Kids, and adults, need unstructured time outside. Take a hike together. Collect leaves and acorns. Let them play with your carbon fiber trekking poles.

Did you know, outdoor time for kids has decreased by more than 50 percent in just a generation, while time spent inside, plugged into electronic media, has stretched to more than six hours per day?

Here are two resources in the growing campaign to get the kids outside:

1) The National Wildlife Federation’s Be Out There campaign encourages families to unplug kids and give them a daily Green Hour, a bit of time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world.

The NWF website also has kid-centered nature info and outdoor activities. Give yourself a daily Green Hour (or two) with the kids while you’re at it. www.greenhour.org and www.nwf.org

2) Outdoor writer and dad Eugene Buchanan has penned Outdoor Offspring. With sections on getting your brood outside to hike, camp, backpack, ski, climb, fish, swim, snorkel, jog, bike, paddle, and more, the book is aimed at saving kids from slouchdom and couchdom, and helping parents continue their outdoor lifestyles.

A portion of book sales will go to the Outdoor Foundation, which grants funds to successful youth outdoor programs. (Trailspace also supports the Outdoor Foundation.) Outdoor Offspring won’t be released until January 2010, but you can read a sample online (PDF) or pre-order now. The sample chapter on snowsports with kids was funny and right on.

outdooroffspring.com