Outdoor Activities Archives

10 Reasons You Need to Drop Everything and Build a Fort… Right Now

March 3, 2016Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley9

One time, as a child, I built a fantastic fort that withstood four New England winters.

I was so proud of it! I would spend entire afternoons holed up in that sacred place. I’d get lost in an imaginary world, or while away the hours lost in a favorite book. I’d love to know how many books were read in that space!

Of course, my brothers and I built many forts over the years, both indoors and outdoors, but the outdoor forts reigned supreme.

50 Ways to Fight Nature Deficit Disorder This Fall and Winter

November 4, 2015Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley4

You can’t go very far these days without hearing about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but have you heard of Nature-Deficit Disorder?

GeekDad Daily Deals: LED Helicopter Shooters 5-Pack

October 30, 2015Darren Blankenship1

Back by popular demand, the LED Helicopter Shooters 5-Pack: 84% off

GeekDad Daily Deals: LED Helicopter Shooters 5-Pack

August 19, 2015Darren Blankenship

Heads up! LED Helicopter Shooters 5-Pack: 84% off today

Dance Contests Boost Kids’ Confidence

March 16, 2011Andy Robertson

My kids have really got into dancing the last couple of years. The oldest now has weekly Street Jazz dance lessons and another of them is looking to start Break Dancing lessons. It’s been really good to see the confidence …

Old School Winter Fun

January 7, 2011Russ Neumeier

All right. It is winter. In Wisconsin… the kids want to do stuff and the GeekMom wants the kids outside. What to do? What to do? Ice skating. …but we’re not talking a Zamboni-smoothed ice rink in a climate controlled …

Experimenting With Chemistry of Fall Colors for National Chemistry Week

October 20, 2010Admin

Here in my corner of North America the fall colors have finally started to emerge. And as I was admiring the reds, oranges, and yellows of the mountains surrounding my area, I was reminded of a cool experiment the kids …

MythBusters to Headline North Carolina Science Festival

August 31, 2010Michael Harrison

The North Carolina Science Festival kicks off on September 11th. With hundreds of events scattered across the entire state, there’s something for everyone at the first of its kind festival. One event of particular interest to most GeekDad readers is …

Keeping the Kids Cool This Summer

June 30, 2009Admin

When I was a little boy, some of my best memories were of a toy called the Wham-O “Fun Fountain.” My neighbor and I would play with this thing for hours, not just to get wet, but also to calculate …

DIY Doggie Dip

June 29, 2009December 13, 2017Admin

My wife and I must have gone to four different places and searched the web for hours to try and find some way of flea dipping our Labrador retriever. While we were at the last agriculture supply store deciding if …

Tree HouseFort Built By Dad = Ultimate Office

March 30, 2009Brad Moon

Admit it. You’ve drooled over the cubicles and indoor cottages that the likes of Google and Pixar provide for their staff. I’ve done my time in cubicle farms and the idea of working in a pimped out version like those corporate gold standards used to be the stuff of dreams. No more… When David Langdon […]

Souped Up Power Wheels On Ice

March 14, 2009Michael Harrison

Here in North Carolina, we don’t get hardly enough snow for something like this to be viable, but it still looks like a hell of a lot of fun. These guys have taken Fisher-Price Power Wheels and cranked them up a notch with gasoline engines. Watch as they cruise around a frozen parking lot, having […]

Visiting Zürich? Hike Through the Solar System

November 13, 2008Admin

A wise man once said, "Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is." Still, there are a few ways to help our tiny brains (and our tiny offspring) get a sense of just how big our (solar) neighborhood can get. One good example is the Planet Trail on Uetliberg […]

How To Transport Half a Million Geeks

October 13, 2008Brad Moon

So how, exactly, would you go about moving a 500k Geeks? In one shot, mind you. According to my sources (and I have no doubt that these figures can and have been argued for years at a time, so cut me some slack), the Starship Enterprise, in its biggest configuration, could hold a maximum of […]

Geek Family Trip: Long Point World Biosphere Reserve

September 22, 2008Brad Moon

With my wife studying for exams, it was up to the kids and I to undertake what was likely our final camping trip of the season. Most of the Provincial Parks will be shutting down until the spring during the next few weeks, so unless a birthday party or two falls off the […]

Projects for the Nature Geek: Create a Tabletop Ecosystem

September 4, 2008Admin

Summer may be drawing to a close and the kids are in school but there is still time to launch an outdoor project or two with the geeklets. Any project that will give you an excuse to get outside with the young ones is a good one. You can still build a tipi or, you […]

I’m Going To Make My Kids Run A Marathon

September 3, 2008Dave Banks

During the Olympics, on one of the many channels showing the events, we happened to catch part of the men’s marathon. Soon after, I began the typical Q&A with my kids that accompanied the viewing of every competition: Which athlete is from the U.S.? What place is the U.S. athlete in? What do they have […]

High-tech Gyrobike May Make Training Wheels Obsolete

September 1, 2008Dave Banks

We recently took a look at different methods parents use to teach their kids how to ride bikes. We looked at everything from trailer bikes to taking off pedals. But there was one more approach that we wanted to consider. It wasn’t included in the original post for several reasons: first, it’s not available yet, […]

Projects for the Nature Geek: Build a Tipi

August 27, 2008Admin

Summer is drawing to a close and your kids will soon be in school (if they’re not already). But the warm weather continues in some places and there is still time to launch an outdoor project or two with the geeklets. Any project that will give you an excuse to get outside with the young […]

GeekDad Rates 7 Methods for Learning to Ride a Bike

August 27, 2008Dave Banks

We’ve been trying to get our kids to ride their bikes for about a year and a half. It hasn’t been a constant battle — we would try for a bit, then take a month off. Rinse. Repeat. It’s been tough, but that’s what makes today so rewarding. Today, we have success. All three kids […]

The Ultimate Treehouse

August 26, 2008Admin

Steve Norris, a 49-year-old father of two from Kitchener, Ontario has set the bar rather high for GeekDads everywhere. He spent 15-months and roughly $5,000 to built a play structure behind his home for his two young boys. This is not your typical kid fort. Built 4 meters above the ground in a 58-year-old silver […]

Windmills: Coming Soon To A Shoreline Near You?

