Moving into the warmer and (hopefully) drier months of spring and summer, you’re presented with the ideal opportunity to try and encourage your children to embrace the outdoors as a place to play and explore. Playing outdoors not only puts them in touch with nature and puts a dent in their screen time but also helps them to maintain a healthier lifestyle and gives them access to much-needed vitamin D.
You can get your children playing outside without ever having to leave your house, by making the most of your outdoor space.
While it’s great for them to play in a traditional sense, whether it’s with sports equipment or garden toys, planting flowers and gardening offers physical activity with a long-term pay-off that kids can easily track day by day.
You can let them get messy and still prevent it from getting brought back into the house with a pre-prepared cleaning station at the back door.
Explore a range of outdoor environments
When it’s time to go beyond the garden, explore everything nature has to offer by visiting every sort of outdoor environment that’s accessible.
From fields to beaches, woodlands, rivers, botanical gardens and more, take them to as many different spaces as possible. It opens their eyes to just how varied the outdoors can be.
Just add water
While it’s very much weather-dependent, playing with water is a great way to get kids playing outside in the summer.
Let them splash around in a paddling pool, get the hose out or turn the sprinklers on for a great way to cool down during the warmer months.
It even aids brain development and acts as both a sensory and cognitive activity that builds motor skills and can even become a foundation for later scientific and mathematical learning.
Inside-out
Even if they’re doing indoor activities, just being outside on a nice day has plenty of benefits for both physical and mental health.
From books to board games, sitting in the sun and breathing in some fresh air can really add even more enjoyment to anything you do.
