Even in the winter, the Manento family, which includes three children under the age of 5, tries to get outside every day, with the goal of being outside at least 1,000 hours of the course of the year.

By Ronni Newton

There will be 8,760 hours in 2025, and the Manento family of West Hartford plans to spend at least 1,000 of those hours outside – no matter what challenges the New England weather may bring. This is their third year participating in the “1000 Hours Outside” challenge.

Jackie Manento and her husband, Cory, both work full-time, and they have three young children. The youngest is a year old and the oldest will soon turn 6. She’s a West Hartford Public Schools teacher, so while she has the time to be outside with the kids in the summer, they aim to be outdoors for at least a short time, every day, all year round – whether it’s walking to catch the school bus, or taking a stroll in the evening to look for owls in the trees.

The challenge can be flexible – but Manento said their family doesn’t count each kids’ time outside separately. “You can do it, however it works for your family,” she said, and there’s an app that makes it easy to track, but they choose to count the time when all three kids are outside with either her, her husband, or both. The kids are too young to be outside by themselves, and time that either she or her husband are outside without their kids isn’t counted.

In the first year the family reached 1,096 hours, and in 2024 they exceeded 1,100 hours outside. They began the third year of the challenge on New Year’s Day.

Reaching 1,000 hours means being outside an average of close to three hours a day, but even though Manento is from Minnesota originally, she is not a fan of being outside for long periods of time in the winter. She shared an infographic that they use as a guide, aiming to be outdoors for an hour a day during the coldest and darkest months while spending much more time outside as the weather gets warmer.

Courtesy of Jackie Manento

“We follow it with the seasons in mind,” she said.

Not all of the time outside is “play time.” When the weather permits, the family tries to move as many day-to-day activities outdoors as possible. That includes eating meals outside, and Manento said when it’s nice out she will even fold laundry on the porch while watching the kids in the backyard.

“We have always enjoyed being outside,” Manento said. “My own mental health is better when I’m outside.”

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, like many people they started doing more and more activities outside. At the time they had just one very young child and couldn’t fathom just be cooped up in the house by themselves. “That was our way to live, our way to survive at the time.”

Manento said she had heard of the “1000 Hours Outside” challenge, founded by Ginny Yurich, who has a website devoted to the movement which aims to encourage families to “match green time with screen time.”

“Wow, we can do this,” Manento thought when she first looked into it. Her oldest child was prone to toddler meltdowns, but calmer when she was outside. They’ve kept going each year, even with another newborn – who is now 3 – and then with their youngest who is now a year old.

“It makes us more connected with each other. We have to be together,” Manento said. “It’s teamwork.”

The Manento family gets outside every day, year-round. Courtesy photo

While some days “it’s really hard,” Manento admitted, walking – including accompanying their oldest to the school bus stop – is one of the activities the family does together, and that time adds up. They also have three dogs to walk.

Manento said one of her friends did the challenge last year, but she doesn’t know of anyone else locally who is also participating.

“I think a lot of people want to do. it, but are afraid they’d fail,” she said. She hopes to encourage more families to take on the challenge, and even trying probably means adding to their green time, even if it doesn’t reach 1,000 hours.

“We’ve had a lot of fun, made great memories,” said Manento. They got headlamps for the kids so they can walk in the evenings and search for owls in the trees – which they have successfully seen.

Most of the family’s outdoor time is spent right in West Hartford. “We love the reservoirs, love Westmoor Park, love Elizabeth Park,” Manento said.

Yes, the winter is brutal. “It fills me with gratitude when it’s above 50,” she said. But even when it’s cold and raw, there’s hope for the next season ahead. And, Manento said, “It makes my kids resilient.” The older ones now ask to go outside, and she hopes it will always be that way.

More information about “1000 Hours Outside” can be found on the website.

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