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Government-subsidized preschools, 480 days paid maternity leave, neighborhood rec centers, ample recess, forest kindergartens, drop-in after school programs (aka fritids), outdoor classrooms, public access to private lands, and open-air napping. These are just some of the perks of raising kids in Scandinavia, where friluftsliv, the Swedish term for living close to nature, isn’t just a parenting strategy, it’s a way of life.

“Friluftsliv can encompass anything from hiking to berry picking and fishing or be as simple as going for a nature walk or bike ride near one’s home,” writes Linda Åkeson McGurk in her new book, . Friluftsliv isn’t competitive; it’s simply a chance to get outside and enjoy nature—winter or summer, day or night, rain or shine, mud, sleet, or snow.

“It would be very easy to make excuses for not going outside,” writes McGurk, who was born and raised in Sweden and moved to the United States after graduating from journalism school. For much of the year, the days are notoriously cold, wet, and dark, but the climate doesn’t dampen the Swedes’ fervent enthusiasm for friluftsliv. If anything, it stokes it. With an abundance of forests and wild places, even in urban Stockholm (40 percent of the city is public open space), Scandinavian children enjoy more unstructured outdoor playtime—the average preschooler in Stockholm spends six hours outside each day in good weather and an impressive 90 minutes in winter—and a healthier balance between screen time and green time.

Last year, McGurk and her two daughters, ages six and nine, experienced the discrepancies between the car-centric United States and nature–obsessed Scandinavia when they moved back to Sweden for six months to help her ailing father. It was there that she became determined to spread the gospel of friluftsliv to American parents. Reader beware: There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather may make you want to up and move to Sweden. (Even McGurk is trying to find a way to spend more time there.) For most of us, that’s not realistic. Fortunately, McGurk has plenty of tips for injecting some much-needed friluftsliv into your family and community.

#1. Think Small

“Not all encounters with nature have to be grand,” says McGurk. “Nature is everywhere, not just in the national parks. There are always things to look at, trees shifting color, flowers blooming. It’s all about embracing the little moments in life.” Even feeling the breeze on your face creates a connection with nature that correlates with improved health and greater happiness. Go outside for a walk, collect leaves in the backyard, play in the park, and dig in the dirt.

“Let your kids get dirty as much as possible,” writes McGurk. “Most germs in our environment are completely harmless, and some are even beneficial to our health and well-being.” You don’t have to go far, but it’s important to start early and go often. “Spending time outdoors is one of the few things that a child really needs in the early years, and when you make it part of your everyday life it becomes second nature,” says McGurk.

#2. Be the Squeaky Wheel

“Nature is so integral to our health, but it has to be accessible, and that’s not the case for most communities in the U.S.,” says McGurk, who explains that the idea is slowly catching on, with doctors prescribing nature time for kids with ADHD or who show symptoms associated with a lack of activity. “But there’s lots of work to be done on a city level to grow green spaces and make communities more walkable. It’s not a sexy topic, but so much of our experience of nature can be done by walking or biking,” which is not always the safest thing for kids to do, particularly on crowded streets.

Sometimes progress is as simple as picking up the phone. Last spring, I called my city’s road safety department to ask that a crosswalk be put in at a busy intersection on my daughters’ way to school. There’s no crossing guard, and drivers routinely blow through the four-way stop without looking. I expected my request to die quietly in a bottomless pit of bureaucracy, but two days later, I got a call back from the city, and a week later, thick, white lines appeared on the road. Takeaway: Speak up for your child’s right to safe open spaces, parks, sidewalks, and walking routes. You’ll be doing everyone a favor.

#3. Establish Freedom Zones

Unstructured, unsupervised outdoor play builds resilience, fosters coordination, strengthens sensory awareness, and improves decision-making skills. “When children play in nature they tend to be calm yet alert,” writes McGurk. Encourage kids to venture forth on their own by creating safe parameters where they’re allowed to roam beyond the prying eyes of parents. “If we look at the stats, it really isn’t more dangerous now to let kids play outside,” says McGurk. “The only difference is that we hear more about the horrible incidents.”

Her suggestion: Start by creating an organized nature playgroup “to get to know each other, then hopefully that could branc