The Importance of Outdoor Play

Encouraging outdoor play is important in early childhood education. Playing outside gives children an outlet to express themselves, while also burning off some of their energy.

Young children are able to explore a natural environment, take risks, and build confidence; a prime example of this is to pretend play.

Why pretend play?

When children invent games during outdoor play, they’re using their imagination and the resources around them to create a different reality. Doing so aids in socialization and language skills, as they’re sharing their thoughts and ideas with peers.

This also allows them to express their creativity in a way that they can control, rather than participating in teacher-led activities.

When children invent games during outdoor play, they’re using their imagination and the resources around them to create a different reality. Doing so aids in socialization and language skills, as they’re sharing their thoughts and ideas with peers.

This also allows them to express their creativity in a way that they can control, rather than participating in teacher-led activities.

While children are playing, observing and encouraging them would be the best way to promote pretend play, rather than instructing. Children should be given a chance to come up with their own ideas without input from adults so that they’re able to create their own way of thinking.

Children Need Physical Activity

Another benefit of playing outside is that it promotes physical activity. While outdoors, children should run, jump, climb, and more. These are all movements that keep children active and healthy, while also encouraging them to take risks.

Appropriate risks (such as climbing a rock wall, for example) build self-confidence in children. Outdoor play allows them to test their abilities. While doing so, they are strengthening their core muscles, and practicing whole-body control without even realizing it!

These movements aid in the awareness of spatial concepts. While running around the playground, children need to be aware of where they’re going so that they’re not bumping into objects or peers. They learn to look forward instead of back, avoid walking into objects, understand the space between themselves and other objects, and more!

This blog was created by Janae Rainey who is a current Child Development Associate (CDA) student with CDAClass.org.

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