Getting Outdoors
Written by: Mark Bittner
As the weather becomes consistently warmer, we find ourselves spending more time outside. Children absolutely love being outside running, climbing, digging, and exploring. Being outdoors has many benefits; some that are obvious, but some possibly not so obvious.
Additionally, some teachers and providers see outside time as a time where they can take a break or check their email messages, but ideally outdoor time should be an invitation to explore with your children. Follow their leads in outdoor play. Find fun games that you can play together or maybe just spend time digging in the sandbox with a child. In the past, I’ve used that time to have some fun chats with children, but have also used that time to have more difficult discussions. Generally, when children’s hands are busy, their minds are open which can potentially lead into some insights on certain challenging behaviors that might be occurring.
By not encouraging children to explore in nature and outdoor play, we are in affect doing more harm than good. Richard Louv, in his book “Last Child in the Woods “(2005) refers to a term that he calls “nature deficit disorder”. This disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them; diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. The author also encourages us to help stop the effects of this disorder and in so doing, we can better understand how blessed our children can be – biologically, cognitively, and spiritually – through positive physical connections to nature. (Louv, 2005).
The following is a brief (not exclusive) list of benefits in outdoor play and exploration:
An increase in physical health – encouraging children to run, skip, job, push, climb, scamper, crawl, and swing all have obvious physical health benefits. Studies show that increased time outside can diminish childhood obesity. And, playing in dirt has shown to increase the immune system!
Better sleep cycles – getting outdoors into natural light, burning off excess energy, and getting away from the harmful blue-lights of video games, phones, and IPads, have shown to have more positive results in deeper sleep cycles (Coyle 2011).
Increases creative thought – having to solve complex problems during play as well as helping children to think more divergently (more than one answer to a problem) can also be transferred to larger issues as children age.
A deeper appreciation to nature – helping children understand how we can take better care of nature so that we can continue to appreciate it in the future.
Can increase social skills - children can meet other children while at parks, walking trails, or just walking through the neighborhood. Being outdoors can also decrease aggressive behaviors in children as they are more adaptable to life’s unpredictable turns (Louv 2005).
Outdoor play can have mental health benefits – awareness of the senses, improvement in executive function, and the decrease of important hormones in the brain resulting in less stress and increases in dopamine and endorphins providing more calming and pleasurable emotions.
Again, this list is not all-inclusive, but it does highlight much of the importance of being outside. Children should be outside playing all year around regardless of the weather (with the exception of temperatures that might be hazardous to be out in). As our weather improves, find ways to encourage children to be outside whether in solitary play or with friends and family.
References
Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods. 2005. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
Coyle, K.J. 2011. Green Time for Sleep Time: Three Ways Nature and Outdoor Time Improve Your Child’s Sleep: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers. Reston, VA: National Wildlife Federation.