Today's children spend more time in front of the screens (TV, tablet, smartphone ...) than outdoors , in contact with nature . Unfortunately, outdoor play has become increasingly rare. But this is not good for our children (nor for us parents).
Playing outdoors is important because it promotes movement
Running, jumping, cycling or scootering… these are all activities that involve a good deal of movement and this helps our children to get out of that spiral of sedentariness that is one of the main causes of obesity and overweight in children; a condition that involves many risks for the present and future health of our children.
Moreover, a sedentary lifestyle entails other lesser-known but equally harmful consequences; it has been shown that it contributes to the increase in depression and other psychiatric disorders, which are also increasing in children. Outdoor play is therefore important for both physical and mental well-being .
Playing outdoors is important because it promotes cognitive development
Our children have few opportunities to play outdoors and, even when they do, they are generally guided by adults.
"Do not get dirty", "do not touch", "do not run" .... How many times have we repeated it? And yet ... by dirtying, touching, running, playing freely outdoors, children experience important experiences that help them grow . Our children often know animals and nature only from cartoons or documentaries, but it is not the same thing.
Outdoors they can actively experiment, using all five senses, and this is very important for adequate cognitive development .
Free play, not conditioned by adults or schemes is one of the main needs of children; if then the free play takes place outdoors it is even more precious. Outdoors there are more opportunities to observe, socialize and broaden your horizons .
Holidays for children: let's discover nature
Nature deficit disorder
In 2005, the American educationalist Richard Louv coined the term " nature deficit disorder " which was then translated into Italian as "nature deficit disorder".
With this definition we are referring to a whole series of physical and psychological problems that affect today's children and that can be attributed to the contemporary lifestyle, increasingly distant from nature. In particular, children far from nature seem to be more prone to hyperactivity, restless behavior and inattention .
Nature has always been an important part of children's lives; why do most of the children's stories take place in the woods? Why are the protagonists often animals? Because, since that world and the world, nature has always been a source of great inspiration for children and a huge resource for learning .
What can we parents do to encourage outdoor play
The first thing we can do, in the few occasions of outdoor play, is to avoid phrases such as: don't get dirty, don't run, don't touch ...
Another thing we can do is take advantage of every opportunity to be outdoors ; if, for example, the school is not too far from home, let's go on foot; if we have a balcony we plant some plants together with our children and teach them how to take care of them; if we have the chance, let's take an animal to look after.
We take advantage of the summer to walk barefoot, to get dirty with sand and earth, to go for a walk in the woods, to play with water ... We take advantage of the summer to leave our children the freedom to experiment, to manage the just time, to independently find the solutions chasing boredom; possibly in nature.
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