The Many Benefits of Outdoor Play

Written by Noggin Team

Children crave the freedom that nature can provide. Playing outside not only allows kids space to get creative, but it offers benefits that affect all areas of their daily life, from less anxiety and better sleep to a boosted immune system.

Here are four of the many ways outdoor play can increase your child’s developmental skills and creativity!

Unlocks Creativity

Nature inspires creativity by giving space and time to think and act freely, especially for children. Indoor spaces put limitations on a child's curiosity and their activity. Kids have to act in specific ways at home and school (no running, no climbing, no coloring on the walls – we’ve all been there!). But being outside removes those boundaries and gives them a chance to be free, which allows their creativity to flourish.

Unstructured time outdoors is like a blank canvas to a child, offering them the rare opportunity to follow their instincts rather than the directions of others. They’re encouraged to get creative, to run as fast as they can, quack like a duck, and play hide-and-seek behind a tree!

In one of Tinkergarten’s recent blogs, Tinkergarten co-founder and educator, Meghan Fitzgerald, points out that “nature’s play objects vary in shape, size and texture, offering endless possibilities for play and learning.” Away from the beeping, blaring toys that can dictate how they play, children instead turn to sticks, rocks, and leaves to invent, create – and let their imagination take over.

Naturally Beautiful Self-Portrait

Learning By Exploring

Let nature be your child’s classroom! There’s no limit to the myriad of skills a child can gain by time spent outdoors: focus, patience, empathy, problem solving, and healthy risk taking. Children are born curious, asking questions about everything. When they go outside, that curiosity makes them instant explorers, discovering living things big and small, climbing trees, and asking (yes) more questions.

While exploring nature, a child engages all 5 of their senses, from touching the grass to tasting honeysuckles. According to Ms. Fitzgerald, “sensory engagement is critical to early learning—the more kids engage their senses, the more they increase their capacity to take in knowledge.”

Through this exploration, children are able to make fascinating discoveries about the world outside, like learning how squirrels hide their nuts or seeing how a mama bird feeds her baby bird. Their attention can become fully engaged, which helps build their focus and patience.

Kids also have the chance to develop healthy risk taking behaviors when they’re climbing a tree or jumping a puddle. Ms. Fitzgerald explains that it’s important to offer your children opportunities to take risks (and even sometimes failing!). These moments help them develop skills in reasoning and problem solving that they can use into adulthood.

Nature also increases your child’s ability to empathize. As they find other creatures smaller and more vulnerable than themselves, they learn to be gentle and to care about the world around them. Or when they imitate the sounds or hops of the animals they see, they’re developing the understanding of other points of view.

Improves Sleep

Quality sleep is vital for growing bodies and minds. It has a positive impact on focus and concentration, which contributes to better learning. One of the best ways to encourage healthy sleep habits is by spending time in natural sunlight, which helps guide our circadian rhythms and sets us up for better sleep at night.

Along with setting your child’s circadian rhythms, being outside gives them the chance to expel lots of energy, so at the end of the day they can fall asleep faster. Better sleep for kids can lead to better sleep for the whole family – and a fresher mind for everyone!

Lowers Stress & Boosts Health

Children are particularly vulnerable to the impact of stress and stress hormones, like cortisol. According to the authors of the paper, Excessive Stress Disrupts the Architecture of the Developing Brain for the Center on the Developing Child - Harvard University,“healthy development can be derailed by excessive or prolonged activation of stress response systems in the body and the brain.”

We may know that cortisol and stress are generally bad for you, but did you know the benefits of the outdoors can tip the scales immensely in a matter of minutes? In an 8-week 2019 study of 36 city dwellers, participants who spent time in outdoor natural environments saw their cortisol levels drop after just three times a week for 10 minutes or more.

Along with lowering stress, being outside increases circulation, vitamin D, and boosts our immune systems. And as an added bonus, Ms. Fitzgerald for Tinkergarten writes, “kids who spend time outdoors get sick less often.”

Children even reap the benefits of playing outside during bad weather. Ms. Fitzgerald writes, “Playing in inclement weather gives children the opportunity to learn that they can manage when life gets challenging. They get the message that they have the resources to persist and make the best of what life hands them, which teaches them grit and resilience.”

Parent Tips

Take a step back during your kids’ time outdoors and let them lead the way. Read more about open-ended play here.
Be game for anything and play along, whether that’s jumping in (or over!) during a game of leap frog or digging for worms.
Ask questions or make suggestions to inspire their play. Ask how they think bunnies get around or suggest they play follow the leader.
A few prompts can get their imagination rolling – and their creativity flowing.