Playing Outside
The Importance of Outdoor Activities
Benfits to playing outdoors
Children who play outdoors gain more independence, are at lower risk for obesity, have better mental and physical health, and tend to have stronger social networks of friends. This is a great opportunity to build a relationship with your child, and it's got lots of great benefits for you too! Healthy weight, better agility, and better lifestyles can be right around the corner if you spend more time outside playing with your child.
Games with Rules
As your child gets older, the games that they play will begin to have rules to follow for everyone playing. These rules help children to learn to cooperate with each other, how to compete, how to win and how to lose. Your child will learn why it is important to have rules and the best ways to decide on them.
Fun Activities to do together
Play Tag
Tag You're It! Have fun running and chasing each other. This will make you run, jump, and zig-zag around as you play! This will make your heart and your muscles healthy as you try to tag the next person to be "it"!
Hide-and-Go Seek
I Found You! This game makes you think about all the place that you can hide, or thinking of all the creative places your friends could be. Be sneaky though! This game will help build your brain power while you run and find them!
Hopscotch
1, 2, 3! This game makes you jump on one foot, two feet, however-you-want feet! Playing this game helps you build your balancing skills as you jump on one foot, and you can be creative with this game as you choose how to follow the hopscotch board!
Healthy and fun!
For More Information
Development Through the Lifespan by Laura E. Berk
Children's Play: a tool for Public Health Interventions by Anna Vitale, International Journal of Pediatric Obesity
American Academy of Pediatrics