It’s no secret that today’s children lack adequate outdoor play
experiences. What used to be normal, everyday outdoor play has been substituted
with hours and hours of screen time or, adult-run team sports or at best, time
spent on metal and plastic play structures.
In Japan there’s a practice called Shinrin-yoku, or
forest-bathing. Both adults and children take time to enjoy the energy and
clean air of a natural setting and just enjoy it. The results of these
nature-rich experiences are reduced levels of stress and improved happiness and
creativity.
Today early learning specialists are sounding the cry. “Kids
need to spend more time playing in natural settings.”
But where are the trees, underbrush, rocks, streams and
fields in which today’s children can explore and imagine? The answer is;
they’re popping up everywhere. As adults realize the need for their children to
play in natural settings, sterile playgrounds are being transformed into nature
playgrounds using rocks, trees, logs, streams and other natural elements. With
a minimum of expense, natural settings are put in place to enjoy.
READ MORE: Take a walk on the wild side with your kids
The results of playing in these natural play spaces has been
astounding. Researchers say that when children play and learn in nature they do
so with more engagement, imagination and cooperation than in more artificial
settings. It’s as if nature provides kids with many of the same benefits as a
healthy diet or enough sleep. It’s good for them.
Some of the Benefits
of Nature Play
Physical: Active Play
Provides
- Strong muscle development
- A boosted immune system
- A sense of balance
- Reduced risk of obesity
- An improved appetite
- Sensory stimuli
- Improved energy levels
Social/Emotional
Benefits
- Improved observations skills
- Increased thinking skills and ability to focus
- Positive mood
- Reduced anger and acting out behaviors
- Improved self-confidence
- Self-management skills
Character Traits
- Increased creativity, imagination
- Appreciation for the environment
- Willingness to experiment, engage in healthy
risk-taking
- Improved social skills
- Increased satisfaction, joy
- Increased empathy and kindness
Most nature play is not directed by adults, but self-directed.
Kids follow their own interests and engage at a higher level then when playing
in more sterile environments. They may choose to float objects on the water and
watch where they go. They may collect a variety of leaf specimens and compare
them. They may build a structure using found objects such as branches and
rocks. All the while they’re observing, predicting, and reasoning.
Nature play lends itself to imagination. They may build a
home for the fairies who live in the woods or become king or queen of the land
and build a castle. This kind of imaginative play is soothing to children and
reduces stress levels.
Nature Play in Your
Own Backyard
Here are some ways you can enhance outdoor play right in
your own living area. Natural construction can take place even on a porch or
balcony if a few props are provided—a sheet or blanket, a few rocks, sticks,
pieces of string, or leaves.
Using your back yard play space, introduce trees or logs
near a wall or fence line. Children can build against the walls in ever-changing
construction projects.
READ MORE: Getting kids to bond with nature
Or, gather a mixture of natural objects for your children to
use. Sticks, branches, bamboo, straw bales, cardboard boxes, rope and twine,
tarps, leaves, pinecones, moss, acorns, or stumps. Children will create their
own projects with these objects when they’re available.
Fairy Houses are fun outdoor play projects that can take
many shapes. They may grow into fairy villages creating enchanted spaces and
encouraging creative story narratives.
Don’t forget that water play is always a winner with kids.
If you don’t have a stream running through your property, provide buckets or
water stations where children can dip and pour, mix and create. A bit of mud at
the end of a nature play session is easily cleaned up at bath time.
Search Out Nature
Play Areas
Search your neighborhood, city or surrounding areas for
natural settings in which to play. Parks often have lovely natural areas in
addition to the swings and play structures we’re so used to using.
Entrance areas to hiking trails may offer a great play area
or ask your local zoo or museum if they have a nature play area. Schools and
public lands may provide the perfect natural setting.
Contact your local Audubon Society, or the National Wildlife
Federation, www.nwf.org for more ideas on finding or creating nature
play areas.
Jan Pierce, M.Ed., is
a retired teacher and a writer. She is the author of "Homegrown Readers" and "Homegrown Family Fun". Find Jan at www.janpierce.net.