[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Would you believe that children ages 8-18 in the U.S. spend
spend 7.5 hours a day on average staring at electronics like phones, laptops, tablets and television? A
2022 survey of 3,000 adults & children found that only 27% of kids (ages 6-16) regularly play outside their homes, contrasted with 71% of the baby boomer generation (80% for those ages 55-64).
While new technologies are obviously valuable, they come at a price. When kids have virtually unlimited indoor screen time, they are less likely to play outside. This in turn has negative health implications, given that outdoor play is essential for children's cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being. Engaging positively and actively with nature sets kids up to learn and thrive in many ways.
Benefits of Outdoor Play for Children
Better physical health
Outdoor play gets little ones moving actively out in the fresh air, which is especially important since the 2024 United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth revealed that a mere 20% - 28% of 6- to 17-year-olds met the recommended daily 60 minutes of physical activity. Additionally, the report found that the overall physical activity grade for children and youth remained at a dismal D- where it has been for years now.
This sedentary trend helps to explain why obesity in children ages 6 to 11 has
also increased proportionally in recent years. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, approximately 20% of children in the U.S. are currently obese, while another 16% have a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight category.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a “prescription for play” during well child visits, and Nemours Health and Prevention Services recommends at least 60 minutes of daily, supervised but unstructured, physically active outdoor time for children from birth to age 5.
When children run, jump, climb, throw and kick balls, and ride around on toys that require balance, they also build gross motor skills and start developing a habit of body fitness. Outdoor play is an ideal way for children to tap into the joy of physical activity?naturally.
A greater appreciation of nature
The outdoor environment offers unique stimulus to capture children's attention and interest, and natural elements such as rocks, leaves, sticks, branches, flowers, soil, mud and water offer countless possibilities for imaginative play. Creatively engaging with these natural elements directs children's attention to the richness and diversity of the natural world.
Research published in
Science Direct found that this sense of discovery and fascination influences meaningful learning and encourages the development of an emotional connection towards the environment. It appears that promoting a sense of belonging and familiarity towards nature from an early age helps to facilitate ecological and sustainable behaviors along life.
Personal growth opportunities
Another beneficial aspect of outdoor play is that it allows kids to show different aspects of their personality that may not emerge during indoor time. Children can be both teachers and students out in the natural world, sharing their knowledge and skills to accomplish different tasks or challenges, as well as developing new capabilities along the way.
In the course of cooperating when playing outside, kids are likely to develop feelings of empathy as they begin to understand other people’s feelings and needs in a different setting. This may help explain why fewer conflicts occur during outdoor play; children tend to cooperate more with each other. It could be suggested that promoting compassion and understanding are among the most vital aspects of playing outside.
A positive introduction to science
When kids play outside, they are receiving lessons in science organically. Outdoor play can promote learning in children while sparking insights about the physical world. As most children are naturally curious and often enthusiastic to make new discoveries, the great outdoors provides endless situations for exploration. A valuable teaching/learning strategy is to have kids collect interesting items, such as bird feathers, arrowheads, lichen or moss, unique rocks, plant, insects or other items they want to learn more about. Educators can transform various questions into group inquiry projects, providing starting points for new curriculum.
It seems that when it comes to thinking about physical matters?learning about objects, kinetics, spatial relationships and natural forces?active, outdoor exploration is often more engaging than merely reading instructions or being told about something and expected to retain the information.
Enhanced artistic/creative ability
The natural world offers a rich sensory experience which is highly conducive to creativity. Outdoor play in natural settings often includes the invention of play props and structures using countless natural elements, as well as collaboration with peers, which in turn sparks new ideas, encouraging children to create their own artistic interpretations.
According to research from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, when children play with natural materials, it tends to fuel their innate creativity and support the process of experiencing, expressing or conceptualizing art. Extended unstructured time outdoors also seems to encourage the practice of high-level thinking, providing children with opportunities to synthesize what they are learning about the natural world around them.
Improved mental/emotional health
As noted by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anxiety problems, behavior disorders and depression are the most commonly diagnosed mental disorders in children.
Unfortunately, these conditions have been on the rise in recent years with many children increasingly struggling with stress, worry and overwhelming emotions. Many factors play into this, including academic pressures, excessive screen time, social media influences, and, you guessed it, reduced outdoor play and physical activity.
Unlike previous generations who played outdoors freely, today’s kids tend to focus on screen-based activities. Lack of movement and exposure to nature deprives children of essential mental health benefits, contributing to anxiety and restlessness. Being outside in nature can help lift their mood and reduce stress and anxiety. Also, because kids tend to be more active outside, that healthy movement helps to reduce stress and enhance overall mental health. Kids typically feel better when they skip, run, jump or otherwise move their bodies.
Another way outdoor play improves mental health is by helping kids learn to connect to each other through games, teamwork or other aspects of outdoor activity that call for cooperation. Operating creatively outdoors through play and honing new skills also helps build confidence and health self-esteem.
Ideas for Outdoor Activities
Supervised but unstructured free play allows kids to enjoy the outdoors safely. Parents and teachers can help facilitate their creativity with these ideas from the
Kids Mental Health Foundation:
- Take littles ones on frequent walks, noticing sights, sounds, smells, weather, seasonal flora and fauna, etc.
- Provide sidewalk chalk to create art, play hopscotch or draw games like mazes.
- Hide small items in a yard or park and give kids clues to find them.
- Sit quietly outside and listen to birds and other sounds (city sounds count, too!).
- Try an outdoor problem-solving game, like a scavenger hunt.
- Let kids explore unstructured outdoor play like building or climbing something.
- Create a small garden where kids can plant a few flowers or vegetables.
- Plan group nature activities, like planting trees or picking up trash in a park.
- Have a picnic outside.
- Give kids space to explore and create their own fun without a plan.
- Create art using natural materials like sticks, leaves, rocks or flowers.
- Encourage running games like tag or hide-and-seek.
- Set up an outdoor obstacle course in a green space or park.
- Visit a playground after school to tire kids out before bed.
- Identify plants, birds or insects.
- Join community clean-up days to protect natural spaces.
As we have seen, outdoor activities go a long way in supporting mental, physical and emotional health for kids of all ages. Outdoor play in natural settings can foster creativity, social skills and independence, build empathy, resilience and environmental stewardship, and improve physical health through exercise, muscle growth and disease prevention. To optimize outdoor play, be sure kids are dressed in comfortable layers, pack along a water bottle and light snack, and let the games begin![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title="Featured Products" border_width="2"][vc_row_inner equal_height="yes" content_placement="middle" gap="35"][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="185247" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1749146391897{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/the-unscented-company-gentle-baby-wash-shampoo-unscented"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="185246" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1749146407098{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/little-bellies-toddler-snacks-organic-animal-crackers"][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width="1/3"][vc_single_image image="185245" img_size="full" alignment="center" onclick="custom_link" img_link_target="_blank" css=".vc_custom_1749146419393{padding-right: 7% !important;padding-left: 7% !important;}" link="https://www.vitacost.com/healthy-heights-kidzprotein-powder-nutrition-mix-2-years"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
