There’s little doubt that kids are more inclined to be inside these days than their parents were. The generation who grew up being told to come home when the streetlights come on are now parents, many with children who are coming home from school to video games and Netflix. Some parents may feel they are protecting their children from harm, but a recent study shows that allowing kids to spend so much time indoors is having some unexpected side effects. Letting your kids run wild outdoors (within reason) may be the way to go.
Preschool age children whose playtime is completely structured — piano lessons, museum camp, art class, dance — are losing out. Running loose on the playground is a vital part of a child’s development. There is where they learn social interaction, develop cognitive abilities, hone fine motor skills, and just get plain-old dirty. Freeplay is the key. Kids on a soccer team may be outside, but if they are not allowed unstructured playtime as well, it can impede their development.
Psychological studies have shown that children who engage in creative play more frequently have more creative problem solving skills. Young children who spent most of their time indoors or in structured play environments were found to have more frequent temper tantrums and were less adaptable to spontaneous changes in their environment.
Creative freeplay taps into different parts of the brain than team sports or games that heavily on rules. Allowing kids to interact with others and make up their own games, playing with construction toys, or role playing games (think “cops and robbers,” not RPG) where kids can just make things up as they go are beneficial in ways that structured play is not.
Staring at computers, TV screens, and smartphones for hours on end is even affecting kids’ eyesight. Myopia (nearsightedness) is on the rise with an expectation that as many of 50 percent of Americans will be nearsighted within the next twenty years. Plus, being out in the sun is the most simple and effective way to get vitamin D, something hard to get from diet alone. So let your kids run wild outdoors more often! Set them loose in a field of wildflowers, and don’t fret over the occasional skinned knee — we all survived them, didn’t we?
Related article: Valuable Tips for Camping with Kids
Featured Image from Mattias Helge/Unsplash
