Get Outside & Play! (The Importance of Outdoor Play)

Odds are, if you’ve read even just a few of our posts you’ve gleaned that one of the reasons Britt and I are doing this whole redeem your ground thing is out of our desire to get kids outside to play more…ours, yours, whomevers!  A lot of that is likely due to the fact that we have two young daughters…and they love to play…and they’re right in front of us.  But even if we didn’t have kids, Britt is a nurturing educator at heart (and in training)…and clearly, I love the outdoors.  So we both see the incredible value of time spent outside…on so many levels – physical, social, and intellectual development…gaining an appreciation for nature & beauty, your surroundings…connecting with each other…I could go on.

I think it also has something to do with the fact that it seems that people are more “connected” with their devices and concerned with their social media “friends” and persona than they are with each other. We’re certainly not immune to all that…especially since we are here…on the RYGblog A LOT!  (We even had a “discussion” about how social media has affected our relationship just 2 nights ago.) But all these devices and blogs and “friends” appear to be making us more disconnected than connected…and they’re also likely keeping us inside more too.

Soooo, when an article or video or something crosses our path on the subject we take note.  That said, I’d like to pass on a few to you.

Here are three articles on the “importance of outdoor play” that I’ve found helpful.  Rather than trying to paraphrase what they’ve said in a pithy way, I’ll just let read the articles for yourself.  Not only will they help you better understand the “why” outdoor play is so important, reading these articles will likely remind you of the “what” you did when you were a kid…and that it’s really not that complicated – turn off the TV or computer…put down the devices…and get outside…that’s it.  Not surprisingly, once you’re kids are outside, they’ll figure out the rest.

• • Our Proud Heritage: Outdoor Play Is Essential to Whole Child Development – Joe Frost & John Sutterby, NAEYC
  • The Benefits of Outdoor Play: Why It Matters – Katie K. Lockwood, MD, MEd, Children’s Hospital of Philidelphia
  • The Importance of Outdoor Play for Children – Christie & Wardell Johnson, community playthings

I’d like to end with a video that I’ve seen posted and re-posted on Facebook recently (I know, you caught me…online and inside…again!). But like what we’re trying to leverage social media to do with RYGblog, Gary Turk (writer/director/performer) is trying to do the same with his video – send a strong message to today’s online generation…which is really all of us…to “Look Up” and connect with that person who is right there in front of you in a real, meaningful way.  Here’s what Gary says about his video…

“Look Up” is a lesson taught to us through a love story, in a world where we continue to find ways to make it easier for us to connect with one another, but always results in us spending more time alone.

Again, I hope you take the 4 minutes and 58 seconds to watch this powerful video…and then, put down your device and “go out into the world and leave distractions behind.”

So what did you think? Pretty powerful huh?  So after all of this, what are you going to do differently this week…try to encourage your kids to do?  Me? Well, right now…I’m going to post this thang and get outside with my girls before the sun goes down.

Take care,