HELLO THERE!
Hi and welcome to RUN WILD MY CHILD, your one-stop shop for all things kid-friendly and outdoorsy. This website is dedicated to getting kids (and parents) outside and back into nature, one adventure at a time. Whether it’s through family travel, nature crafts, forest school lessons or outdoors games and activities, we know that kids are happiest and learn best when they’re outside, exploring and getting their hands dirty.
There’s no denying that children benefit greatly from being outdoors. Kids need fresh air and exercise, room to explore and a connection with nature. We all do. Families who find ways to be outdoors together nurture not only their bodies, but their connection to life and each other. Research shows that kids who spend time outside in nature are happier, healthier and calmer. Playing outdoors builds confidence, encourages creativity and teaches responsibility.
We also believe that as parents and educators, we can teach children invaluable lessons with and through nature, but we also know that it’s not always (or maybe ever) easy. Our goal is to encourage you to get outside with your kids and help them connect with nature in fun new ways, even if you’re not “outdoorsy.” And if you want to learn how to be “outdoorsy,” we’ll show you how! (or at least how to fake it ’til you make it.) We want to be your main resource for outdoor family inspiration and help you find new ways to encourage your child to run wild.
Meet the family
I’m Sara and I’ll be your tour guide. My husband Ryan and I are both attorneys in St. Louis, MO, have two children and share a love for the outdoors. I grew up in the country and did lots of camping, canoeing, creeking, hunting and exploring the woods when I was little. While Ryan was raised in the city, he developed a passion for fly-fishing, snorkeling and skiing at an early age and his deep love for all things nature-based turned him into a biology major in college.
Together we’ve hiked an active volcano, swam with sharks, explored ancient Mayan ruins, fly fished mountain streams, skied black diamonds, climbed waterfalls in a bamboo jungle, rafted through underground caves and camped in the snow…just to name a few of our outdoor adventures. But our biggest adventure by far has been parenting two wildlings!
Our little wild ones, affectionately nicknamed Mac (almost 5) and Mim (almost 3) are both happiest when they’re outside. Whether they’re fly fishing in a frigid trout stream, hiking through the woods, geocaching in a local park or camping in the backyard, we try to get them outside as much as possible. We’re committed to raising our kids to respect and appreciate nature and we put a huge emphasis on making sure our “city kids” get plenty of sunshine on their faces, fresh air in their lungs and dirt under their fingernails. The fact that they actually like bugs and worms is just an added bonus!
Where we adventure
While we love opportunities to travel to exotic places like beaches and national parks, most of our adventures take place in and around the area where we live (the good ole, land-locked Midwest) – making them doable, affordable and practical for parents everywhere. Whether you live in a rural area, the mountains, close to the beach or in the middle of a city, we want to make getting outdoors fun, easy and accessible for everyone.
We’re excited to share tips, advice and encouragement on outdoor activities, nature crafts, educational lessons and family adventures. We’ll let you know what works for us (and what doesn’t work), lessons we’ve learned along the way and all the funny and unexpected stories that inevitably happen with two small kids in tow. We hope this will be a place where you feel inspired, supported and encouraged to get yourself and your kids outside, no matter where you live!
Coming soon to the website
I’m so excited that you’re here and hope you’ll stick around for the ride. This website has been in the works for a long time and is a passion project of mine (one of the many). We might not have new content daily, but we’ll try to keep you consistently entertained and inspired. While I’ll be your main source of info as we get started, we’ll soon feature some incredible adventures, advice, trips, outings, projects and tutorials from parents all over the country (and hopefully worldwide). We’re currently accepting guest posts, so if you have a fun outdoor adventure you’d like to share here, just click that CONTRIBUTE link up top.
Feel free to poke around on the website and follow us across all social media channels. Bookmark our site or add us to your blog reader. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on all happenings and be automatically entered to win an amazing nature-inspired prize pack!
And now that you know a bit about me, please tell me about yourself in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you!
