The outdoor environment offers fresh air and freedom to run, to climb, to shout, and to otherwise interact on a grander scale than indoors.
The outdoors also offers a quiet freedom that children, and perhaps adults, never get indoors. Hours spent playing in the sandpit, experimenting with water, making mudpies and watching bugs and butterflies and plants are invaluable parts of childhood.
Perhaps it is lack of these things in modern times that leads or at least contributes to some of the difficulties that are labelled ADHD, Aspergers and Autism.
There are many skills children will develop through outdoor play.
- Gross motor skills– from digging, pulling, lifting, climbing, swinging, and hanging.
- Locomotor skills – such as crawling, creeping, stair and ladder climbing, walking, running, hopping, jumping, galloping and skipping.
- Balance – such as static balance (balance while you stand), dynamic balance (balance while moving), and balance using an object (balancing bean bags on your head).
- Body and space perception – involves places to climb in, movement in space, force of motion, body-object relationship. e.g. on, under, behind and so on.
- Projectile management – such as throwing and catching balls, striking, and bouncing balls.
- Fine muscle development – involves using tools, hammering, sand and water tools, planting seedlings and so on.
- Cognitive and problem solving skills – through experiments with mixing sand and water, building dams and waterways, etc
Try to create a safe environment for children, as free as possible of sharp objects and hazards, but also teach them that they need to be cautious and think about things like which plants can be eaten, why they can’t play on the road, how to throw a ball so it is not likely to break a window or go over the fence.
Supervision of children outdoors is important for their safety and development. Even if you are nearby rather than playing with them, you can intervene when necessary, or suggest a new element to their game. It’s also good for you to get outdoors.
