There is no better place for youngsters to have fun than on a playground. Enough space and thoughtful design go into good outdoor playgrounds. So, children’s natural tendencies to make a mess, run around, jump, and hide are encouraged. Young children, from babies to eight-year-olds, are influenced by various factors regarding a playground’s quality.
Design of the play area, safety concerns, Kids’ outdoor play equipment, accessibility, and adult supervision are some of the many considerations to bear.
Playgrounds should foster a variety of types of play to be truly inclusive. To instill a lifelong love of physical activity in our children, we must start them young. This type of play should not become overly intellectual and teacher-controlled.
1) The Purpose of Outdoor Play
For two main reasons, outdoor play is essential for young children using kids’ outdoor play equipment in our early development programs and schools. Children must complete many developmental activities exploring, risk-taking, fine and gross motor development, and absorbing massive amounts of basic knowledge that can be most successfully taught through outdoor play.
In addition, our culture discourages young children from engaging in active outdoor play by encouraging them to spend too much time in front of the TV or computer, placing them in unsafe environments, and demanding too much time and attention from their parents.
We also hold schools accountable, eliminate recess, and impose academic standards that force children to engage in developmentally inappropriate activities.
2) The Surplus-Energy Theory
The theory of play based on surplus energy claims that people can discharge the energy accumulated over time through play. Several teachers and school officials believe that children need to “blow off steam” after a long day in the classroom.
Some educators also believe that children can “recharge their batteries” by engaging in a completely different activity from what they are used to in the classroom when they play outside.
With this recreation idea of play, children can prepare for academic learning once more. Rather than seeing outdoor play as a worthwhile pastime in and of itself, these ideas see it as a vital part of children’s academic development.
3) Health
Every early childhood educator and school administrator is well aware of the rapid spread of disease in these settings. Getting plenty of fresh air can help limit the spread of infections. Aside from dissipating infectious agents, outdoor play allows kids to receive some exercise while also allowing them to be less restricted than they would be in a classroom.
Benefits of outdoor play
Another benefit of outdoor play is encouraging physical activity and a healthy lifestyle in youngsters. Getting out into nature has numerous health benefits. Children learn to value and appreciate the natural world through physical activity and exposure to the outdoors.
Regarding after-school activities, kids who get plenty of physical activity in childcare and school are more likely to engage in more active ones, whereas the opposite is true for those who don’t.
Children who grow up with a love of the outdoors are more likely to pursue hobbies like hiking, gardening, running, bicycling, and mountain climbing as adults. A growing national obesity problem and the need to better care for the environment need this.
Last Words:
The issue of meeting the demands of young children’s outdoor play is both complex and demanding. Many considerations must be considered, including the diverse play requirements of young children, supervision, safety, and ADA accessibility.
Because outdoor play is an essential aspect of childhood for children from infancy through age eight, we must develop new ideas for ensuring that children of all ages have access to quality outdoor play opportunities. Increasingly, our early education programs focus on teaching basic skills and early academics.