The importance of outdoor play
The sight of children playing in the streets seems to be long gone in many parts of Australia, but the wane of outdoor play also means losing many of the learning benefits.
The great outdoors is one of the oldest play places in the world, where children play some of the most interesting games. Playing outside today is rare as children:
- Spend more time indoors in front of the television or computer and being ferried everywhere in the car.
- Parents worry about stranger danger and playing on roads (rightly so!) and tend to prefer our kids to be supervised indoors.
- Some experts say this "over-sanitised" approach is leading to the rise in learning and health conditions such as dyspraxia, asthma and obesity.
- Parents should, of course, protect their children by teaching them about stranger danger and road safety, but also find ways of making outdoor ‘free' play safe.
The fun of outdoor play
Besides being out in the fresh air, one of the big benefits of outdoor play versus indoor play is being free from parental and adult constraints. One theory says all the jeers, taunts, calls, rhymes and teasing that go on when adults aren't around actually give children the chance to:
- understand complex speech and language patterns like phonology, lexis, grammar and syntax
- Develop more complex skills around friendships and social engagement
- Encourage young children to play outside at least once a day - even when the weather is bad. Children need to experience all types of weather, so don't allow bad weather to stop. Just dress appropriately.
- As your child gets older, teach them road safety skills and walk around your suburb with them to help them become streetwise and get to know people.
- Talk to your child about stranger danger and teach them what to do in an emergency.
- Look for places where your child can play outside, even if you don't have a backyard. Think about local parks or even on the footpath outside home if the street is generally free of traffic.
- Make sure your child knows how to travel by bus, tram or train by doing it regularly together.
- When children are old enough to go out alone develop a protocol: they should always let you know where they are going and with whom; check in regularly with you or other trusted adults.
- As children get older encourage them to go on ‘everyday adventures' and to take ‘safe risks'.
How parents can encourage their kids to play outside
Read more about the benefits of play
- Power of play
- Power of play for 0-1 year olds
- Power of play for 1-2 year olds
- Power of play for 2-3 year olds
- Power of play for 3-4 year olds
- Power of play for 4-6 year olds
- Power of play for 7-9 year olds
- Power of play for 10-12 year olds
Read more about play
- Baby play ideas
- Types of play
The importance of outdoor play
- Encouraging imaginative play
- Play stages for 3-5 year olds
- Classic kids toys slideshow
- Kids songs for play and fun
- Colouring page printables
- Make your own finger puppets
- Make your own animal masks
Read about physical play games to encourage learning:
- Physical learning games 0-1
- Physical learning games 1-2
- Physical learning games 2-3
- Physical learning games 3-4
- Physical learning games 4-6
- Physical learning games 7-9
- Physical learning games 10-12
Read about cognitive learning games:
- Cognitive learning games 0-1
- Cognitive learning games 1-2
- Cognitive learning games 2-3
- Cognitive learning games 3-4
- Cognitive learning games 4-6
- Cognitive learning games 7-9
- Cognitive learning games 10-12
Find more learning games:
- Reading games for fun
- Hostyour own spelling bee
- Learning games with Kidspot's spelling scrambler
Improvehandwriting with printable mazes
- Handwritingfun with dot-to-dots
- Funteaching ideas to learn left from right
Additionfacts and learning games
- Subtractionlearning games
- Multiplicationfacts and learning ideas
- Howto teach division
Read more about child development:
- Your child's development milestones
- Physical development in babies and children
- Cognitive development in babies and children
- The importance of healthy eating
- Social and emotional development in babies and children
- Speech and language development
- The importance of art and craft
- Why reading is the ultimate child IQ boost