The benefits of being outdoors
It’s good for your body
Spending time outdoors usually requires some physical activity, whether it is walking or running around chasing a ball. Being active helps produce happy hormones, so it is a win-win situation for you and your family. Other potential benefits include:
- a longer life expectancy including maintaining a healthier heart, better eyesight, and improved immunity.
- resetting your sleep cycle. Lise Dullaerts touched on this in our sleep blog in December.
- mental health management including stress reduction, an increase in happiness. As well as improved creativity and enhanced memory, which can aid academic performance.
Sunshine
How does being outside help improve your immune system? Sunshine! Our body creates vitamin D from direct sunlight. We need a safe amount - so still wear your SPF - to help support bone development and build a strong immune system. I recently read that Vitamin D deficiency is a global public health issue. Approximately 1 billion people worldwide have a vitamin D deficiency, and 50% of the population have vitamin D insufficiency [2].
The benefits of being outside are endless.
It’s good for your mind
The last two years have had a huge effect on relationships and studies have shown that people’s mental health is at an all-time low. Stress, anxiety and other mental health issues have spiked. A lot of us have been forced to live and work within the confines of our homes. With everyone constantly home under one roof, chaos can take hold.
There is something about being outdoors away from the chaos at home, work emails and screens which brings calm to our household. When we spend time outdoors (2 - 3 hours on weekends in the winter) there is less fighting, more teamwork and we enjoy each other's company.
Connect with nature and unplug
Positive experiences in nature will strengthen a child's love for the outdoors.
The more time we spend outdoors, the more we - and our children - appreciate nature. The birds, animals, trees and plants create curiosity, respect and understanding of the world around us.
Don’t get me wrong, technology has its benefits. I admit that without Cocomelon there are nights I would struggle to make dinner.
However, technology has the power to take over our lives if we let it. Turning off devices and being present is essential to our well-being, and their imaginations because it teaches children how to entertain themselves.
A lot of our Instagram followers already have healthy boundaries when it comes to their children’s screen time. Nearly 70% allow their child to have screen time, but of those, 63% only offer 1 hour or less per day.
Problem solving, Imagination & Risk
There are two little words I hate. Can you guess what they are? … “I’m bored!”.
Like nails on a chalkboard, they grate me because I can’t figure out how my children could be bored with a playroom filled with activities. Books, puzzles, playdough, dress-ups, Lego … you name it, they have it. Birthdays, Christmas and hand-me-downs have provided a never-ending selection of choices. But, they are still bored.
Being outside provides an opportunity to practice some important life skills like troubleshooting and problem solving. Both are necessary skills in adulthood, and they are skills that children learn as they work things out and entertain themselves.
Exposing children to nature allows their imaginations to run wild. Outside my children run, explore and invent.
A leaf becomes a boat, and they have races to see whose boat will pass under the bridge first. Or a fallen tree becomes a car as they try to outrun the T-Rex that is chasing them.
I have an amazing friend who has a thrill-seeking toddler. He was riding and scooting before most kids can walk. Recently she noticed him trying different moves on his scooter, so she took him to a place where she could help him nurture his desire to try new things … the skate park! He’s not making jumps or on the big ramps (yet). But he’s learning to trust himself and building his confidence as he weaves, jumps and rolls along with one leg in the air.
Though stressful, allowing children to take risks - with us close by - helps them understand what is possible. It exercises the decision making muscle in the brain and teaches children to make good decisions which are essential to development, building self-esteem and confidence.
Memories
Collect moments, not things
Name two things you can’t buy? Memories and time.
Last summer we spent a week in the Yorkshire Dales (in England). It is stunning there, and I highly recommend it. In the tourist center, I saw a postcard with these stone towers called The Nine Standard Riggs and I had a bright idea to go see them.
I found what was described as an easy walk (remember I have a 3-year-old) to get us up to the pillars, and didn’t notice the marshland on the map until we were standing ankle deep in it.
Neither my husband nor I were happy with my planned activity. But I kept saying ‘we’ll look back on this one day and laugh’. And we do! One of our best memories was when one of our children figured out the marsh bushes were bouncy, so we bounced through the marshland like Mario and Luigi collecting coins!
It's the experiences you have that will stay in your minds, long after the adventure has ended.
I know getting outdoors, especially in the winter can feel difficult especially with little ones. But you don’t have to go far … you could just stick to your garden.
So let me inspire you to head out into the garden, or further afield, with some easy activities. Some only require your imagination. You can even take your Toddlekind puzzle playmat or waterproof mat with you!
