“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” - Fred Rogers
When is the last time your child was able to play? Have you noticed how sweet is it to witness them fully present in a moment, unperturbed by any stressors, just throwing themselves into imaginative adventures or joyful activity? Play is crucial for a plethora of reasons. At it’s most basic, through this activity, kids learn about the world around them, and about each other; collecting and cataloging new information while expanding their toolbox of skills.
Mindfulness, effective communication and conflict resolution are all embedded in play. As they play with others, kids also have to learn how to make space for each other, how to share their belongings, how to include one another equally or fairly, what to do when conflict or hurt feelings come up, and how to get new ideas from one another and be collaborative.
Play is also a cure for boredom! It gives their minds an opportunity to get creative and solve the problem of their boredom. The more they do this, the more they’re strengthening their creativity and problem solving skills.
What else does play do for kids?
Play helps to foster feelings of independence. When you leave playtime up to kids, it gives them the chance to use their time exactly as they want to, which is important for all of us sometimes, and something that children get to experience so infrequently. Most of their time is dictated by others, so giving them time that belongs 100% to them is important. They deserve to feel as though they can control some areas of their lives–and being in control of playtime is a great way to accomplish that.
Play also helps build emotional intelligence. In instances of frustration–either when playing with someone else or when playing on their own–your child will get the chance to learn to deal with their own unpleasant emotions as they pop up.
So why outdoor play?
While there are plenty of wonderful ways to play and be creative indoors, it’s critical to encourage healthy outdoor play!
Encouraging outdoor play by nature encourages more physical play–there’s more space for running, jumping, kicking, throwing, and playing sports. This time spent on more physical activities can help build a positive relationship between movement and your child–and gives them the chance to find a manner of getting moving that is fun for them, which will make them want to do it more! By encouraging outdoor activities, you can help to develop a positive relationship with movement in your child from a young age.
Encouraging kids to play outdoors from a young age also helps to cultivate a positive relationship with nature which we’re learning can have a positive influence on our mental health! It gives them the space to run around and embrace their creativity in an environment where there aren’t consequences for being messy (they won’t ruin a carpet or break a prized family heirloom, or color all over the walls, etc).
It can also help them develop a stronger relationship with their community. Your yard isn’t the only outdoor place your child can play! There are public parks, hiking trails, bike trails, and other community spaces to explore.
You can go with them and teach them about traffic safety when walking to new places, how to ask for help, how to get home, and safe places nearby. You can help teach them about your community so that when they are independent enough to walk or bike places on their own you can be confident you’ve empowered them with the information they need to keep themselves safe. And when they’re at parks or community spaces they might meet new friends, or find out about new clubs or teams.
This list is a good place to start for age appropriate outdoor activities, but you can also just use it as an opportunity to connect with your child. Ask them what they want to do–how do they like to play outside? Is there a game they want to teach you?
Remember to model the behavior you want them to learn to–that means getting outside and playing yourself too!