The good weather is coming at last! The days get longer, the sun shines in the sky and it’s time to enjoy more hours outdoors! Yes, because playing outdoors is good! Do you know what are the benefits of playing outdoors? No? Well then keep reading because today, at Educo, we present the main benefits of spending time outdoors. Don’t miss out!

10 benefits of playing outdoors

According to data from a survey conducted by the detergent brand Skip, ” children spend as little time outdoors as prisoners in maximum security prisons .” Surely this statement has surprised you. The same analysis concludes that the time that the kids play abroad has decreased by 71% in just one generation. Children today spend 90% of their time indoors. Pediatricians often recommend that children spend at least an hour a day outdoors, but why? The foundations are multiple and of importance! Do we discover them?

1. Stimulation of creativity

Playing outdoors forces children to think creatively. The children must investigate their environment, discover what surrounds them, and invent a game with what they have at hand! While it is true that in the playgrounds everything is prepared for children to entertain themselves, in nature this is not the case: it is the children themselves who must seek entertainment, and that is great!

2. Promotion of socialization

In the park, your children play with other children their age, talk, have fun, and even fight. These situations help them to socialize, resolve conflicts, make friends, and learn the established rules.

3. Sun exposure

Walking in the sunlight is very important for the little ones (and for the dads too) since its action is necessary for the body to synthesize vitamin D, an essential component for the bones to assimilate calcium. Of course, protect your child with sun creams and a cap and avoid the hours of highest temperatures to go to the park.

4. Experimentation of the world

When you take your children for a walk in the fresh air, you are giving them the possibility of discovering the world around them through the five senses. Children are curious and they like nothing more than discovering new things. A walk in nature allows them to feel different textures and smells, hear unknown animals, and much more!

5. Physical exercise

One of the favorite outdoor games for children is running! Jumping, climbing, running … all these activities involve physical exercise and that is exactly what your little ones need!

6. Family union

Getting away from home and technology for a while can help you break communication barriers. If we put the mobile phone aside and focus on nature, it will be easy to share with our children different activities and even be amazed at them when discovering new things!

7. Fewer rules

Outdoors it is not necessary to respect so many rules. Of course, there are safety rules that we must follow to have a good time without accidents but it is easier to relax! In the park, there are no neighbors who get angry if the kids run or jump, the kids can play on the ground without dirtying the house …

8. Release of pressure

Spending time in contact with nature helps children (and you too) to release tension. Have you tried it already

9. Eyecare

Outdoor play has another “collateral” benefit: the kids spend less time in front of the screens. An afternoon outdoors is an afternoon free of video games, television, and/or social networks and that is always good news. Taking your children for a walk in nature you take care of their eyes, preventing them from spending too many hours in front of the screens. How about?

10. Learning about nature

Contact with nature allows children to discover animals, plants, trees, and much more. Their relationship with the environment is affected by these discoveries: a child who is in regular contact with nature will surely be more empathetic when it comes to recycling and caring for animals and plants. Outdoor play is a fundamental pillar in child development. We know that in the day to day it is sometimes difficult to take time as parents to go to the park or to go for a walk in nature because after all, we must work and things in the house are not done alone. However, it is important that you know the benefits of playing outdoors so that, at least a few times a week, you can go for a walk with your little ones

Harper Harrison

Harper Harrison is a reporter for The Hear UP. Harper got an internship at the NPR and worked as a reporter and producer. harper has also worked as a reporter for the Medium. Harper covers health and science for The Hear UP.