Let the Children Play…OUTSIDE!
Look deep, deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.
— Albert Einstein
Children enjoy the outdoors in all kinds of weather! