Children should play like it’s their job, because it is! It’s how they learn about the world in a controlled manner. Giving children time to play outside yields big benefits for developing brains and bodies in the following ways including, but not limited to:
- Outdoor play helps kiddos develop gross motor skills, building strong bones and muscles.
- Activity helps burn excess energy, relieves stress, and wears them out to enhance sleep.
- Outdoor play gives children an opportunity to develop social skills, first in side-by-side play and then cooperative play with other children. They learn turn-taking, sharing, teamwork and short-term goals.
- Exploring the outside world helps develop imagination and a sense of wonder. Did you ever discover an amazing rock or find a four-leaf clover?
- It also helps them build immunity. Exposure to germs outside helps their immune systems kick into gear to differentiate between good germs and bad germs.
Now, what activities can you do? Here are just a few fun movement and game ideas:
Beanbags, sidewalk chalk, invent new animal walks, ride bikes, hula hoops, balance beam/walk the plank, avoid the lava, obstacle course, hide and seek, dance parties, scavenger hunt, follow the leader, Duck, Duck, Goose, Ring Around the Rosy, London Bridge is Falling Down.
For more activities and information on the subject of play, here are a few books I found especially informative:
Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner
Let’s Play and Learn Together: Fill Your Baby's Day With Creative Activities That Are Fun and Enhance Development by Roni Leiderman
- Melody Palmer, Youth Librarian, South Broken Arrow Library