Remember playing out in the yard just about every day when you were a kid? Sixty percent of parents answering a survey said they did. Yet, today, only 30% of kids aged 3 – 12 have daily playtime outside. And they have five structured, mostly indoor activities per week rather than free play.
Experts say that the fresh air, opportunities to experience nature, and unconfined freedom of being outdoors is healthy for kids. Other experts say that unstructured play stimulates the imagination while helping kids learn to make and keep friends, keeping kids healthy, and fighting obesity. As a 2013 American Academy of Pediatrics article said, such activity offers kids “cognitive, social, emotional and physical benefits.”
So let’s take our kids back to our own childhoods, to the park, the playground, or the trike or sandbox in the back yard. Or just into the yard and let their imaginations come up with a game, because they will.