I don’t know about you, but I spent a lot of time playing outdoors when I was a kid and I mean year-round, not just during summer breaks. During the school year I’d come home, have a snack, do my homework and then head outside to find other neighborhood kids to play with until it was time for dinner.
Fast forward to me being a mother and outdoor play is not the norm for most kids. Apparently, 70 percent of today’s moms played outside regularly, while only 31 percent of their kids do. Not good!
Sending our kids outside and telling them not to come home until the street lights come on is not a feasible or even safe option for many of us. Still, kids NEED to get outside. Why? Because even though times have changed, what hasn’t changed are the benefits of outdoor play for kids. If anything, we are discovering more reasons why kids NEED to play outdoors. Let’s list a few, shall we?
5 Benefits of Outdoor Play
- Gets kids moving and keeps them healthy. All the physical activity that happens outdoors helps kids be fit, build muscle and burn calories. It’s no secret that obesity should be avoided as it can contribute to heart disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity rates have more than doubled in the past 30 years.
- Builds stronger immune systems. Kids who go outside are exposed to dirt, animals, bacteria and so on. This exposure makes them less likely to develop allergies or autoimmune diseases.
- Good for bones. Bones get stronger the more work they do, but bones don’t get stronger with just any old kind of exercise; they need weight bearing activities like walking, running and jumping.
- Helps provide vitamin D. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that most kids are not getting enough vitamin D. One way to naturally increase your kid’s vitamin D levels is to let them enjoy 10-15 minutes of sunlight before applying sunblock.
- It’s great for eyesight. Did you know that outdoor play helps prevent myopia? According to research from the University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry and Vision Science, spending just one extra hour a week outdoors can reduce the risk of near-sightedness by 14 percent.
And the benefits go on and on. So, how do we encourage the children of today to get out and play? I’ve got some tips for you.
3 Ways to Encourage Outdoor Play
- Join them. Lead by example. Go on walks, hikes, bike rides or do some kind of play activity together. My daughters and I joined the running club at their school.
- Make it fun. Getting outdoors to play should not feel like a chore, it should feel like a reward. You could even give actual rewards. In the running club that my daughters and I go to, they get a small token every time they run a mile, then they proudly display these tokens on their backpacks.
- Keep them fueled with nutritious snacks. Whether they go out to play on their own or with you, give them snacks that keep their energy up. We always bring water because hydration is so important when you are playing and we pair fresh produce like carrots or jicama with a CLIF Kid Zbar®. Fresh fruits and vegetables are an obvious choice because HEALTHY and they go well with a CLIF Kid Zbar® because the kids think they are a treat and they are, but they are also made with organic ingredients, have no high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors and are full of nutrients for active kids.
So what do you say we bring back outdoor play for our kids all year long? Check out this Clif Kid video to get inspired. These are the kinds of memories you want your kids to have.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Leave a Reply