Five Fast Facts About Outdoor Play

 

There is much talk among experts today about the need for children to spend more time outdoors engaged in physical activity. When I was little, I spent most of my time outdoors. After school hours I hit the door, changed clothes, and I was outside until dark. On weekends, from dawn until dusk you could find me riding my bike, making a covered wagon, marking off corrals for my horses, and chasing after my older brother and his friends. There were two city parks within walking distance as well. Many summertime hours were spent in the pool at one and using the climbing equipment and the ginormous slide at the other one. The best part, however, was the open field across the street. It covered about 6 city blocks, had small berms, trees, and tall grass. Lots of games of chase and hide and seek took place there as well as fort building and time spent just sitting and thinking. It seems that it was just a "normal" thing to do, back in the day. 

I have created a "five fast facts" list to highlight some of the thoughts and theories about children and outdoor play. 

In her recent book, Balanced and Barefoot, pediatric occupational therapist and author, Angela J. Hanscom states, " Active free play outdoors is a kind of play that promotes healthy sensory and motor development in children.  It is the antidote to your child spending hours sitting indoors and staring at screens. The outdoors awakens and rejuvenates the mind and engages all the senses at once. 

"Children cannot bounce off the walls if we take away the walls."

                                                                        Erin Kenny, Nature Immersion

"Children are born with a sense of wonder and an affinity for nature.  Properly cultivated, these values can mature into ecological literacy, and eventually, into sustainable patterns of living."

                                                                          Zenobia Barlow

Again in Balanced and Barefoot, the author states that "nature is calming. Letting children play outdoors away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, provides respite. A break from the routine of "hurry up", bright colors, noxious smells, noise and commotion that  the  man-made world has created. It allows them to unwind and recharge."

In an article printed in Early Childhood News, Nancy P. Alexander points out that " the indulging assumption is that outdoor time is a break from learning. What a waste of children's valuable time! The playground can also be an outdoor learning laboratory with numerous exciting and challenging activities."  She goes on to suggest that children can hang and fill bird feeders, plant radishes, search for cicada shells or watch ants transporting food.

I plan on writing again about playgrounds, outdoor spaces, and the use of such spaces by young children in another post. 

That's it for now.

Check back again!