A time to play outside

Time flies, and it sure flies faster in summer. Why, I wonder? With kids around, perhaps it's because they suddenly have unstructured time. Kids must be encouraged to go 'out' and play. Just play, float, climb a tree, do something which entertains them, which has no one telling them 'what' or 'how' to do something.

Tree climbing day by Antony Antony

With a whole bunch of online games for kids, it is easy for parents and kids to be tempted to stay indoors. But, kids are meant to spend time out in nature, even if we live in an urban jungle. Most of our cities have patches of green, where kids can play and can even be encouraged to spot urban wildlife,  If more parents get their kids frequently to such places, over time kids get familiar with the route and place. When parents feel confident about letting their kids walk to such places on their own and the kids are happy and comfortable doing it, it's a good thing for parents to encourage their kids to do these short trips on their own. 

Free range kids have been in the news these past few years. Most of us grew up like that, and we were not special. We did not have a special phrase like 'free range' associated with our status of being kids. We were plain vanilla kids. Somewhere in these last few decades, parenting changed. There were many reasons, but the end result was very different from earlier generations. These kids like spending time indoors, hooked up to devices. Playing actively involves playing 'active' online games. Tech assisted simulation of outdoorsy games is becoming a norm.

Indoors or Outdoors

Which one is better? Well psychologists are clear that the advantages of outdoor play far outweigh indoor play. It's good mentally and physically. Interestingly it also helps kids deal with stress in their adult life. Many a time kids play online games for destressing, spending time with friends and peers. Well, instead of settling for a poor substitute to playing outside, perhaps it's time we as parents put in the effort to get our kids playing outdoors. Parents might find it time consuming with their busy lifestyles, but in the best interests of their children, they have to make it a part of their schedule. 

Most parents use the experiences in their own lives to decide what's best for their kids. It might differ from one household to another, but, playing outside - well, that should be common to all families. Kids learn immensely from nature, and nothing can substitue this. 

When kids cannot go out becasue of weather contditions or illness or other such reasons, it makes sense for kids to play simulation games inside the house. If that's not the case, let the kids play outside.