Even though most of today’s parents grew up playing outside all messy and happy, the concept of modern overprotective parenthood led to the strange prohibition and control when it comes to playing outdoors for kids nowadays. There’s definitely no reason for that since the parks and playgrounds are safer than ever for an innocent child’s play and specially designed for children to have fun. What’s more, there are various possibilities for parents to be around and relax comfortably while they pay attention to their kids. Playing outside does a lot of good for child’s cognitive and physical development and therefore they should be allowed and encouraged to spend as much time as possible outdoors.
Constant brain exercise
When they’re outside kids are presented with new things and senses all the time. They always notice new things and changes in the environment and try to comprehend them by asking questions. Children will always get interested in the nature around them and once all of their questions are answered they will try to come to their own conclusions. This has a significant benefit for their ability to think critically and develop logical reasoning skills throughout their earliest stages of development. Even if their own answers are sometimes far from correct, this practice has a great influence on their imagination together with above-mentioned logical reasoning skills, while they can always get the right answer by asking their parents about something.
Better attention span
One might think that structured play with one particular stimulus is better for child’s attention span, but it’s actually the other way around. Children don’t like to be bound by rules. Having to focus on only one thing that they might find boring after a while is a sure way to create the appearance of attention deficit disorder. When they have a lot of things to focus their attention on, children control their attention as best as they can. Even shifting the attention from one thing to another is beneficial since they learn how to be attentive towards more things at once. Therefore, unstructured outdoor play is far more crucial for the development of better attention span.
Trial and error
When they face nature and social contact head on, children want to solve problems and even conduct experiments on their own. This is very important for their ability to solve problems. They rely on their own power in order to see how something works and by trying their best to understand something or make something happen they are getting used to the important notion of trial and error, which will be very beneficial later in life. Outdoor play provides the child with enough insight and support to make them feel confident in their own actions, even if those actions don’t result in success.
Fun learning process
While you worry about your kids getting dirty when they play outside, children worry about having as much fun as there is. Therefore, do yourself and your kids a favor and dress them in cheap children clothing so that they can go out, play and learn about the world around them while enjoying themselves. At the same time you won’t have to beat yourself over cleaning their good clothes from dirt or possibility that something is going to get ripped or ruined. With a little bit of effort in practicality, everyone’s a winner.
Physical fitness
By spending time outside children also exercise their muscles, which is essential for proper growth development. But this is not the only benefit to it. Proper fitness skill and exercise are tightly related to proper development of cognitive skills and better memory. It has always been said that a good exercise doesn’t only clear the body, but the mind as well.
Good communication skills
As they play outdoors children will spend a lot of their time with other kids. This will undoubtedly lead to the development of better communication skills as well as their ability to think and adjust to different social groups. Being able to speak their mind and analyze different situations and actions in regard to others is very valuable for their later ability to think and recognize patterns in someone else’s behavior; thus knowing how to deal with people better.
Unlike adults who usually get really tired after any kind of physical exercise and time outside, kids function differently. After having fun during their outdoor play, children are more likely to be energized, concentrated, happy and ready to tackle some other tasks that you might have in store for them.
Author: Tracey Clayton is a full time mom of three girls. She loves cooking, baking, sewing, spending quality time with her daughters and she’s passionate for writing. Her motto is: “Live the life you love, love the life you live.” Find her on Facebook.
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