August 25, 2008Brad Moon

We recently returned from a camping trip to Port Burwell Provincial Park, on the shore of Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario. What made this trip a little different from the usual was that besides local wildlife and flora to explore, there was a looming man-made feature of considerable interest. A wind farm has sprung up […]

The Tinkering School: A Camp for BadDad’s Kids?

August 8, 2008Admin

Treehugger has an excellent write up about Gever Tulley’s "Tinkering School," a summer camp where kids as young as 7 handle power tools, engines, fire, spears, and boats of their own creation. I’ve wanted my kids to attend this camp since I posted about Tulley’s excellent TED talk "Five Dangerous Things You Should Let Your […]

Jetpack!

July 31, 2008Admin

Glenn Martin wants to beat the Bell Rocket Belt, which never achieved more than 30 seconds of controlled flight. He’s spent 27 years trying to build a personal aircraft capable of sustained, controlled flight in backpack form. He proved it can be done in Oshkosh, WI at this week’s AirVenture. He strapped his 16 year […]

Best Water Gun Ever

July 10, 2008Admin

I’m a water gun curmudgeon. It takes forever to fill the old-school guns with the t-shaped tab that retains the cap. Cheapo carnival squirt guns never shoot straight. I refuse to buy squirt guns that take batteries. A backpack reservoir seems a little too ‘Ghostbusters‘. The pressurized jobs can take more time to pump than […]

Stone Mountain Lasershow Will Wow the Geeklets

July 4, 2008Michael Harrison

In the suburbs of Atlanta, there is a natural wonder with a storied history and a very unique ecosystem. Stone Mountain is a granite dome monadnock with rocky roots reaching out to several surrounding Georgia counties. It’s quite a sight to behold: a huge blank slate of granite, visible for miles around, which makes it […]

Geeks and Brutes Race Today

June 27, 2008Admin

The Geekiest Minneapolis company I know is racing this morning. The "Minneathlon" timed clue-based race involves eight two-person teams traveling by Bus, Train or Foot around downtown Minneapolis. This years theme combines brain vs brawn; Geeks and Brutes. Logic has GPS trackers on each team, updated live. After a brief rules review, the Teams left […]

Hack Your Camping Trip

June 26, 2008Michael Harrison

For those planning on hitting the great outdoors this summer for the ubiquitous family camping trip, Ask Metafilter has a nice thread on how to hack your campsite to make things fun, easy, and memorable: "…wet wipes. Great for everything. Means you have to carry/filter less water." "Make sure everyone has an empty pillowcase. Each […]

Camping Among the Carnivorous Pitcher Plants

June 24, 2008Brad Moon

This must be the week to post RV shots.. We’ve been tent campers for as long as I can remember; the kids have always been a part of it and they’ve grown to look forward to camping season. I invested in a pretty good tent: well made, multiple rooms, efficient ventilation and even multiple ceiling […]

Atomic Cannon

June 1, 2008Admin

Sometimes, a brief stop along the road can become a teaching moment… Our clan had just relocated to Manhattan, Kansas. Having never lived in this part of the country before, I hit the Internet to find interesting attractions in the area that I might take the kids to visit. In pretty short order, I had […]

Tag: Outdoor Activities

10 Reasons You Need to Drop Everything and Build a Fort… Right Now

50 Ways to Fight Nature Deficit Disorder This Fall and Winter

GeekDad Daily Deals: LED Helicopter Shooters 5-Pack

GeekDad Daily Deals: LED Helicopter Shooters 5-Pack

Dance Contests Boost Kids’ Confidence

Old School Winter Fun

Experimenting With Chemistry of Fall Colors for National Chemistry Week

MythBusters to Headline North Carolina Science Festival

Keeping the Kids Cool This Summer

DIY Doggie Dip

Tree HouseFort Built By Dad = Ultimate Office

Souped Up Power Wheels On Ice

Visiting Zürich? Hike Through the Solar System

How To Transport Half a Million Geeks

Geek Family Trip: Long Point World Biosphere Reserve

Projects for the Nature Geek: Create a Tabletop Ecosystem

I’m Going To Make My Kids Run A Marathon

High-tech Gyrobike May Make Training Wheels Obsolete

Projects for the Nature Geek: Build a Tipi

GeekDad Rates 7 Methods for Learning to Ride a Bike

The Ultimate Treehouse

Windmills: Coming Soon To A Shoreline Near You?

The Tinkering School: A Camp for BadDad’s Kids?

Jetpack!

Best Water Gun Ever

Stone Mountain Lasershow Will Wow the Geeklets

Geeks and Brutes Race Today

Hack Your Camping Trip

Camping Among the Carnivorous Pitcher Plants

Atomic Cannon

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