Five Reasons To Get Your Kids Out In Nature

Here in the Whitsundays, we are lucky to have beautiful and accessible nature at our doorstep and, in the cool of the morning or late afternoon, our parks and green areas are full with the sound of children’s laughter.

When the new school term starts, however, it is very easy to slip into a routine where outdoor play is replaced by technology, tired eyes are easily occupied by a screen.

With recent studies showing that the average American child spends just four to seven minutes a day playing outside and a whopping seven hours a day in front of a screen, it is now more important than ever to get our children outside.

Kids who play outside are known to be happier, better at paying attention and less anxious than kids who spend more time indoors.

Here are some other advantages:

It builds confidence - Letting your child choose how they treat nature means they have the power to control their own actions.

It provides different stimulation – while technology can appear stimulating, it can actually be numbing. Outside activates more senses where you can see, hear, smell, and touch outdoor environments.

It gets them moving - Not only is exercise good for kids’ bodies, but it seems to make them more focused, which is especially beneficial for kids with ADHD.

It makes them think - Nature creates a unique sense of wonder for kids that no other environment can provide. This encourages kids to ask questions about the earth and the life that it supports.

It reduces stress and fatigue - urban environments require directed attention, which forces us to ignore distractions and exhausts our brains. In natural environments, we practice an effortless type of attention known as soft fascination that creates feelings of pleasure, not fatigue.

Information sourced from Danielle Cohen from the Child Mind Institute.

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DID YOU KNOW?

• Children can laugh up to 300 times a day, the average adult only laughs about 20 times

• Babies under the age of one do not understand the difference between right and wrong

• A four-year-old will ask on average 437 questions a day

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Fantastic Facts For Kids

• Caterpillars have 12 eyes

• Horses and cows sleep standing up

• Wombats do square poos

• A hippo can run faster than a man

• Kangaroos can't walk backwards

• A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes

• A group of frogs is called an army

• Octopuses have blue blood and nine brains

• Gorillas burp when they are happy

• Emperor penguins can last 27 minutes underwater

• Slugs have four noses!

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