Can Outdoor Time and Working From Home Play Together?

While remote work gives parents a lot of flexibility, it can also blur the line between professional responsibilities and family life. So how do you deal with that? One way parents who are building work-from-home careers can keep things in balance is by creating consistent outdoor play opportunities for their kids. Believe it or not, this can be one of the best ways to manage both professional and parenting duties.

So why not try treating outside time as a vital part of your family’s day instead of an afterthought? By making it an intentional part of your workday, you’ll help your children release energy and build independence. And you’ll return indoors more focused and ready to take on whatever’s next on your agenda, too.

Building Outdoor Time Into Your Remote Work Schedule

Do you structure your days in focused work blocks?  If so, you’re like many other remote-working parents. When you work this way, you’ve got built-in break times. That means you can use some or all of those blocks for predictable outdoor time for you and your kids.

The benefits? If you build those consistent outdoor play opportunities into your kids’ daily routine, they’ll be more likely to give you space and quiet during your work blocks (if they’re developmentally able, of course. Babies and toddlers need you much more often than older kids do).

Your kids will come back inside from a good play session, tired and ready for some downtime. You’ll come back refreshed and ready to concentrate on your next set of work-from-home tasks. In other words, everybody wins!

Ideas to help you work in some outside play blocks with preschoolers and school-aged kids:

• A morning stretch of independent backyard play while you handle administrative tasks. You can work from a place where you can watch them from inside, or bring your laptop outside to work nearby while they play.
• Try a midday outdoor reset. Try having lunch together outside, then going for a stroll around your yard or a quick walk in your neighborhood. Your daily “lunch date” will help you connect with your kids. And younger kids might go down for a nap or quiet time more easily after.
• How about a late-afternoon outdoor play session after quiet time? If you worked while your little ones napped, the break will do you all good. Your kids can work off their pre-dinner restlessness and build up their appetites, and you’ll have a clearer head for whatever you need to finish up in the evening hours.
• An after-dinner and before-bedtime walk or free play session can ease the transition to rest and help your kids expend any extra energy. Watch the sunset together, play in the longer evening shadows, count the stars as they come out, or catch fireflies in summer. You’ll be building lifelong memories, and it will give you time to ease out of work mode or prepare for any after-bedtime tasks you want to complete.

Predictability is the key here. When children know that outside time happens at certain times in the day, they’re more able to respect your focused work windows.

Use reminders to let them know what time it is:

• visual timers
• a printed schedule for kids who can read or picture cards for those who can’t yet
• a sign for when you’re in “quiet work” mode
• clear rules about when they can interrupt you during work times

These approaches won’t work as well with very young children. Try these ideas if you need to stay productive while working remotely with a toddler– and don’t forget the outside time!

Stuck on what to do outside? Feeling crafty? Good with tools? This video can help you create an outdoor playroom for your kids (or inspire other ideas)!

Encouraging Independent, Developmentally Appropriate Play

Sometimes, you’ll want to play outside with your kids. When my grown children were young, those were some of our favorite times. When parents take a break from building their work-from-home-careers to focus on their kids, it strengthens the family bond.

But your children’s outside time can also foster independence. Open-ended activities can happen with you nearby or, if your kids are old enough, while you’re inside, where you can see them and help if needed.

This means you can get some low-focus-level work done while your kids enjoy their playtime (I don’t recommend this if you have toddlers or babies!).

Here are some ideas, from low-cost to high, to occupy your preschoolers and up while you work within supervisory range:

Lower Cost Outdoor Play Options:

• chalk obstacle courses
• gardening patches
• scavenger hunts
• bubbles and bubble machines
• independent “missions” (my kids spent a lot of time digging under their swing set for dinosaur bones, for example)

Medium Cost Outdoor Play Options:

• Bicycles and tricycles
• Splash pools or sprinklers
• Trampolines
• Toy lawn mowers, weed whackers, or sand/water play stations
• Lawn or driveway games like basketball, badminton, or volleyball

Higher Cost Outdoor Play Options:

• Play/climbing structures
• Ride-on cars (but make sure you’ve got the right ride-on car size for your kids)
• Swimming pools (you will need to supervise and take safety precautions in and near the pool)
• Playhouses and treehouses for older kids

Pro Tip:

The goal isn’t to add more distractions to your yard. It’s to choose activities and items that will delight your child and help them extend their attention span and expend energy. With time, they’ll be able to play independently while you handle more of your professional responsibilities.

Setting Clear Boundaries Outdoors

When you have babies or toddlers, you’ll probably need to leave your work inside when you are outside with your children. But preschoolers and older kids can start to learn that mom or dad working remotely doesn’t mean you’re always available to play or supervise their play.

Setting clear expectations helps children understand their boundaries. Before my children began playing alone outside, they knew the boundaries of their yard and where they were allowed to play alone (at first, only in the backyard, far away from any traffic on our rural road).

Your kids will also need to know when you’re in work mode and when you’re free to play with them – or when it’s a little of both, like if you bring your laptop outside to be nearby while you sort through emails or other low-focus administrative tasks.  Some parents create visual signals, like a colored card in the window, to indicate interruption rules.

Establishing these rhythms reinforces that both work and play have spaces in the day. Over time, children can learn to respect those boundaries. That means creating outdoor play opportunities while working from home isn’t just a break for them. It’s also a strategic tool for you – as a parent and a professional.

Not sure how to fit in that outdoor playtime when your kids are young and still get your work done? This pandemic-era video on working from home with young kids can help!

Conclusion: Outside Time and WFH Can Play Together!

Balancing a remote career with parenting takes both structure and flexibility. The key is to plan outdoor time with your children and work-from-home needs in mind. When you get it right, you can reduce your stress, improve your focus, and support your kids’ development in ways that benefit your whole household.

Adding predictable outdoor routines along with your work blocks will let you encourage independent play suited to your child’s stage. Yes, you can create consistent outdoor play opportunities while still building your work-from-home career.  All you need is to find a rhythm that supports both professional growth and family life.