Queen Anne’s County Council for Children and Youth, Month of the Young Child: time for children to get outdoors and play!

Playing outdoors is fun and important for children’s development and growth. Children use their senses to interpret the world around them. While outdoors, children are exposed to a calm and sensory-rich environment. Playing outdoors provides many benefits to children, including directly impacting the development of both fine and gross motor skills. Plus, outdoor play offers opportunities for much needed breaks from screens and blue light exposure—from computers, cell phones, pads/tablets and television.

“Hands-on play in nature, by getting outdoors, helps children explore their environment, through the use of their senses,” says Sandi Reiger, an occupational therapist at Kinera Foundation, a local non-profit therapy center in Queen Anne’s County, that provides OT, PT and speech therapies. “By playing with natural materials in nature, including dirt, grass, leaves, sand and water, children experience more tactile stimulation, leading to enhanced calmness, which may help with their overall attention and focus.”

It’s not a coincidence that the color green, which many associate with the outdoors, has a calming effect on people. Green is a color that has been researched extensively and has been linked to increased levels of focus and attention. Children who live in communities with more green space, have been shown to have reduced risk of many psychiatric disorders in their adult lives, such as depression, mood disorders, eating disorders and addiction/substance abuse disorders. (Nurtured by Nature, Kristen Weir, April 2020, Engemann, K., et al., PNAS, Vol. 116, No. 11, 2019)

According to the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS-SDE), a child who plays and takes breaks outside is more likely to feel happy and less anxious, depressed and stressed. This correlates to students who have increased focus and less behavioral problems in the classroom, and may help children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

“Encourage your kids to play outdoors and get messy,” explains Reiger. “When children play with dirt (Yes, dirt!), by digging it and squishing it around, they work on both fine and gross motor movements. And, playing in the dirt doesn’t require any high-tech gadgets or batteries, and reduces time spent in front of screens.”

But, if you are concerned about bacteria and germs found in the outdoors, specifically dirt, rest assured! The Mayo Clinic confirms that it can be healthy for your child, and provide many benefits that include a healthier immune system and increased gut health. (Mayo Clinic, “In the Loop”, Let Them Eat Dirt, Or at Least Play in It, August 11, 2016)

Playing outdoors provides so many benefits for children—from decreasing stress, increasing focus, to developing fine and gross motor skills, just to offer a few! Time spent outdoors encourages a healthy lifestyle, helping children form healthy habits for a lifetime. So, what are you waiting for? Get outdoors and play!