up and kept playing? When you could sit under a tree hands-on experiences that can’t be had in a classroom
and inspect the intricacies of the natural world? When or computer lab. They need to be grounded in the
you could dig and build with natural objects? When it real world and able to engage in real-life experiences.
seemed there was all the time in the world to just be? They need to do real-time observation, exploration and
Today’s children need those same healthy, authentic
play experiences. They need time to explore the out of
doors, time to think and dream, and time to wonder
and experiment.
interaction with the real world. They need the sensory
experiences of watching a bird find a worm, of tracking
the tiny veins and capillaries on a leaf, of squishing dirt
and water together into mud. Kids need to play self-
created games and make up their own rules apart from
How to begin? It’s easier than you might think. Just adult supervision. They need to learn how to try and fail
unplug and send the kids outside. They won’t need an and try again to make their play creations work.
agenda or directions. Once they find themselves in the 2. Enhanced Decision-making
great outdoors, they’ll do the rest.
Here are eight benefits of unstructured, outdoor play.
And they’re important.
1. Authentic Play
Children need to know how to listen and follow
directions in the classroom and in other activities such
as sports. But they also need the opportunity to play
independent of adult oversight. They need to decide
to create something or explore something and then
Today’s kids are steeped in a virtual world. They’re make their own plan. They need to cooperate with
adept at computer use, coding, programming and others to follow the rules to their own kid-made
the like, and that’s fine. They need to understand the games. They need the freedom to adapt rules to their
technological world. But they also need authentic, current situation and then evaluate whether or not
S T. J O H N S parent M A G A Z I N E | 11