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How can outdoor activities help children?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outdoor activities are essential for children to learn skills, improve physical fitness, develop positive mental health, and increase social activities such as making friends. However, in this digital world, an outdoor activity is not something easy to get. Everyone is busy these days and the trend of outdoor play is taken over by electronic devices. But, as responsible parents outdoor activities should be a priority to secure the child’s growth and development.

 

Studies found that on average those aged between 8-18 spend 7.5 hours in front of the screen for entertainment. This habit has developed the tendency to spend time on sedentary activities rather than outdoor activities despite knowing the negative aspects. Outdoor activities for children could be many things such as outdoor sports, holiday camps, and spending time in the playground. Parents want their children to be healthy, independent, and socially active. Outdoor play can be the natural way to develop those qualities in the child.

 

Why should kids play outside 

 

The benefits of outdoor play for early years are many such as improving mental health, strengthening physical activity, and reducing obesity. Time away from the devices and more time outside improves physical health along with becoming stronger emotionally and intellectually. For example, whether it is a play date such as a football camp or a dance activity it will positively impact kids. Let’s explore the outdoor activities benefits for kids.

 

Physical development benefits of outdoor activities 

 

Outdoor plays directly impact the child's physical strength, and development of immune function. Children who are active in their childhood usually engage themselves in exercise and a healthy lifestyle later in life.

 

Advanced motor skills

 

Kids who play outside develop more advanced motor skills than the kids who are always at home. Playing outdoors improves muscle strength, strengthens bones and physical stamina. Moreover, the outdoor environment provides the space for the kids to breathe in the fresh air, they can walk freely, move around, ride bikes, climb trees, and crawl in the bushes. These kinds of activities boost their self-confidence. It also helps to determine a favourite hobby such as kicking and catching and eventually pursue it as a career option.

 

Improved health

 

Outdoor activities for children reduce the chances of child obesity. Obesity has a long-term impact on overall health and is more prone to health issues like asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Staying away from the sunlight can hamper the child's health in many ways such as developing mood swings issues, and a weak immune system. Among many benefits one of the most important benefits of outdoor play is children can get natural vitamin D from sunlight to produce sufficient vitamin D in their body. Sufficient vitamin D will make sure the body has enough vitamin D to build strong bones and teeth. Moreover, kids who are suffering from ADHD can gain a huge benefit from outdoor sports by releasing stress through play.

 

Muscle strength

 

Outdoor play activities help the child improve muscle strength gradually. For example, activities such as swimming and swinging engage the whole body movement and activate the muscles. Swinging is a repetitive activity which pushes the kids to use their strength and move their bodies. Similarly, activities like bikes, scooters, and skateboards also push the children to engage and boost muscle strength.

 

Social development benefits of outdoor play

Outdoor playing activities have numerous physical benefits. Along with these health benefits it also has the advantage of social development of the kids. In outdoor activities, when children play outside with other kids they develop social skills like friendship, cooperation, and empathy. These social skills later help them in their life to become a responsible social person. Let's explore some outdoor social activities for the kids: 

 

Peer-to-peer relationships

Teamwork is an effective way for children to interact with other children to develop self-awareness. Children who spend time outside playing have better self-confidence and are less likely to get bullied in life. Most importantly kids who spend consistent time playing outside easily get along with others and find common interests. It also develops their mood and helps them to stay positive.

 

Communication skills

Congested indoor settings are not ideal for the kids to play. Sometimes in smaller settings, kids don’t feel comfortable competing with others such as friends or siblings to seek the parent's/adults' attention. These can put the children in an overwhelming place where they feel intimidated by their peers or caregivers. Playing in an open space gives the child the courage to open up better about their feelings and share what they think.

 

Improved self-awareness

Outdoor activities for kids help to develop their observational and reasoning skills. Staying outside and spending time playing lets the kids see the world differently. This improves self-awareness and develops a subtle perspective to care about the space we live in. Moreover, it helps them realise the cause and effect of nature and how to contribute as an individual.

 

Emotional development benefits of outdoor play

Along with other benefits kids who spend time on outdoor activities are also likely to be stronger emotionally. They usually have a sense of responsibility to process things better than the kids who don’t get to play outdoors

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Utilising five senses

Playing outdoors has a better engagement with nature and kids can easily explore interesting things. On the other hand, children who watch a lot of television require two senses hearing and sight. Therefore, they develop a limited capacity to process and respond throughout their lives. So, when they engage more in outdoor activities they get to know about the range of sensory inputs and how to process them better in their life.

 

Developing resilience

Kids these days live in a very comfortable environment. They have preparations for almost everything. Playing outdoors gives them the opportunity to go through uncertainty and unpredictable situations. It will also help them to boost confidence and motivate them to develop inner strength. As a result, children overcome their fears and stresses which directly impact their academic life and help to build successful careers.

