4 SUMMER ACTIVITY GUIDE 2021
GETTING OUTSIDE: WHY IT’S IMPORTANT NOW MORE THAN EVER. With the worst of winter hopefully behind us, those sweet Montana summer days seem to be waiting just around the corner. Summers in Montana remind us why it’s worth it to live here: endless trails winding up into the mountains, rivers and lakes warming up to swimmable temperatures, the abundance of birds coming out to sing, and not least of all, the warmth! I grew up in a small town in coastal Alaska, so at this point I’m pretty accustomed to harsher winters. But, living in a temperate rainforest never really allowed me the opportunity to enjoy a real summer until last year. I have to say, Bozeman did not disappoint. With spring in full swing and
summer on the horizon, no one should feel guilty about starting to plan for all the fun they’re going to have this summer. Whether it’s a family backpacking trip in the Beartooths, a rafting trip down Smith River, or a weeklong trip to Yellowstone, the time to start planning is now. While you may have your summer schedule filled to the brim already, your little ones’ schedules may not be. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle wants to help provide options for the kids this summer through our Summer Activity Guide. It’s no surprise that most of the summer camps included in this guide focus on getting outside and participating in healthy activities. Getting outside
this summer and staying physically active is important for a few reasons. To start, we’ve all just experienced a tumultuous year and are still in the middle of a global pandemic, where many children were asked to learn from the confines of their homes. Kids have had their school year significantly altered through remote learning, cancelled or postponed activities, and less opportunity for social interaction with peers. Director of the local Heart and Hand counseling center Sally Hand says this has created a lot of unwarranted stress and anxiety over an uncertain future. According to the CDC, one of the best ways to help deal with this stress is by exercising and getting outside.
In addition to the stressful year we’ve experienced, children of today come from a generation that has had smartphones available most of their lives. In the fall of 2020, The Piper Sandler Survey questioned 5,200 Generation Z children, defined as children born from the year 1997 onward, on whether or not they owned an iPhone; 85% said they did. This number was up 3% from prior surveys. The reason this statistic is important is because the number of children with iPhones has increased during this global pandemic, and it’s easy to rationalize staying inside to watch another YouTube video over going on a hike when you’re 10 years old. Therefore, there must be a push to get children outside and active this summer.
