In recent times there has been a cultural swing in our society causing a reduction to the access and use of outdoors for a good many children. Instrumental factors include increased concern among parents relating to children’s safety and advances in technology that has caused an increased tendency to more inactive indoor activities like watching television, video and playing computer games. Here 10 powerful arguments for utilising every single opportunity to encourage children to go beyond their immediate indoor environment.
- Learning beyond the classroom helps the development of active and healthy lifestyles by presenting opportunities for children to engage in physical activity, movement and freedom as well as promoting a strong sense of well-being.
- Learning outside the classroom underpins the progression of active and healthy ways of life by offering kids open doors for physical action, flexibility and development, and advancing a sense of feeling well.
- Learning that effortlessly moves between indoors and outdoors will make the best use of resources at the same time as building on enthusiasms and interests.
- Playing and learning outside also helps children to understand and respect nature, the environment and the interdependence of humans, animals, plants, and lifecycles.
- Playing outdoors also improves children’s problem-solving ability and progresses their creativity, along with providing great opportunity to develop imagination and make use of available resources.
- Children thrive in an outdoor environment that provides them with increased space, both up and out, along with places to explore, find, being active and well, and to further their physical ability.
- The external environment offers space hence is important to children who develop best through being active. Young children learn mostly through their physical experience which underpins brain development and the making of neural networks.
- For the majority of children, playing outside the classroom in an external environment during their early years might only be their only chance of being able to play safely and independently while they begin to understand risk and develop the ability to handle new situations as they arise.
Anyone who regularly take children outside to learn will always see the happiness, and sense of excitement that is created when children actively connect with their environment.
Kensington Systems Ltd has a range of products that will assist well with putting these 10 points to good use, ask about our Spaceshade School canopies System and enclosascreen blinds.