I live right in the city of Chicago with my husband, three boys (ages 11, 5, 2) and daughter (9). We struggle with balancing outdoor time (other than local playgrounds) with all of our kids’ sports schedules that keep our weekends booked. We enjoy a few camping trips a year and I fell in love with “creeking” with my kids this summer. Would love to find ways to best meet local moms that want to go out on local outdoor adventures. I used to work FT, but I am now home with my youngest. Finding free ways for quick outdoor time that we can still fit in among our crazy sports schedules would be a great thing to hear about from other families. Congratulations! Looking forward to learning more.
Where do you live?
The Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. Lots of opportunity for adventure.
How many kids (and their ages)? One wonderful 6 year old daughter with a heart for adventure and a passion for the outdoors and knowing all she can about it.
What kind of outdoor activities are you (or the kids) most interested in? Fishing, hunting, gathering, camping, horseback riding, hiking and boating.
Any particular topic or activity you’d like to see covered here? I just love absorbing information so I will love anything you put up.
Hi Valerie! Thanks so much for stopping by. I’m so glad you’re here!
Hi Anna! Creeking is one of our all-time favorite activities too. We go all the time. I’ll be sharing a post on the benefits of creeking soon, so stick around. We’re just now getting into sports (my kids are little), but I imagine that’s going to cut back on family adventure time. Outside Magazine online just had a great article that I think you’d like: https://www.outsideonline.com/2174426/ten-commandments-letting-kids-play-team-sports
As for finding other outdoorsy moms, that’s a really great question! I know of a couple places online where I’ve “met” other outdoor parents, so let me work on coming up with a list. Otherwise, maybe I could start a Facebook group of something where we could all hang out and find others in our area to connect with! Thanks for being here!
I am SO not outdoorsy. But I’m trying to get better 🙂
Please teach me how to not hate camping, since I am doing that this summer 🙂
Hahaha! I can definitely try to convince you that camping is not so bad. 😉 Maybe you just need to go camping with us sometime…we go all out!
Already love this site! We live in farm country in central southeastern PA…about an hour and a half outside of Baltimore and D.C. My two boys are 4.5 and 2.5 and are both crazy about the outdoors. Their absolute favorite thing to do is hike, but we’ve also been doing a lot of cycling on rails to trails with them in the bike trailer or with one riding his bike and the other in the trailer. We are actually doing a weekend cycling trip on the Great Alleghany Passage in a few weeks! They are happiest (and let’s be honest…sleep the best) after a day spent outdoors…even if it’s just in our backyard digging in the dirt.
We are going to attempt some camping this summer so would love to see some posts on that!
Hi Lauren!
I love that you guys bike! That’s one thing that we haven’t really gotten into yet. I’m not super sturdy on a bike and they make me nervous, but my husband loves biking! Maybe you can convince me to try it! As for camping, you can definitely expect some of that material coming soon! Thanks for being here!
I live in O’Fallon, IL. I have a 3.5 year old son and an 8 month old daughter. I’ll
be honest, I actually hate being outside (insert embarrassed emoji), but I’ve noticed I’m starting to project that onto my son…and that makes me sad. So I vow to get out there for the sake of my kids, in hopes I break the cycle and raise a generation of outdoor lovers. I’d love to read tips on how to make the outdoors more enjoyable for people like me (I dislike extreme temperatures, I burn easily in the sun, I’m a mosquito magnet, I have no desire to interact with wild critters…don’t I sound like a treat!!?). So maybe suggestions on how to do a “lite” version of the activity (like I won’t camp in a tent but maybe I would do a cabin). Or suggested gear that add comfort measures? Ideal times of day/year? Research on the benefits to keep me motivated? Ha! I hope this helps. Congrats on this new adventure!!
Hi Erin! You’re so close to me! I love that you’re so honest about not loving the outdoors, but totally willing to put your comfort aside for the kids. You’re a great mom! I’m expecting to put quite a few posts up soon on “lite” outdoor activities that aren’t messy, dirty or overly ambitious for non-outdoorsy people. Thinks outdoor games at the park or geocaching! Speaking of, have you tried geocaching? You might love it! Post on that coming soon.
