What are the benefits of outdoor play for young children? Provided the weather cooperates, most preschools, daycares, and other early education programs include at least some outdoor play time. Even though these periods may seem like breaks from learning, they are much more. Take a look at what parents need to know about outdoor play, play spaces, learning, and development.
What Is Outdoor Play?As the name implies, outdoor play includes activities that the children engage in outside of the preschool or daycare building. The specific activities depend on the program. But these could include organized sports (such as kickball for preschoolers or a game of tag for younger children), nature lessons (such as a biology nature walk), or informal/unstructured free play periods.
Where Do Children Play Outdoors At Preschool?The answer to this question depends on the available outdoor areas and the preschool program. Most states, such as Indiana, include outdoor play areas in licensing requirements. This means licensed child care centers must follow the state's minimum expectations for the placement and use of outdoor play areas.
Indiana's licensing regulations require centers to place outdoor play areas in a space that is directly accessible from the indoor part of the daycare or preschool facility. In some centers, this isn't possible. To make it easier for all children to play outdoors, the state does allow licensed centers to have this type of area in a space that is not directly next to the building.
If children must cross a parking lot or street to get to the play area, the center must ensure that adults always help the young students to cross, the teacher or adult caregiver must go into the middle of the street to stop traffic as the children cross (and wait there until every child has reached the other side safely), and the teachers/caregivers must hold a flag or stop sign for drivers to see and follow.
Along with the placement of the play area, state licensing laws also regulate the condition of the space. According to the state of Indiana, the outdoor play space can't have standing water and must have a fence or other similar barrier.
Why Should Preschoolers Play Outside?Like indoor play, outdoor play also has learning and developmental benefits for preschoolers. Not only does outdoor play provide a break from the indoor environment and a change of scenery, it also helps young children to build crucial gross and fine motor, cognitive, social, and emotional skills. This type of play can also help preschoolers to learn about or explore academic concepts.
What Types of Academic Activities Can Children Try Outside?The classroom isn't the only, or sometimes even the primary, learning space in an early childhood education center. Even though plenty of learning does happen indoors, outdoor areas provide a new and different way for children to explore science, art, literacy, and math. The outdoor environment also encourages group play, making it easier for some children to build social and emotional skills.
The specific activities your child tries outside will depend on the program's curriculum and the teacher's lesson plans. Some schools create STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities for children to participate in during outdoor play sessions. These could include anything from a nature walk to an architecture and engineering exploration (viewing and discussing buildings in the area).
The outdoor setting is an ideal option for activities that require a hands-on approach. Instead of talking about gardening or looking at pictures in a book, children can interact with flowers and other plants outdoors. Likewise, other outdoor activities can also encourage this type of hands-on approach to learning. An outdoor art lesson (such as painting in nature), counting objects found in the play area (as a math activity), a story time in nature, and using the space for creative movement lessons are other common ways that children experience outdoor play.
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