Status of Outdoor Play
Status of afterschool outdoor play
Over the decades after school outdoor play has been dropping drastically which what else can you expect when are children are growing up in the age of facebook, twitter, x box, Netflix and iPads kids are more plugged into technology than ever before. Playing outside is becoming as obsolete as CD players. In this day in age it is normal for you to see fewer children outside playing on a sunny day because they are so wrapped up in TV and computers which is healthy for our society at all. There are all sorts of reasons for the decline of outdoor play but here are some: flawed assumptions about learning meaning that play that was considered as the expected tool to help children learn naturally is now being considered as a distraction from ‘actual learning’, high academic and achievement pressure because adult expectations from children have become so demanding that it leaves children with little freedom to do what interests them, or what is fundamentally essential for them, increased safety issues in the society, limited play spaces, and decrease in time available to parents in their fast paced routines, children’s outdoor play tends to suffer. Clearly parents and educators need to make sure that future generations get plenty of outdoor play because it very beneficial for their cognitive development this is because it outdoor play allows children to use their instincts in a natural and non-restrictive environment , this allows for them to develop their creative, imaginative, and thinking capabilities and social relationships with others. Various research studies have highlighted that regular physical activity contributes in generating new brain cells, enhances cognitive processes, increases attention span and catalyzes the overall cognitive processes. We now more than ever need to reverse the trend of diminishing outdoor play for children. Caregivers, educators as well as policy makers are all responsible for advocating and
Over the decades after school outdoor play has been dropping drastically which what else can you expect when are children are growing up in the age of facebook, twitter, x box, Netflix and iPads kids are more plugged into technology than ever before. Playing outside is becoming as obsolete as CD players. In this day in age it is normal for you to see fewer children outside playing on a sunny day because they are so wrapped up in TV and computers which is healthy for our society at all. There are all sorts of reasons for the decline of outdoor play but here are some: flawed assumptions about learning meaning that play that was considered as the expected tool to help children learn naturally is now being considered as a distraction from ‘actual learning’, high academic and achievement pressure because adult expectations from children have become so demanding that it leaves children with little freedom to do what interests them, or what is fundamentally essential for them, increased safety issues in the society, limited play spaces, and decrease in time available to parents in their fast paced routines, children’s outdoor play tends to suffer. Clearly parents and educators need to make sure that future generations get plenty of outdoor play because it very beneficial for their cognitive development this is because it outdoor play allows children to use their instincts in a natural and non-restrictive environment , this allows for them to develop their creative, imaginative, and thinking capabilities and social relationships with others. Various research studies have highlighted that regular physical activity contributes in generating new brain cells, enhances cognitive processes, increases attention span and catalyzes the overall cognitive processes. We now more than ever need to reverse the trend of diminishing outdoor play for children. Caregivers, educators as well as policy makers are all responsible for advocating and
Cited: Retrieved at http://www.ecdpak.com/nurture/nurture_5/out_door_play_pg_2.html on January 25, 2013.