First, I am SO excited to see your beautiful site up & running! Congratulations! I have always admired how much you go & do with Mac & Mim & are outside SO much! Jack is just under 2.5 & absolutely loves to be outside. Cries & throws fits when it’s time to come inside. We are in North Texas so, Summers are hot hot & the rest of the seasons are like a mild Summer, ha! Whether it’s the backyard, riding horses at my dad’s, the park, etc Jack loves to be outside. But, I would love to know you’re secrets on getting a little more adventurous with him & going/seeing/doing more. I’ve always been intrigued with geocaching so I’m excited to learn more about that. We’ll soon be moving out of the city so I’m excited to see where this takes our little family. Can’t wait to read more!!
Hi Shayna!
Thanks so much for being here. My son was the same way as your Jack. Outside is the only place he’s truly happy and has been since he was a tiny baby. I’ve got lots of ideas on how to be a little more adventurous, one step at a time! Geocaching is a great way to do that. I’ve got a big post on that coming up really soon, so stay tuned! That will definitely get you outside and exploring more.
I have an 18.5-month-old son, who wants to be outdoors every minute of every day. Currently, he loves just wondering around, going for walks, climbing on playgrounds etc. I’m excited to introduce him to more and more things as he gets older. My parents are decidedly not outdoorsy, but my husband are somewhat. We are avid runners, love to hike and my husband fishes. We love to travel and explore new areas. I’d love to see suggestions on how to hike with small kids.
Hi Sara!
Hiking with small kids is a great topic! And one that I plan on covering soon! Thanks so much for being here and hope you’ll stick around. Lots of good stuff coming soon!
We live on the island of Oahu and have three boys ages 6, 5 and 2. We spend lots of time in nature and our favorite activities are hiking, camping and swimming. Your new site looks fabulous!
Thanks so much Aubrey! Totally jealous of your location! It’s easy to see why you guys love nature so much when you’re surrounded by the prettiest of it!
Congratulations on the launch of your new site! Such an exciting project and I am looking forward to following along. I live in a suburb of Chicago with my husband, 2 year-old, and 2-month old. I love outdoorsy activities of all kinds and would especially love to hear about easy things to do with the kids. With a new baby it can be easy to spend time in the house, but we all feel so much better when we get outside – even if only for a little while. Any suggestions you have on ways to do that without too much prep would be great!
Hi Lauren!
Thanks so much – I’m glad you’re here. Getting outside with a baby can feel so overwhelming, but I promise it gets easier every time you do it. That’s a really great topic though, so I will certainly add it to my list of things to cover in upcoming posts. Thanks so much for the suggestion.
Yayayay!!! Sara this is so exciting, Im giddy for you!
I’m not a huge outdoorsman, but I do believe in the therapeutic benefit of kids playing and being outdoors. My kids loves being outside so i try to do as many things outdoors as I can.
Where do you live? The Upper Peninsula of Michigan
How many kids (and their ages)? I have one of each. Will age 4 and Emily age 1.5.
What kind of outdoor activities are you (or the kids) most interested in? Both kids love to be outside. Will loves getting dirty and Emily loves anything water related.
Any particular topic or activity you’d like to see covered here? It’s basically winter around here 6 months of the year so winter activities would be nice to see.
Hi Dakota!
Your kids sound just like mine! My son loves anything where he can get messy and my daughter is a fish! Love the idea of some upcoming posts on dealing with cold weather/winter. Expect to see that in the fall! Thanks so much for the suggestions and thank you for being here!
You know we move all over, but we’re currently smack in the middle of the desert in CA. My four year old loves outdoor activities that involve eating (seriously – picnics, chasing the ice cream truck, bringing snacks on a walk). I can always lure him outside with the promise of food! I’d love to hear some tips on how to get outdoors more in the HEAT of the summer. I think it gets to about 110 here pretty commonly. So excited about this website!!!
Hi Kary love!
Thanks so much for being here. Great idea to do a post or two on surviving the heat with kids. I’m on it!
I live California I’m a single mom with my adopted daughter who is going on 16. She has been home schooled from 3rd grade to 8th grade. We go camping, hiking, fishing and walk the mall and go to local petting zoo that has all kinds of farm animals. She really likes the goats and she knows every kind of goat there. She is having a hard time in high school and I’m looking for a program that will help me focus on her creative skills. And allow me to teach her the basic things of everyday life skills.