Children’s outdoor play is being increasingly recognized as essential for their healthy development. This topic brings to light the benefits of outdoor play in early childhood on physical health, mental well-being, cognitive and social development. It also highlights the need to change the trends, so children can have daily access to outdoor play. This can be done by interventions to reduce parents and practitioners’ fears, more training for practitioners, policy changes and improved urban planning for better environments and natural play spaces.
How children play outdoors is different from their play inside. It tends to be more physically active, children report feeling more freedom while playing outside, and the outdoor environment has the potential of exposing them to natural elements and open air. As a result, the kind of benefits that children experience from outdoor play can be different from indoors.
Children need time to engage in high quality, unstructured outdoor play in natural environments.
Natural environments are ideal to
Outdoor play in natural settings is associated with increased physical activity in young children, which in turn
Clearly, outdoor play should involve changing conditions, such as found in nature, to maintain children’s interest in play, encourage them to adapt, interact with their peers, take risk and test their abilities.
Mariana Brussoni, PhD, The University of British Columbia, Canada
Last update: May 2019
Topic funded by:
