In a world where children are programmed to turn on the TV or computer for entertainment, the importance of outdoor play and exercise is being lost, says Bobbi Conner.
“Kids might sit in front of the keyboard and screen and be happy in the moment, pushing the buttons, but they don’t realize what they’re losing,” says Conner, an author, mother and host of “The Parent’s Journal,” a syndicated radio program heard weekly on more than 180 public radio stations.
“When kids are outdoors in any season, just connecting with nature and feeling the sunshine or stomping in a mud puddle, it gives them a spontaneous opportunity to create things and taps into a different part of them than a pre-programmed game.”
It’s also important for a child to run, chase and invent outdoor games “so that they develop a habit of play meaning something different than sitting – they begin to equate the idea of time on their hands as meaning to go outdoors and investigate things,” she says.
It’s OK for parents to jump-start things for younger children by helping them build a ramp or an obstacle course for their miniature cars and trucks. But then step back, Conner says. “A big part of why play is so valuable for kids is that they’re inventing it and mastering it at the same time. Something is lost if the child doesn’t direct and figure things out. If they try to build a house and the roof caves in, they have to keep doing it until it works and it builds the concept that they are problem solvers.”
She has a book coming out later this year that will be a guide to simple games parents can organize for kids. Some of her favorites for school-age kids:
Set up a “tin can country club” in the yard, a miniature golf course with holes made from orange-juice cans sunk into the ground.
Create an obstacle course in the yard and time children while they run it.
Use beanbags and a hula hoop rather than heavy iron horseshoes to create a kid’s version of horseshoes. Start tossing from an easy distance and keep moving the line back to increase the challenge, she says.
For preteens and teens, activities that parents can teach kids share builds bonds, Conner says. “When the parents have expertise in something like camping, kayaking or maybe bicycling, it’s a wonderful tradition to share it with the teens.”
– Suzanne S. Brown
