The most basic and essential way a parent can ensure that their child lives a healthy life is by encouraging the child to play outdoors.
It is a known fact that encouraging kids to play outdoors facilitates their growth and improves their health.
Kids outdoor playtime is very crucial when talking about their development. They become capable of grasping a vast amount of knowledge, in the least of time, by self-exploration. It not just enables them to learn about their surroundings, but also about themselves.
Children, who play outdoors, become inquisitive of their surroundings. They start questioning about the different phenomenons that take place around them. This helps them absorb knowledge in the most enjoyable way they can.
Outdoor play time also allows kids to understand their emotional capabilities. This also is a crucial factor when it comes to their mental development, which undoubtedly helps them in the long run.
Benefits of Encouraging Kids to Play Outdoors:
Here are some perks that a kid acquires when encouraged to play outdoors:
Outdoor playgrounds are vast. They are designed in such a way that kids can come and play any sort of kids games and activities they like. From jumping around to running across the whole park, without having to worry about their safety since they are inside closed premises. Kids have the freedom to leisure around in any way they like. This also gives ample time to the parents who would prefer taking an evening stroll in the park or quickly running up some errands.
Many fascinating kids outdoor games are available in the market. If the kid is bored of the usual rides and attractions that the parks have to offer, they can always play these games.
Some high quality, kids outdoor games available in the market are:
Workout Climbing Rope
Super versatile to use both indoors and outdoors. It can be easily installed in the backyard of the house as well. Built with multiple protective layers to prevent the rope from fraying and ensures the safety of the child. Can be easily anchored to a mounted surface. The rope is around 25 feet long 1.5” thick.
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Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course for Kids
This is an amazing set for kids that get bored too easily. Comes with a customizable slackline and an obstacle course. Also, it has 10 different accessories, which include monkey bar holders, gymnastic rings, obstacle net, swings, monkey fist, and much more. This set helps in boosting the kid’s stamina and makes kids outdoor play time, fun time.
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Certain amounts of exposure to sunlight is very important for proper bone development in the kids. Sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D and helps in improving various body processes including keeping the immune system healthy. Along with sunlight, the fresh air keeps the body fundamentally healthy. The closer the kid is to nature, the better.
When kids go outdoors to play, they meet more kids of their own age group. This helps them improve their socializing skills. They learn how to stay in a group. They learn how to work in a group and how to react to different people and opinions. They acquire the knowledge of how to cooperate with others and exist with different people.
How to Encourage Kids to Play Outdoors
For a parent, it is not the easiest of tasks to encourage a kid to play outdoors. It takes a lot of effort to finally placate and coax the kid to head out to play. Here are a few tips for the parents in order to encourage their kids to play outdoors:
Plan a picnic or set up a camp.
Call the other kids of the neighbourhood.
Buy new outdoor games for the kids.
Take out time in the initial days to take them to the playgrounds and spend time with them.
Plan out a scavenger hunt or treasure hunt for them.
Conclusion
Even though it takes a little bit of extra effort to persuade a child to play outdoors, there are multiple gaming options and activity options available in the market for them that can make the task easier. No matter what the age of the child is, it is considered important for them to take some time off the screen and head outdoors in order to have a healthier lifestyle!