Nowadays children tend to spend significantly more time inside than outside. This is partly due to technology, as well as increasing parental concerns around potential dangers and germs associated with playing outside.
Recent studies have however indicated the vast benefits, and actually the necessity, of spending time outdoors, for both children and adults. Most of the studies agree that children who play outside are happier, more attentive, better able to concentrate, and less stressed and anxious than those who spend more time indoors. We have included more detail in this blog including some suggestions of how you can tempt your little ones away from the couch and their screens.
What are the benefits of getting children outdoors?
Studies suggest that getting outside in nature benefits children in the following ways:
- It provides different stimulation for their senses. Nature may seem less stimulating than video games, but it actually activates more senses—they can see, hear, smell, and touch outdoor environments.
- It gets them physically moving. Most ways of interacting with nature involve more exercise than sitting on the couch. Even just a walk around the garden is great, it doesn’t have to be strenuous. Not only is exercise good for children, research shows it seems to make them more focused, which is especially beneficial for kids with ADHD.
- It can help build confidence. Being outdoors provides a much less structured playtime than most types of indoor play. There are so many ways to interact with the outdoors, whether it’s the beach, the woods, or just their own garden. Letting your child choose how they play means they feel more in control of themselves.
- It can help to promote creativity and imagination. The unstructured style of play afforded by being outdoors also allows kids to interact meaningfully with their surroundings.
- It can help to teach responsibility. By tasking your child with watering plants for example they will learn to look after something and understand that living things need to be taken care of properly to survive.
- It makes them think. Nature creates a unique sense of wonder for kids that other environments cannot provide. It encourages them to ask questions about the earth and how things work.
- It reduces stress and fatigue. According to the Attention Restoration Theory, urban environments require what’s called ‘directed attention’, which forces you to ignore distractions and exhausts your brain. In natural environments, you practice an effortless type of attention known as soft fascination that creates feelings of pleasure, not fatigue.
There are also many benefits associated specifically with ‘grounding’ or ‘earthing’ in nature for both children and adults. See our post What is ‘Grounding’ and how can it support your mental and physical health? – Journey to Inner Calm for further details on that.
So while screen time can be easier, and often the more popular choice with children nowadays, it’s important to set aside some time for outdoor activities too.
Outdoor activities for children
Here are some ideas you could use to encourage children to get outdoors and enjoy nature:
- A nature hunt – Make a short, simple list of things for your children to look for outside—such as a flower, lady bird, water etc. They can tick things off as they find them which brings them satisfaction and keeps them entertained and outdoors longer!
- Book search – You could also identify things from a book and ask them to look for those – such as ‘Alyssia’s Magic Tree’. Matching things to pictures / names has a reinforcing treasure hunt kind of appeal.
- Give them discovery tools – like a box, spade, some binoculars or a magnifying glass. This can make them feel empowered to explore the outdoors in a fun way with their new tools.
- You could also start a collection. – This could be shells or pebbles for example. This could provide them with the motivation to spend time outdoors searching.
- Use the technology to your advantage – If your children love playing with your mobile or cameras, take them with you and ask them to create a video or photo journal of various nature trips.
- Go fruit picking – Coming home with a basket of fruit that they’ve gathered on their own is both rewarding and might make them appreciate their food, and where it comes from, more.
- Do some gardening – Tracking the progress and seeing the eventual product of a seed your child planted provides a different, deeper sense of achievement than beating a difficult level in a video game or getting a lot of likes on your last Instagram.
- Create something crafty – For the kids who would rather sit inside with some arts and crafts, get them to use objects from nature for their art.
- Out door sports – If your child enjoys sports then its even easier to get them outdoors. This could include football, rugby, or a fun family weekend paddle boarding or canoeing.
All the advantages that nature offers children also apply to adults, especially in relation to reducing anxiety and stress. Try to get outside with your children —not only will it show them how important spending time in nature is, but you might find you enjoy it just as much as they do. Also see our other blog post on the importance of grounding for more scientifically backed information here.