Fathering outdoors: Past, present, and future influences

Abstract

Life course perspective highlights how past experiences can shape current behaviors. Although caregivers play a significant role in their children’s leisure activities, less is known about how outdoor behaviors are developed and passed on between fathers and their children. This study explores how fathers’ past childhood experiences influence their present experiences outdoors with their children, and the future outcomes they hope to achieve by spending outdoor time together. Twenty-six fathers of at least one school-aged child participated in semi-structured interviews. Using thematic analysis, we found fathers learned to value outdoor recreation from their own upbringing. Fathers engaged in the same types of activities they did as a child with their children in order to teach them important life skills, fulfill their own fathering expectations, and instill lifelong outdoor values. The findings suggest that meaningful father-child outdoor experiences together promoted an appreciation for nature across generations.