Tag Archive for: outdoor play

The Benefits of Outdoor Play

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By Lizzie Raben, MSW, LSW – June 20, 2024 –

Are children disconnecting from nature? According to The National Recreation and Parks Association, today’s children spend less time outdoors than any other generation.

On average, children spend less than 10 minutes per day outside in unstructured play, compared to seven hours spent indoors in front of an electronic device. That’s around 1,200 hours a year in front of a screen. Multiple studies show that too much screen time leads to several detrimental effects on a child’s physical and mental well-being. Lack of development of fine and gross motor skills, increased risk for obesity, anxiety, depression, and decreased social interaction are just a few of these negative effects.

According to the website health.harvard.edu, while electronics play a pertinent role in decreased outdoor play, there are other contributing factors, such as concerns about sun exposure, emphasis on scheduled activities and achievements, and lack of safe outdoor play areas.

So why is outdoor play important? The following are reasons children need to play outside:

Physical Health: Immunity and Exercise

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, studies show many children have Vitamin D deficiencies. We need sun exposure to make Vitamin D, an essential vitamin used in many body processes such as bone development and building our immune system. Sun exposure stimulates a part of the brain called the pineal gland, crucial to keeping our immune system strong and improving our mood.

According to Harvard Health Blog, children should be active at least one hour a day. Allowing children to play outside encourages active play, considered the best exercise for children. When children play outside, they have more space for big movements: running, jumping, kicking, and throwing. These physical movements foster physical development.

Mental Health

When children spend time outdoors, they experience reduced levels of stress. Sunlight boosts serotonin levels, which helps regulate our mood and can decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression. Allowing children to play outside provides them with a natural and therapeutic environment.

Executive Function and Social Skills

Unstructured outdoor play allows children to build executive function skills. These mental skills allow us to negotiate, plan, multitask, troubleshoot, and more – all essential for daily life tasks. Spending time in nature allows children to explore, fostering their creativity and imagination. Children need time alone and with other children to use their imagination to problem-solve, entertain themselves, create their own games, etc.

It’s important that children learn social skills such as how to share, take turns, work together, make friends, and treat other people well. Only interacting in structured settings (like school) does not always allow the child to build these skills. Allowing them to play outside gives them space to practice these life skills.

Need some simple outdoor play ideas for your kiddo? Check out the following articles:

https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/play-learning/outdoor-play/outdoor-play

25 Ideas To Make Outdoor Play Fun
50 Outdoor Activities for Kids
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Kids Benefit From Playing Outside

Kids playing outside

By Diane Braun, Courier & Press, May 3, 2016 –

Spring and summer brings blue skies, warm breezes and the sound of children playing outdoors. Most parents have no problem sending their children outside to play.

Why? Because we all know there are quite a few real benefits to playing outdoors.

Children who play outside learn how to solve real-life problems better than children who are always in their rooms playing video games in seclusion. Examples of problem solving include learning to get along with friends or trying to figure out the best way to build a fort.

Playing outside provides children with exercise, something many children don’t get enough of anymore. Outdoor play combines exercise with having fun. Riding bikes, playing tag with friends and throwing or hitting a ball all get our children’s bodies moving, something playing most video games can’t accomplish.

It may be hard to accept that children could experience stress or suffer from conditions such as depression or anxiety, but these issues are becoming more common with today’s kids who have busy schedules with long school days and extracurricular activities.

Physical activity in the form of outdoor play can help kids reduce their stress. The Children & Nature Network says contact with nature can help reduce stress levels and positively impact conditions such as anxiety or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

One of the qualities many children are lacking is imagination. In today’s age of technology, children are provided with images for everything.

Why go outside and play astronaut in outer space when we can watch a movie about it or play a video game? Playing outside helps children develop their imagination, which is something television, video games and computers can’t do.

Free play and discretionary time has declined more than nine hours a week over the last 25 years. A new Nielson Company report indicates children 2-5 now spend more than 32 hours a week on average in front of a TV screen.

According to the Keiser Family Foundation, the amount of screen time only increases with age with school-aged children spending 7.5 hours a day on electronic media.

Finally, it’s important that children get vitamin D, and the best source is the sun. Vitamin D helps promote better moods, energy levels, memory and overall health. Just 10-15 minutes out in the sun will give our children their daily dose of vitamin D.

Encouraging children to go outside, get moving and connect with the natural world are all ways to reverse childhood obesity rates. But the benefits don’t stop there. Kids who play outside are happier, healthier and stronger!

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