GET THE KIDS OUTDOORS THIS SUMMER BEFORE THE SCREENS TAKE OVER

Can an iPad compete with a beach?

Australian summers used to be filled with bike rides, sunburnt noses, scraped knees, the hose on the lawn, backyard cricket and that weird plastic slip-and-slide that probably wasn’t safe, but no one cared.

Now: tablets, Roblox, YouTube, Netflix, Minecraft. Screens have become a one-stop childcare strategy when the six-week school break hits.

No judgement here. Every parent knows the moment when the mental load intensifies and the easiest option seems to prevail.

But there is a growing awareness of the cost. According to new insights, 89 per cent of Australian parents agree that kids need real-world play and time in nature. Not hypothetically.

And summer is the one window when the weather, the daylight and the calendar actually line up to make it possible.

The Outdoor Payoff

Nick Baker, CEO of Reflections Holidays, says the benefits of nature are far more significant than just burning off energy.

“As a parent, I know how it can sometimes be really hard to get kids off screens and outdoors, but there’s so much to be gained when our kids connect with nature," he says.

"When I was younger, I was fortunate to lead summer camps for kids and saw firsthand how transformative it was for many of them.

"Whether they are learning new skills, such as fishing, going for a walk with friends or enjoying a picnic, we’re so fortunate in Australia to have wide open spaces like beaches and waterways to visit and enjoy."

This isn’t about forcing children into survivalist bushcraft. It’s about showing them that life exists outside algorithms. Connection. Risk. Exploration. Boredom. Creativity. All the stuff screens flatten.

Outdoors Doesn’t Need To Be Complicated

The pressure to create a Pinterest-worthy summer is one reason people often turn to iPads. But nature time doesn’t need to mean booking expensive camps or planning elaborate adventures.

It can be as small as:

• One walk after breakfast

• Letting them get messy at a creek

• Fishing off a pier with $15 of bait

• The backyard sprinkler rotation

• A picnic with actual grass under feet instead of carpet

The simpler the activity, the more likely kids are to repeat it. And the more likely parents will actually survive the holidays.

This isn’t just a warm nostalgic push for the good old days. Reflections Holidays is funding efforts to protect the natural places it wants families to return to.

“Reflections really believes that life’s better outside, and we are working really hard to get that message across in everything we do.

For example, we’ve committed $1m to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to help their team run programs to protect endangered fish in Australian waterways.”

It’s a reminder that the outdoors kids enjoy now is not guaranteed. It needs care too.

This Summer Is A Decision Point

Screens are not going anywhere. They are part of modern childhood. However, if this summer becomes another indoor season, we risk kids forgetting how to enjoy being outside.

No one is asking families to turn into barefoot, off-grid wonder parents. Just break the pattern.

Open the front door. Take the first five minutes.

Make the outdoors the default small choice.

Because if we don’t fight for nature time now, the iPad wins by forfeit.