6 benefits of outdoor play for childrens development

Introduction Kids enjoy playing outdoors with friends, irrespective of the time of the day. Outdoor experiences help children discover, explore, and appreciate the natural world. It also helps to strengthen their fine and gross motor movement skill, test their physical limits, and stay active. Besides, outdoor playing gives children the opportunity to practice emotional and social skills, such as problem-solving, encouragement, sportsmanship, turn-taking, safe risk-taking, and more. Children should spend quality time outdoors by participating in various activities with friends or family. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of outdoor play in the early years to boost physical and intellectual development in kids.

Physical Development Benefits of Outdoor Play

Spending time outdoors is proven to have multiple physical development benefits for young kids. Kids spending more time outdoors are known to exhibit the following attributes.

• Boosts Muscle Strength

Outdoor play is a vital factor in improving muscle strength and coordination among active kids. For instance, when children engage in swinging, all the muscles hold on together and sit up, thus enhancing the development of muscles. Other outdoor activities, like riding a bike, scooter, or skateboard, also help strengthen muscles.

• Advanced Motor Skills

Developing advanced motor skills is common among kids who spend more time playing outdoors. Kids engaged in various outdoor games are more likely to tolerate or challenge physical endurance, bones, and muscles. Moreover, outdoor environments help your little champ to walk around, swing, jump, and play in open spaces, thus improving muscle movements. For instance, games and activities like climbing trees, playing catch, riding bikes or scooters, crawling under bushes, etc., are significant contributors to developing your child’s motor skills.

• Controls Body Mass Index

Childhood obesity is a common problem among young kids these days, more so after the pandemic, a period when kids were unable to be involved in many physical activities. They were left with no option but to stay glued to their mobile screens to pass the time, such as by playing video games. But now that things are back to normal, kids can leave the digital screens and step out into the real world. One of the key benefits of outdoor activities for students is that it helps reduce their body mass index (BMI). Outdoor activities enable kids to stay more energetic as opposed to a sedentary lifestyle. By burning off extra calories instead of sitting for hours in front of the TV or mobile screen and gaining weight, they can prevent obesity and maintain a good BMI.

Intellectual Development Benefits of Outdoor Play

Spending more time playing outdoors enables kids to develop various intellectual abilities, which include the following.

• Better Brain Development:

Kids have fun inventing new games, especially during unstructured outdoor environments or games. Also, they can explore their surroundings, which further develops their decision-making skills, self-confidence, problem-solving abilities, etc., thus boosting better brain development.

• Boosts Interpersonal Skills:

Young children love making new friends, whether at games classes or the playground. They meet people from different academic and cultural backgrounds, enabling them to develop good interpersonal and social skills. Therefore, the outdoor space helps little kids to form meaningful relationships without parental aid.

• Expands Knowledge and Boosts Learning Interest:

Learning is not restricted to books or classrooms. Through outdoor gameplays, children can learn new things and expand their knowledge base. For instance, while keeping note of the scores gained, kids can start understanding the relationship between different numbers. Furthermore, kids may be highly interested in learning new topics, mostly out of curiosity, willingness to learn, and the self-confidence and intelligence they have earned through outdoor games.

Conclusion:

By learning the importance of outdoor play in early childhood, we hope you can actively step forward to send your little champ to the playgrounds. Let them enjoy the beauty of nature and engage in active games to stay healthy. Help your kids grow and develop various intellectual, physical, emotional, and social development skills to help them have a healthier life ahead. We, at Kiran International School, emphasize the importance of outdoor fun and activities to promote the overall health, activity, and mental fitness of the young ones.