Have you ever wandered through the bushes, rolled on the grass, or picked up sticks to draw in the sand? To be honest, I rarely did those things when I was little. I was often told to avoid them because they were “dirty”. Now as a childcare educator, I’ve come to realise that playing in nature offers incredible benefits to children’s development. And as a mom, I remind myself to be more open-minded with my son. He can always wash his hands or take a shower afterwards. I just need to stay calm and let him explore. Don’t stop him unless something is truly dangerous (though it feels like a bit of self-hypnosis at times.)
What is nature play?
Nature play involves unstructured, open ended activities takes place in natural setting such as playground, parks, forests, and any other outdoor environment. Children often engage with natural elements such as rocks, sands, trees, branches, flower and more with their senses. Through these experiences, they can learn identifying, exploring, experimenting and creating with the natural environment and its elements.
How does nature play help in child development?
The surprising fact that through nature play, children are able to improve their social and emotional skills, cognitive skills, motor skills, fine motor skills, confidence, resilience and creativity. Since children’s physical activity is improved through nature play, the risk of health-related issues might be also be less compared to those children who spend a lot of indoor times. Nature play often comes with the dynamic and huge possibilities that encourage children to explore, question, observe and build connection with their environment, which lead to environment awareness later in life.
How does nature play help in physical and mental health?
Playing in natural is ultimate sensory experience. Because of the relaxing and opened natural environment, children are able to use their senses every time when they walk, run, jump, climb, improving their cardiovascular health, balancing skills, muscular strength, endurance and reducing health risks. Nature has calming ability, positively impact a person mental wellbeing and reduce stress and anxiety.
How does natural play help in social and emotional health being?
When children play in nature together, they are socializing and cooperating with each other. Activities that require team work provide the opportunities for children to communicate, resolve conflict and problem solving, improving their social skills. While socializing require children to learn regulating their emotions, it also helps children to develop resilience and confidence. Playing in nature can also be a therapeutic way for children to deal with negative emotions and experiences.
What are the impacts of non-exposure to nature play?
The impacts of non-exposure to nature play are non-reversable on child development.
- Increase the rate of obesity due to lack of physical activity and spending too much time indoor.
- Lack of practice of personal sense of control such as ability to control their emotion.
- Increase social isolation as children do not have much opportunity to interact and play with others. Thus, it detrimentally impacts on children mental wellbeing, increase the rate of anxiety and depression.
- Children’s senses and development are slower.
How to balance the interrelationship between play and safety, to enable children to enjoy nature play while minimizing risks, without impacting children’s opportunity to challenge?
To allow children enjoying outdoor nature play, there are also risks that have to be assessed and embraced.
- Identify potential risk and hazard. Modified, removed or avoid the potential hazard. Examine acceptable risk and if desirable hazard should be created for children to gain access to potential benefits.
- We must always supervise children to ensure their safety and intervene the activities to prevent accidents and injuries.
- Setting boundaries. Educate children to understand playing with safety practices.
5 simple activities you can do with your kids in nature
- Natural walk with storytelling. Bring children to natural environment nearby, encourage children to observe and interact with the surrounding. Some traditional stories and knowledge about bushes or plants can also be shared, if you are familiar with that or have researched it beforehand.
- Collect some natural “gifts” such as colorful flowers, branches, leaves, twigs etc from the ground. Please don’t pluck them. Use your creativity to reuse the collected gifts such as bracelet flower, painting with flowers etc.
- Bring a magnifying glass with you. Closely observe insects or flowers and take photos to record what they have seen.
- Have a picnic outside in your backyard or garden nearby.
- Paint rocks that you have collected. Gather some smooth rocks and decorate them with child-safe paints. Exhibit the rocks in a corner of your house to reward their efforts.
Kids love parents’ companions. Remember not to look at your phone. Please respond, look and play with them.
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