Committing to Outdoor Play with Enhance Indoor Play
Something we quickly noticed when we began to spend more time outside was that our inside time became smoother, calmer, and more enjoyable. Outdoor play definitely enhances indoor play. Here are five reasons why.
#1). Outdoor play boosts the imagination.
Something I noticed quickly was that our extended periods of outside time heightened my children's creativity immensely. When we play outside we don't take toys along so everything is pretend. Sticks become swords. Logs become trains. Leaves become crowns. These skills have translated to our home where today the laundry baskets because space ships. There is a noticeable difference in how my kids play with what's laying around the house now, as opposed to how they played before we were spending lots of time outside.
#2) Outdoor play reinforces social skills.
There is research to back this up. But even without the research it is evident that my kids are navigating the waters of social skills better than they used to. Outside play has boosted their vocabulary and their proficiency with peer interaction. There are still a lot of indoor squabbles but the kids are managing those better as well.
#3) Outdoor play keeps those inside toys more enticing.
The more time you are away from new toys, the longer they seem new. There is an added excitement to play with the toys in the home when you've been gone from them for the day.
#4) Outdoor play keeps your house cleaner, which makes playing more fun.
Sometimes I wonder how toys get strewn just about everywhere in our home. Toys end up in every room. In every corner. On the kitchen table. In the bathtub. You name it. With a little observation I realized that kids have a tendency to just drop things when they are done with them (which is often). There seems to be a complete absence of thought in regards to putting something back in it's rightful place. When we are outside and a child drops a stone along a path it's no big deal. More time outside leads to cleaner floors and cleaner floors lead to better indoor playing.
#5) Outdoor play keeps kids from screens.
We are not a screen free home. I wish we were. I would love to be one of those families that doesn't even own a t.v. But we're not. We do limit television time. We have a Friday cartoon night. We watch t.v. through illness and on an occasional snowed in day. Like many kids, mine are like zombies in front of a screen. They are usually unresponsive until it's turned off. And so there is a draw toward it, both for the children and for myself. I enjoy quietness and my sanity, so the lure of the t.v. babysitter has a tendency to beckon me in as well. What I quickly noticed with outdoor time was that it pushed screen time out of our week because we ran out of time for it. In this way, outdoor play has dramatically improved our indoor play time because I don't have kids bugging to watch cartoons all the time.
