Children’s Outdoor Activity Barely Changed During the Hottest Weeks of Summer 2026

Findmykids data from children with GPS routes across 24 U.S. states found little difference in how often or how long children went outside during each state’s hottest week compared with a matched cooler week. The data also showed no shift toward evening activity.

• Published: October 2026
• Region: United States — 24 states
• Population: Children with recorded GPS routes in Findmykids
• Data source: Findmykids aggregated and anonymized product data
• Comparison: Each state’s hottest week of summer 2026 vs. a comparable cooler control week in the same state

Key Findings

• +3.4% outings per child per day. Children averaged 3.21 outings during the hottest weeks versus 3.10 during control weeks.
•  +0.6% total time outside. Children spent 212.7 minutes outside per day during the hottest weeks versus 211.5 minutes during control weeks.
• −2.8% average outing duration. The average outing lasted 66.3 minutes in the hottest weeks versus 68.2 minutes in control weeks.
• 34% of outdoor activity occurred between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. in both conditions. The data did not show a meaningful shift toward evening activity.
• All pooled child-level differences were small and mixed in direction. The observed pattern does not show children broadly retreating indoors during the hottest weeks.

Outdoor Habits Were Remarkably Stable During the Hottest Weeks

The clearest result is the absence of a large behavioral shift. During each state’s hottest week, children in the pooled 24-state sample left home slightly more often than during the matched control week: 3.21 outings per child per day compared with 3.10, a difference of 3.4%.

At the same time, each outing was slightly shorter. Average outing duration fell from 68.2 minutes to 66.3 minutes, a difference of 2.8%. Because the two changes moved in opposite directions, total time outside remained almost unchanged: 212.7 minutes per child per day in the hottest weeks compared with 211.5 minutes in control weeks, a difference of just 0.6%.

The hottest weeks did not correspond with a clear retreat indoors. Children went out slightly more often, stayed out slightly less time per outing, and spent almost the same total amount of time outside.

Children Did Not Shift Their Outdoor Time Into the Evening

If families were adapting to extreme daytime temperatures, one possible pattern would be a move toward later outdoor activity. The Findmykids data did not show that shift.

Activity between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. accounted for 34.0% of outdoor activity during the hottest weeks and 34.3% during control weeks. The ratio of evening activity (5–9 p.m.) to daytime activity (10 a.m.–5 p.m.) was also slightly lower in the hottest weeks: 0.891 versus 0.912, a difference of 2.3%.

In this dataset, the hottest weeks were not associated with children moving a larger share of their outdoor activity into the evening.

The Pattern Was Small and Mixed Rather Than Consistently Heat-Related

Across the child-level measures, differences were small and did not all point in the same behavioral direction. Outings increased, average outing duration decreased, total outdoor minutes were nearly flat, and the evening share was essentially unchanged.

That pattern is important because a simple “heat keeps children indoors” hypothesis would predict fewer outings, less total outdoor time, or a visible shift toward cooler evening hours. None of those patterns appeared consistently in the pooled data.

This does not prove that heat has no effect on children. It means that these route-based measures did not isolate a clear heat-related change in outdoor activity during the weeks analyzed.

Adult Data From the Three Hottest States Also Showed No Consistent Direction

Findmykids analysts also ran an exploratory adult comparison in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Because there was no equivalent ready-made adult route dataset, this analysis used a rougher coordinate-based view: geographic coverage, location-point density and daily steps.

The results varied sharply by state. Geographic coverage was 8.0% lower in Arizona and 8.5% lower in New Mexico during the hottest weeks, but 11.8% higher in Utah. Location-point density ranged from −3.5% in Arizona to +18.1% in Utah. Step counts ranged from −63.9% in Utah to +49.3% in New Mexico.

Because no metric moved in the same direction across all three states — and because the adult samples were only roughly 350 to 1,000 people per state — the adult data do not provide a stable signal of a common heat-related behavior change.

The adult comparison is supporting context only. Its measurement method differs from the child route analysis, and the state-level results are highly inconsistent.

What the Results Mean

The strongest conclusion supported by this analysis is narrow: during the hottest weeks identified for 24 U.S. states in summer 2026, Findmykids route data did not record a substantial change in children’s outdoor activity compared with matched cooler weeks.

Children did not clearly stay home more, spend materially less time outside, or move a larger share of outdoor activity into the evening.

But a near-zero difference in these metrics should not be interpreted as evidence that high temperatures have no effect on children. Outdoor time is a low-specificity behavioral measure influenced by many factors at once.

The study measures whether outdoor behavior looked different during the hottest weeks. It does not isolate the causal effect of temperature itself.

Why a Near-Zero Result Does Not Mean Heat Has No Effect

Several factors can push mobility in different directions and can overlap with the hottest periods. The analysts identified three particularly important sources of confounding:

• Wildfires, smoke and evacuations can occur during extreme heat and affect mobility through a separate pathway.
• High gasoline prices can reduce discretionary travel independently of temperature.
• The control weeks were matched by temperature conditions rather than by the school, camp and vacation calendar, so family routines may differ between periods.

Because some of these factors are themselves connected with extreme heat — particularly wildfire smoke and evacuations — temperature cannot be cleanly separated from them using this comparison alone.

The correct interpretation is therefore not “heat does not affect children,” but rather: these data do not isolate a clear heat effect on the measured outdoor-activity metrics.

Methodology

This research is based on aggregated and anonymized Findmykids product data from children with recorded GPS routes in the United States.

Findmykids is a family safety app that combines parental controls and GPS tracking to help families protect children’s online and offline safety. The app provides parents with information about their child’s location and device activity, including app usage and screen time.

Population

• Children with GPS route data in 24 U.S. states were included in the pooled child analysis.
• The source dataset was the Findmykids child-route analytics dataset.

Comparison Design

• For each state, analysts identified the hottest week of summer 2026.
• That week was compared with a comparable non-hot control week from 2026 in the same state.
• The pooled result was calculated from additive quantities such as total routes, total minutes, and user-days rather than averaging state-level percentages. This prevents smaller states from receiving the same weight as larger states.

Child Outdoor-Activity Measures

• Outings from home per child per day.
• Minutes outside the home per child per day.
• Average duration of an outing.
• Share of outdoor activity occurring between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
• Ratio of evening activity (5–9 p.m.) to daytime activity (10 a.m.–5 p.m.).

Exploratory Adult Comparison

• Adults were examined only in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
• Because a comparable adult route dataset was not available, the adult analysis used geographic coverage, location-point density, and steps as rough proxy measures.
• The adult analysis is not methodologically equivalent to the child analysis and should be treated as supporting context.

Limitations

• The analysis is observational and does not establish that temperature caused — or failed to cause — any behavioral change.
• The hottest and control weeks may differ in school schedules, camps, vacations, travel, and other family routines.
• Wildfires, smoke and evacuations can coincide with extreme heat and cannot be separated from temperature in this design.
• Other factors, including gasoline prices and local conditions, may influence mobility independently of heat.
• Time outside the home is a broad behavioral measure and does not capture whether children were in direct sun, indoors at another location, in a vehicle, swimming, or using air-conditioned spaces.
• The adult analysis uses different proxy measures and relatively small state-level samples, so it should not be interpreted as a direct replication of the child findings.

During the hottest weeks of summer 2026, Findmykids data from 24 U.S. states did not show children broadly retreating indoors or shifting outdoor activity into the evening. The study documents a stable behavioral pattern — not proof that extreme heat has no effect on children.

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