Want something really simple you can do to improve your child’s chance of future health and success? Ensure your child spends plenty of time playing outside! With summer quickly approaching, it is the perfect timing to strongly encourage their transition from being trapped indoors to exploring the great outdoors in the warm sun and cool breeze again. On average, American children spend 4-7 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play compared to 7+ hours in front of a screen. While there are many ways in which this generation’s childhood experience is different from previous generations, one of the most abrupt contrasts is the degree to which it is being spent indoors. Outdoor play should not become a thing of the past!
Suggested Time Frame of Outdoor Play
Outdoor play has been a fundamental part of childhood until recently, and there are grave consequences associated with this shift. Even if toddlers seem to be constantly active, they still require dedicated time for physical play.
- The CDC advises a minimum of 30-60 minutes of moderate physical activity daily to burn calories, tone muscles, and keep weight under control.
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) notes that 2 to 5-year-olds may need 2+ hours per day of physical activity.
Here are 5 good reasons why it’s so important for parents to incorporate children playing outside…
1. Cognitive and Social/Emotional Development Benefits
Unstructured outdoor play contributes to cognitive, social, and emotion development. Children who play outdoors on a regular basis develop their ability to invent and explore their surroundings, becoming more curious and creative learners. The outdoor environment is always changing and more stimulating to a child’s imagination, increasing their creativity. Children engaged in outdoor play with their peers also develop their communication skills, organization skills, and their ability to take turns and share. Outdoor spaces are less crowded and allow children to be more social and engage in play with new friends.
Suggested Outdoor Activity: Play “the floor is lava!” – Encourage children to find creative ways to get from one spot on a playground to another without stepping on the floor. Challenge your child to find a different route each round!
2. Coordination
Coordination is the ability to use different parts of your body together. This skill may incline using both arms and legs together or separately. It also could involve using arms/legs and vision, such as with catching/kicking a ball. Coordination is an important skill as it not only allows your child to perform activities with his/her peers, but it also can improve your child’s safety with these tasks.
Suggested outdoor activity: Bike riding – this activity requires your child to coordinate use both his/her arms and legs to propel the bike. Additionally, this activity requires hand-eye coordination, as your child will have to scan his/her environment while safely navigating his/her environment.
3. Motor Planning
Motor planning is the ability to understand, plan, and carry out a skilled motor act in a correct sequence from beginning to end. This is a complex process that we as adults often take for granted. In order to know what to do, we must first conceive the idea of what to do (ideation), then plan how we are going to do it (motor organization), perform the movement correctly (execution), and then be able to reflect on feedback so we can adapt our movements in the future (feedback and adaptation). If a child has difficulty with or is unable to motor plan during outdoor play, there is great concern for safety while navigating uneven terrain, playground equipment, and playing on the same participation level as peers.
Suggested Outdoor Activity: Ladder climbing – when climbing a ladder on a jungle gym, playset or rock wall, a child uses motor planning skills to understand when and where to place his/hers hands and feet in order to successfully climb up.
4. Appreciation of Nature
So much of our world is changing, and not for the better. If a child grows up never walking in the woods, digging in soil, seeing animals in their habitat, climbing a mountain, playing in a stream, or staring at the endless horizon of an ocean, they may never really understand what there is to be lost. The future of our planet depends on our children; they need to learn to appreciate it.
Suggested outdoor activity: Mindful Walking – Instead of simply putting the dog on the leash and heading out the door, stop and enjoy the world around you. You can have a specific focus (i.e., listening for sounds in nature, collecting as many fallen leaves in as many colors as possible, finding every puddle and seeing how high we can jump in each one, etc.), and other days you can simply stop every 5 or so minutes to take it ALL in (e.g., what do we see, hear, smell, feel?).
5. Vestibular Integration
The vestibular system are the parts of the inner ear and brain that are affected by movement. This system is so important because it affects our hand-eye coordination and how our bodies move through space. Children who play outdoors on a regular basis move in multiple directions challenging their vestibular system. This type of play helps develop their ability to move with control, improve their balance, and coordination (knowing where their body is in space).
Suggested Outdoor Activity: Swinging – Swinging provides a linear, rhythmic, and predictable vestibular input. Roll down a hill – this provides rotary, arrhythmic, and unpredictable vestibular input.
More info on this topic can be found at:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1149487