UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2018: The Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club is a facebook group that is now called the Helping Families Explore Outdoors.
Are you looking for outdoor information and inspiration? You’re in luck! I’m proud to announce the creation of the The Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club! Woohoo!
The Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club is a FREE facebook group dedicated to helping families explore outdoors. It’s a place to share ideas, inspire each other, and build a community of nature-minded parents. It’s designed to help beginners explore outdoors. And did I mention it’s totally FREE?
Creating this Outdoors Club has been on my wishlist for a long time now. Why? Because it fills an informational and inspirational need. I believe you need three things to get outdoors with kids – Information, Inspiration and Good Gear and the Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club can help in all of those areas.
Information
Exploring outdoors with kids requires a certain amount of knowledge. How do I find trails, parks and campgrounds near me? How do I keep my kids safe when we’re outdoors? What do I do when my kid has to go potty outdoors?
I provide information on getting outdoors with kids through the articles on this blog and courses I offer, but sometimes the best information is community based. What I love about the Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club facebook group is the quick response to questions and helpful real world experience shared by members of the group.
If you’re just starting out in exploring outdoors with your family, please join. It’s free and a great source for information.
Inspiration
The second thing that helps families explore outdoors is inspiration. If you’ve ever seen an instagram photo of a happy family in frolicking in the waves or climbing a mountain top then you know the power of outdoor inspiration. Maybe it’s spurred by jealousy, but when I see or hear of others getting outdoors with their kids it makes me want to do the same.
Mountain Mom and Tots offers outdoor inspiration through my mailing list, instagram and pinterest, but it will also offer outdoor inspiration through the new Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club facebook group.
Interacting with real parents trying to get outdoors with their kids is often more inspiring than seeing a beautiful photo. It’s inspirational to hear about hiking failures or when something just went right while exploring outdoors. If they can do it, why not me?
One inspirational aspect of the Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club will be our monthly book club discussions. While I offer book reviews on the blog, I’m looking forward to more of a back and forth comment thread on one specific outdoors related book.
Good Gear
The final item that helps families explore outdoors is having the right gear. From personal experience I know that a comfortable sleeping pad while camping means the difference between a successful adventure and a terrible sleepless night.
Having waterproof gloves in winter, or a high quality hiking pack for summer can mean the difference between getting outdoors or staying home. Because of that, I’ve put together my resources page which lists the items my family ACTUALLY uses when we explore outdoors.
While I strongly believe you don’t need much, if anything, to start exploring outdoors with kids, there comes a point when having the right gear makes a HUGE difference. While the Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club isn’t designed to offer gear reviews or advice, it is a good place to ask people what gear they use to get outdoors with kids.
Join the Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club
If you want to explore outdoors as a family, the Mountain Mom and Tots Outdoors Club is the place for you. Join this FREE facebook community and get outdoor information and inspiration (and maybe a few gear recommendations). Just click here to join!
See you in the group!
~Mountain Mom
