Hello Tribe
Baby it’s cold outside!
When I woke up this morning and it was 33 degrees out! Burr.
I was doing a little light research the other day on indoor projects for kids during rainy days. I found so many fun arts and crafts, games, etc… The interesting part of my research though was that, I came across a few short articles and studies on children who play mostly indoors. Obviously we can not help this when it’s 33 degrees outside. What we need to think about though is the benefits of just 15 min of outdoor play.
It may cold, but it time to bundle up and go outside!!
Being outside gives your child the freedom of endless opportunity. Indoor play doesn’t offer the constant organic changing environment, from a bird flying over head to the wind in the trees. Outside activities have the benefits of sunlight exposer, fresh air and, the ability to move freely to express open movement. These elements are beneficial for bone development, stronger immune systems and, increase physical activity. Also having other children around to stimulate and challenge one an other. This gives your child a chance to use their imagination with other children, which can help promote self-esteem and social skills.
In todays technology age, our children sit in front of a TV or video game for hours and lose the world around them. Doing this can cause self esteem issues. They may struggle with social skills. Also might not give your child a chance to use their own imagination. The simple way to avoid this is to open your front door and walk outside.
A little food for thought… When was the last time you used your imagination? When was the last time you played kick the can, cops and robbers, princess in the tower, made a mud pie? We work so hard to create a good life for our children. Did you forget to have good healthy imaginative fun yourself?
Now it’s time to go outside and play!