy to put these same ideas to use in your own community, no matter where it is. The point is to get outside, away from all the electronic minutiae that constantly chips away at us.

Explore, question, record, read, as a family. You may find it to be a life long activity.

As always, assume nothing, verify everything.