Do children playing outdoors foster their development?

Why it’s necessary to play outdoors?

Your youngster may explore the outdoors while having experiences when playing outdoors. Your child may express themselves, enjoy games, push their physical limitations, and gain confidence.

Playing outdoors may also result in more mess, and mess is frequently a sign of fun!

Outside, your youngster likely has greater room and freedom to do powerful actions like running, leaping, kicking, and throwing. These kinds of physical activities are beneficial for your child’s physical growth and fitness.

Spending time outside may help to reduce your child’s risk of being short-sighted. A little safe sunbathing can also be beneficial since it increases vitamin D levels in the body.

Playing outdoors and spending time in natural environments may help kids relax and feel at peace. This suggests that having your child play outside might also be good for their mental health and wellbeing.

Ideas for getting your child to play outdoors:

It’s a great idea to let your child play outdoors many times each day.

If your house has a yard, that’s great. Sometimes, all that is required is to let your child go outside and come up with their own activities. Just remember that younger children need your help to stay safe when playing outdoors near outdoor dangers.

Many younger kids like “helping.” Consequently, engaging in outdoor play might involve helping your kid with routine chores like gardening, cleaning the driveway, watering veggies, or hanging clothing to dry.

Visits to your neighborhood playground, park, or arena are a convenient and inexpensive choice, especially if you don’t have a yard. There, your youngster will probably have even more space to play and may run across other kids.

You may teach your youngster about traffic and pedestrian safety while getting to the park if you can walk there. Even younger kids can exit the pram and take a short stroll. Walking together demonstrates how much you both love and cherish outdoor activities. The use of bicycles or scooters is another outdoor active transportation activity.

You may urge your child to pursue an organized outdoor activity when they become older, such as junior athletics.

Playing outdoors at various ages

Babies learn about new environments and have a greater sense of ease in their surroundings through outdoor play. 

• Enjoying tummy time on a blanket, towel, or picnic rug; 
• Crawling on grass, under outdoor furniture, or through old boxes; listening to birds; Observing the movement of tree leaves and branches; 
• Observing different colored cars, street signs, or traffic lights are a few suggestions for outdoor play with your baby.

Toddlers are anxious to explore their environment and enhance their physical skills. The outside activities your toddler may engage in include:

• Catching and flinging balls
• Various toys and things may be pulled, pushed, or wheeled.
• Around trees, over stones or cracks on the sidewalk, into puddles, or in the direction of favorite things, you can sprint, leap, or move quickly.
• Chasing bubbles as they float away while blowing bubbles
• Playing in sand, dirt, or tiny quantities of water is OK, but water play should always be supervised to avoid drowning mishaps.

Children in preschool are taught how to play with other kids. They also like to pretend. With outdoor play suggestions like these, you can assist your kid in making the most of this time.

• Playing kick-to-kick, hide-and-seek, or chasey games.
• Scrambling over downed trees or crawling into tunnels.
• Moving in various ways while wearing vibrant scarves, flowers, leaves, or streamers
• Making mud pies out of dirt and used kitchenware.
• Name every sound you hear while on a nature stroll with a friend.
• Searching for and attempting to identify new flora, insects, and birds.
• Constructing a cubby home from boxes, laundry baskets, outdoor playthings, or furniture.

Even while your school-age child is more engaged in organized play, such as sports, it’s still crucial to schedule time for unstructured outdoor play. Even at this age, kids still like:

• Using tools, furniture, and other items they discover outside, they construct and create.
• Tiggy, chasey, or tag games.
• Ascending trees.

The value of outdoors play for kids of all ages

At different ages, children play in different ways. A 2-year-old cannot be expected to play in the same manner as an 8- or 6-year-old. Children of all ages can benefit from outdoor play, despite the fact that they will have varied interests based on their developmental stage. Both when children are small and as they become older, this is true.

Children have restrictions on what they can do outside between the ages of birth and two, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the chance. Most children at that young age will play or explore alone as they develop their senses and become accustomed to their surroundings. Parents may see their toddler watching larger children play around the age of 2, although they will probably still prefer solo play at that age. Additionally, you can see your youngster go from observing other kids to picking a nearby game to participate.

At 3 to 4 years old, children start to transition into the preschool stage and start to engage, albeit somewhat. As you watch a group of children playing in a jungle gym, you’ll see that some of them are on slides, some are climbing ladders, and still others are engaged in other activities. Once children start attending school, you’ll see a lot more of a desire for them to plan games and activities with one another, such outdoor games of hide-and-seek.

Parents must keep in mind that playing outdoors is good for kids, even though outdoor play changes as kids age and develop.