Happy Healthy Kids:
Eight Reasons to Embrace Outdoor Play
A
By Jan Pierce, M.Ed.
re you one of those parents who wonder
if your child’s schedule is too crowded?
Too stressful? Do you watch him play video
games by the hour and get a little nervous about
the long-term effects? Do you wish she had time to
“just play” rather than run from school to lessons
to team practices?
If you can relate to the above situations, you’re
in good company. It seems today’s busy lifestyles
don’t allow much time for healthy, unstructured
outdoor exploration and play. As a culture, our
children are paying the price in increased anxiety,
poor sleep habits, and a higher degree of difficulty
with attention and engagement in learning
10 | V O L U S I A parent M A G A Z I N E
situations. Kids seem fidgety, easily bored, unable
to focus.
Take a deep breath. Remember how it used to
be when children played freely without a lot of
oversight and adult intervention. Can you recall
the days when you scraped your knee and just got
up and kept playing? When you could sit under
a tree and inspect the intricacies of the natural
world? When you could dig and build with natural
objects? When it seemed there was all the time in
the world to just be?
Today’s children need those same healthy,
authentic play experiences. They need time to