Be Out There engages American families, educators, healthcare practitioners, corporate leaders, policymakers, and the media in persuading others to spend more time outdoors. Our goal is to re-connect families to the outdoors to raise healthier kids and inspire a life-long appreciation of wildlife and nature.

The National Wildlife Federation advocates for children and families through robust campaigns, including:

• Surgeon General Campaign – we formally recommend that American families and children engage in a daily Green Hour® to improve their health and well-being.


• Green Hour® at School – we promote mandatory recess for children at school so parents can be assured that their kids are getting some outdoor play time.


• Green Hour® at Daycare and Aftercare Facilities – we know that parents care about the quality of daycare and aftercare for their kids, so we support requiring outdoor time at out of school facilities as well.


• Natural Play Areas – we support research that shows that play spaces with more natural elements result in increased physical and creative fun, so we encourage the development of natural play areas at day cares, public parks and school playgrounds.


• State Model Legislation and State Summits – we believe it is necessary to address environmental education, recreation, health and the built environment to reduce nature deficit.


• Environmental Justice – we believe that children have the right to swim in a lake, go on a hike and see the stars before they are 14, so we are drafting the “Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights.”


• Presidential Commission on Americans and the Great Outdoors – we urge the new Administration, Congress and our recreation partners to create this commission to study the changing landscape of Americans’ relationships to the Great Outdoors and how to form national policies to help families relax, recharge and reconnect with nature.


• “No Child Left Inside” Federal Legislation – we strongly support this bill to provide $100 million worth of funding for environmental education programs and teacher training at the state level.


• Appropriations – we continue to advocate for increased federal funding for recreation programs, school-to-parks initiatives and current federal environmental education programs to support a rich learning environment.


• Comprehensive Federal Legislation– we are working on a comprehensive federal legislation that addresses health, the environment, recreation and environmental education.