 

Self-reflection 

Self-reflection is an important part of everyday life for the kids to learn how to deal with daily life stresses. During outdoor activities, children can play outside, try new activities, and learn new things. By doing that, they can experience different kinds of emotions to deal with their failure and success. These experiences will teach the kids how to learn from failure. Moreover, it will give them control over their emotions. The child who struggle to manage their emotions, outdoor sports help them to manage their emotions calmly.

 

Become independent 

Outdoor activities and outdoor sports activities severely help children to become independent. Playing indoors in front of parents doesn’t let the child be independent. However, playing outdoors in a playfield or a park lets the child experience freedom. Constant supervision from parents doesn’t let the kids explore new things. While in outdoor play they can try new things, go beyond their comfort zone, and know about their capabilities. Eventually, it will develop their confidence and help to become self-dependent.

 

Mental health benefits of outdoor activities 

Depression and anxiety have increased for the kids in recent years. The academic pressure and extracurricular activities have been unavoidable. Therefore, outdoor sports and outdoor play can help them refresh their mind and relax from everyday stress. Here are some mental benefits of outdoor activities:

 

Decrease the risk of mental health 

Studies suggest that the more a child plays outside in nature can significantly improve mental illness. It will eventually benefit the kids throughout their entire life. Different research result shows that playing in the fresh air and a green environment improves the mental health of the child even later in life. The kids who grow up in more green spaces have a lower risk of developing psychiatric disorders. So, playing outside is immensely helpful for the development of a child's mental health.

 

Decreased stress and fatigue  

These days kids most of the time indoors and extremely occupied with academic tasks. As a result, it takes more time for them to finish a single task because of the stress. Different studies and research disclose facts that spending time in nature reduces stress levels allows the child to relax mentally, and restores the ability to concentrate and focus properly. 

 

When people spend time outside naturally they are more motivated and feel satisfied. So, when the kids are stressed and can’t properly focus on their daily tasks, taking them outside for stress release works magically.

 

Intellectual development benefits of outdoor activities 

There is a misconception that the best way to improve children's intellectual abilities is to spend the most amount of time in school or participating in academic activities. However, outdoor play can greatly improve the child's intellectual thinking ability. Let’s check how.

Brain development

 

When children play outside without rules and restrictions, they usually create imaginary games, explore new places and improve their self-reliance skills. Additionally, children acquire decision-making abilities along with item customisation skills. Thus, they need to be inventive in order to solve personal problems through magnificent stories told as well as practical implementation of the events described. Therefore, all these things will help them learn how they can follow directions and be nice to others.

 

Improved interpersonal skills

When kids play at the park or on playgrounds, they often meet other kids and learn to be good friends. They meet kids from different places and backgrounds, which helps them learn to get along with all. Parents can help by setting up play times outside with their friends. Parks and swings let kids find friends by themselves, without Mom or Dad close by.

 

Growing interest in new topics

When kids spend more time playing outside, they find lots of new things - odd noises, strange smells, and animals they've never seen. All this can make them very curious - like, what animal is that sound from? How long does it take for a tree to get so tall? This might even get them interested in science or wanting to look after nature.

 

Help develop new hobbies by giving time and stuff to learn more. For example, if your kid likes rocks, you can make a rock set or get rock books from the library. Or, if they like trees, go for a walk in the woods so they can name the trees they see. If your child can dig into their interests, they'll want to explore even more.

 

How to encourage your child to play outside?

At this point we all the benefits of outdoor activities for kids. Whether the child is 2 years old or 10 years old, taking them outdoors to spend some time away from the screen helps a lot in so many ways. Let’s find out how to encourage them to play outside. 

 

Take small steps

If your child is not used to playing with other children, large open spaces can be a bit overwhelming and they may not want to go outside again. Keep an eye on them if you need anything, but stay outside until they close. Start slow by playing in the backyard or just cruising around the block. That way, they won’t feel so overwhelmed when you move them. The more they hang out outside, the more they will want to do so. Even if they are glued to their tablet now, it will be much cooler to close it later.

 

Be consistent

We all like our routines. When things are predictable, children are more self-assured to try new things for them. Going outside should be a routine like a regular activity for the family members. Set a time for them to go out, such as right after school. Or make it a weekend tradition to hit the playground. It’s just finding what they dig and getting on with it.

 

Do some fun

The kids won’t want to go outdoor activities if they think it’s not fun. But you can make the outdoors fun by incorporating their interests and hobbies. For example, if it’s all about playing sports or watching sports, try to bring that activity into the real world for them. Make it the activity more interesting by arranging engaging games like:

 

Scavenger hunt

Football games

Basketball 

Haunting

Visiting playground

 

A lot of kids are spending a lot of time on electronic devices. However, outdoor activities are incredibly valuable for the kids. So, introducing outdoor activities and leaving technology behind gives them quality time close to nature.

 

Last words

Outdoor activities are one of the best ways to encourage your kids to stay active and learn from nature. It has not only effective health benefits but also it has immense benefits for social, emotional, and mental health. We hope this article helped you understand the benefits of outdoor play for early years to help your child's development. Happy outing!