 When screens start stealing too much of our attention, nothing beats the laughter and connection of outdoor play. Whether you’re hosting a backyard gathering or heading to the park, these five games will spark joy, movement, and memories. Pickleball is experiencing a surge in popularity: in 2025, over 22 million Americans are playing, making it the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive year. This beginner’s pickleball set might spark something new for some on your gift list: Buy Now: https://amzn.to/3LMIXlL  An oldie, but a goodie! Croquet is a classic lawn game that is fun for all ages. Buy Now: https://amzn.to/4oZEyL2  Spikeball is often described as “volleyball meets four square.” It’s accessible, competitive, and endlessly fun, making it a go-to game for family gatherings, picnics, or beach days. Get their blood pumping with this game also growing in popularity. Buy Now: https://amzn.to/43KdCGu  Not the Jenga we remember playing for hours, this is GIANT Jenga- standing over five feet tall! Guaranteed to draw in participants and generate laughs. The perfect gift for the people on your list who love a challenge. Buy Now: https://amzn.to/3MbhWs6  What is the biggest deterrent to playing badminton? Setting up the net. Not anymore with this newly configured portable badminton set. Another classic outdoor game. Gentle, but invigorating, easy to learn, and easy to play. And now you can take it anywhere! Who wouldn’t want one of these? Buy Now: https://amzn.to/4oOUteJ  Outdoor games aren’t just fun—they’re fuel for connection, laughter, and wellness. This holiday season, skip the screens and step into the sunshine.
Do you have an outdoor game that you think should be added to this list? Share it in the comments.
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 When was the last time you ventured outside of your comfort zone and tried something new? Explored a new place? Let yourself live on the edge a little, or color outside the lines.
This past week, I, along with millions in the northern hemisphere, found myself going out in the dark of night to capture the thrill of seeing the wondrous Northern Lights show that Mother Nature was putting on in the sky. It was FUN! Bundling up, driving around my hometown, looking for the darkest place with the most open sky. Standing in the pitch black on roadsides and in fields, my senses heightened just in case a bear came by. At one point, I went to a local Arboretum and found a few cars parked together in the otherwise empty lot. “Ugg,” I thought, hoping it wasn’t a group of teens up to no good. Instead, it turned out to be a bunch of retirees who also thought this would be the perfect place to see the lights. Then a small family came by and joined me on the watching bench. “You know,” the father said, “whenever I come here during the day, no one is ever here. I come in the middle of the night and look at all the people.” We all chuckled at the irony. We didn’t see any Auroras that night due to thick cloud cover, but I can tell you it was FUN, and exciting, just hoping I would. The night air was invigorating. I felt a lot more alive than if I had sat home watching TV. So, this week, I invite you to find an adventure of your own. And, for those who are saying, “Nah, I’m good.”, okay. Because, after all, isn’t life just one big adventure? #FUN #Weekend #Nature #NatureConnection #HealthyLifestyle  For those who have been following The Nature Nurse #FallisFun series, you may have noticed there was no #FUNFriday post last week. The reason being, I needed to pull the FUN train into the station for some dental work.
Mention the dentist, and most people react by cringing because we all know going to the dentist is not fun. Dentist stories, however, are comedy gold! Read my blog if you need a laugh: http://www.susanallisondean.com/read-ponder-comment-blog/the-dentist-isnt-funbut-dentist-stories-comedy-gold Spending the weekend nursing my swollen jaw reminded me that our bodies have an amazing ability to heal when we properly support them. Our spirits are inextinguishable. Our minds are the tricky part of us to manage, but with some effort, they too can get on board. FUN is always waiting, even when we get sidelined or derailed. Sharing funny stories eases our minds and connects us to our common human experiences. They can be the ticket to getting on the FUN train. If you’re looking to start your week with a spark of FUN, try asking your colleagues, classmates, friends, neighbors- family members- tell you a funny story. If they can’t think of one, maybe start with a dentist story. Everyone has one.  Did you have FUN this past weekend? Who were you with? Where did you have fun? What were you doing? Identifying our FUN magnets is part of the roadmap to having more TRUE FUN, which we discussed in last week’s blog: www.thenaturenurse.com/blog/are-we-having-fun-really Catherine Price defines fun magnets as the people, activities, and environments that consistently spark True Fun—a blend of playfulness, connection, and flow that makes you feel fully alive. In her book The Power of Fun (amzn.to/48DIQlV) she encourages readers to identify their personal fun magnets through a process she calls a fun audit. Here’s how she characterizes fun magnets: 🎯 What Fun Magnets Are
🔍 How to Find Yours
Perhaps you may find this to be true for you, too. It is not just loss or changes in the FUN magnet people we have in our lives, it can be loss of your favorite beach house getaway due to beach erosion, or your favorite campground burned down in a forest fire, or was wiped out by flooding. Activities we may have found FUN in the past may no longer be doable, or maybe you have outgrown them? Fear not! If we dig deeper, there is FUN to be had! Once I took some time to grieve the losses I wasn’t aware of, and accepted that I was going to have to put more effort into enjoying the FUN magnets I did have left and find new FUN magnets, things started to turn around. My husband is a FUN magnet for me. Although sometimes, we forget to carve out time and save some energy for TRUE FUN. This past weekend, that is what we did. We spontaneously decided to go away for the weekend to explore Virginia. We booked a room at an inn in an area that I had bookmarked on Instagram. We weaved through the backroads and enjoyed the fall foliage. We gave warm mineral bathing a try and had some laughs during this unique experience. We met another couple at dinner and compared experiences. On the ride home, we happened to stumble upon a crowd waiting along the train track for the steam locomotive to pass. “It’s a big deal around here,” we were told. So, we got out of the car and waited, and the train was impressive. Then, the crowd ran to the car and drove like cannonball run down the road to get ahead of the train so they could see it pass by again! The enthusiasm was contagious, so we followed along. It was FUN! Spontaneity, exploring new places, my husband, trying new things like mineral pool bathing are FUN magnets going down in my FUN journal. What are you adding to yours?
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