What Childhood Needs!
As a child growing up on Kauai, I didn’t know that spending hours in the ocean, scraping my knees on the reef, building forts, and jumping off lava rocks was anything special. It was just life. We didn’t have a screen in our hands or a schedule packed from morning to night. We had freedom, sunshine, salty hair, and a whole lot of imagination.
Now, as a mom of four raising children in a very different world, I feel the tension so many parents feel:
Am I doing enough?
Should they be in more activities?
Are they “falling behind” if they’re just…playing outside?
Recently on our podcast I got to talk with my friend Ginny Yurich from 1000 Hours Outside, and her story brought words to what I’ve intuitively felt for years: childhood is being squeezed out by the rat race and the glow of screens, and it’s time for us as parents to fight for it back.
The Rat Race of Modern Childhood
Ginny described what so many of us feel but don’t always name: this pressure to build our children's “resume” before they even lose their baby teeth. Sports, music, tutoring, language programs, you name it, often piled on top of long school days and homework.
Then, when there is a spare moment? Screens swoop in to fill the space.
The stats she shared are sobering: the average American child spends only 4–7 minutes outside a day and 4–7 hours on screens. That’s not just a little off-balance, that’s upside down.
It’s no wonder so many of us are exhausted, our children are anxious and restless, and family life feels more like logistics management than joyful connection.
But God did not design childhood, or parenthood, to look like that.
“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
(Deuteronomy 6:7
Notice how that verse assumes time together, walking, sitting, lying down, rising. That kind of discipleship happens best in margin, in slowness, in real life…not just in the car on the way to the next activity.
Nature as a Place of Healing and Formation
After I lost my arm, getting back into the ocean was a huge part of my healing. I didn’t want a special, easier environment; I wanted normal. I wanted the place that made me come alive, even if it was challenging. The waves, the salt, the sun, the fear and the fun all mixed together…and God met me there.
Fast forward to motherhood, and it’s still the same. When life feels heavy, when the noise of the world gets loud, when my own heart feels pulled in a thousand directions, nature slows me down and clears my mind. God’s creation preaches to us without words.
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”
(Romans 1:20)
We sometimes think nature time is just a “bonus” for children, something extra if we can squeeze it in. But Ginny reminded me that being outside impacts every part of a child:
Their cognition and ability to focus
Their social skills and conflict resolution
Their physical health and strength
Their emotional regulation
Even their spiritual life as they see God’s creativity and care on display
And it’s not just about children. Parents need this too. We are not meant to live under fluorescent lights, constant EMFs, and endless notifications. We need sunlight on our faces, dirt under our nails, and wind in our hair. We need places where our phones don’t own our attention, and our children can see that.
Pushing Through the Resistance
Here’s the honest truth: my children don’t always want to go outside. Maybe yours don’t either.
Sometimes they’d rather sit inside, play with Legos, or just lie on the swing and do nothing. And sometimes, I’d rather stay inside too.
Ginny shared that it can take children up to 45 minutes to really settle into play outdoors. That’s a long “doorstep mile.” The hardest part is just getting out the door. But how many times have we dragged everyone to the beach or the playground while they complained, only to have them beg to stay longer once they’re happily digging in the sand or building dams in a stream?
Part of our job as parents is to remember those moments when it’s working, so we don’t give up when it’s hard.
We’re not failing if our children resist. We’re forming them. And we’re forming ourselves too into people who can do hard, good things, even when we don’t feel like it in the moment.
Screens, Gaming, and the Courage to Change
One mom messaged me saying her children were gaming and no longer wanted to do anything else. That broke my heart, because I know she’s not alone.
If you’re in that place, here’s some encouragement: you’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to say, “I didn’t know what I know now, but I’m learning, and we’re making a change as a family.”
Will your kids push back? Probably.
Will it be worth it? Absolutely.
We’re not called to be “cool” parents who always keep the peace. We’re called to be faithful ones who guard the hearts and minds entrusted to us, even when that means conflict, boundaries, and being the “mean” mom for a season.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
(Galatians 6:9)
Faith in the Hard Stories
Ginny also shared about deep church hurt in her family, being kicked out of a church after raising concerns about a youth pastor who later turned out to be a pedophile. That’s heavy. That’s the kind of thing that can shake your faith.
But even there, in the middle of confusion and grief, God was faithful. Their youngest daughter read in her Bible about God redeeming broken things and said, “This is like what happened with our family.”
Our children don’t just learn faith from our victories. They learn it from watching us cling to Jesus in the mess, the hurt, and the unknown.
Major Takeaways
Fight for unhurried childhood.
Childhood doesn’t need more activities; it needs more freedom, more nature, and more presence. Protect margin. Let your children be bored. Choose the long-term fruit of character and resilience over the short-term glory of a packed resume.Lead with courage and humility.
It’s okay to change course, on screens, schedules, church, or anything else. Explain to your kids why, root your decisions in God’s truth, and trust that He will meet your family in the discomfort. You are modeling bravery, balance, and faith with every choice you make.
Listen to the whole podcast here!
Let’s be parents who walk “by the way” with our children, barefoot in the grass, sandy at the beach, bundled in the snow, trusting that God is using all of it to shape them, and us, into who He’s called us to be.
