Do Kids Really Need To Play Outside

I am sure many parents and Grandparents have memories of playing outside as a child with the other kids in the area. Unfortunately, the fondest traditional childhood activity of playing outdoors has almost vanished in recent times. It is due to the modern technological advancements and ignorance of elders that kids these days don’t know what  fun outdoor games can be. A research conducted in 2012 concluded parents do not involve their kids, especially girls in outdoor activities. I will be talking about how much kids need to be outside their homes and engage themselves in physical activities in this article.  So stick around !

I am sure you have heard from your parents that their own parents used to push them out for playing every day? It is the story in every home and this is why our parents are more physically active than us. Most of the times, adults blame kids for sitting in front of the screens for long, but

they don’t realize it’s not entirely children’s fault. They as a parent have not created such an environment in their homes that their kids could go out and play. It sure is a challenge for them to do so with all those fancy gadgets around, but they should fight it instead of blaming their kids. However, the challenge can be overcome with the help of  educational institutions as they have both school playground equipment and preschool playground equipment to keep the kids engaged.  Or a daily trip to a park can provide outdoor play.

According to experts, kids of age twelve to thirty months should be taken out for fun every day for minimum thirty minutes. However, kids above this age MUST have exposure to the outside environment every day for at least an hour. According to a research conducted in 2012, only half of the children in the world take part in outdoor physical activities on regular basis. These are five years old results and I am sure the situation must have got worse till now. The same study showed that 42% children who do not have child care facilities such as day care that would take them out of the sedentary lifestyle do not play outside at.Another shocking factor is that girls are even more discouraged to take part in outdoor activities. Therefore, there is a clear difference in the number of boys and girls who are active in physical activities. As mentioned earlier, the two core reasons for ignoring the importance of taking kids outside are technological development and busy life of parents.

It is therefore extremely important to provide the children outside toys, sports, and games.  If not we will be faced with a generation of adults who although brilliant in technology,will be overweight  and physically unhealthy. So I would encourage everyone to be more engaged in outside, physical activity.