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Home > Portable Practical Pediatrics > 12 Physical/ Emotional Benefits to Getting Your Children Outside to Play? (Pedcast)
Podcast: Portable Practical Pediatrics
Episode:

12 Physical/ Emotional Benefits to Getting Your Children Outside to Play? (Pedcast)
Category: Kids & family
Duration: 00:10:44
Publish Date: 2019-06-01 21:42:11
Description:   Is outdoor play vital to your child's short and long term physical and mental health?  You bet it is. Grandma knew this was so and now science has caught up with her wisdom as you are about to hear about in this edition of Portable Practical Pediatrics. Musical Intro Article by Gwen Dewar PhD-12 Benefits of Outdoor Play for Children How in the world did American children get to this sad state of affairs, spending, on average 7 minutes a day enjoying unstructured play while spending an average of 7.5 hours in front of some kind of screen? And when it comes to being outdoors--for that, children today average 34 minutes a day, half of what their parents got a generation ago. That lack of outdoor play is robbing them of so many benefits that generations before have enjoyed and are altering their short and long term physical and mental health. Don't believe that? Well, consider the information that Dr. Gwen Dewar outlined after her study of the subject. For those of you who don't know, Dr. Gwen Dewar has a PhD in evolutionary anthropology and knows a lot about babies and children.  She runs a website called "Parenting Science" and there, she posts about the new studies and information regarding parenting subjects... the same thing that I do. We are in the same business so to speak and I think she does a great job. I always enjoy her perspective. Anyway, Dr. Dewar wrote an excellent article recently on why children need outdoor time and play and I thought it was so important, that I needed to share her 12 reasons why your children's childhoods should get a heavy dose of outdoor time. So let's get right to it shall we? Benefit #1-Reduced chance of nearsightedness. It turns out that a child's eyeball shape is determined partly by genetics but also by exposure to outdoor light. For a child, being outdoors, looking into the distance bathed in bright light, maximizes their chances of not becoming nearsighted and needing glasses. Benefit #2- Bright light exposure has also been shown to enhance bodily health and mental performance through the vitamin D mechanism.  We have all heard of the myriad of benefits of adequate Vitamin D levels.  Now add direct enhancement of brain function, synapse enhancement, and improvement of a child's mood to the list. Benefit #3-Dr. Dewar reminds us that studies confirm the fact that outdoor play is more vigorous than indoor play, affording many children more intense level of activity than they can get indoors. Wild and crazy doesn't work well in your living room but outdoors... yes. Benefit #4- Outdoor play allows children athletic challenges that are harder to get indoors.  Playing around nature allows children greater freedom to develop athletic abilities by giving them opportunities to climb, jump, roll, throw, and kick, all things that adults just won't let them do indoors. Benefit #5- Here is one that I wouldn't have thought of...outdoor play offers very young children special opportunities learn new words and concepts by allowing them to have sensory experiences very different than those that they can have indoors; things like playing with sand and mud, jumping over rocks and water, as well as playing with sticks and leaves.  Each of these sensory experiences have a vocabulary that goes along with them that young children can learn. Benefit #6-  When kids play in green spaces, they reap special psychological benefits, including better recovery from stress as well as an enhanced ability to concentration. Dr. Dewar points out that children spending time in green spaces acquire an enhanced ability to concentrate and remember facts...both great things for learning. Benefit #7-  Connecting with nature may also lower a child’s risk of behavior problems.`Nature connected preschoolers have been shown to have a lower chance of having ADHD and behavior problems. What's not to love about that? Benefit #8-  Cooperative outdoor play can help children learn social skills.
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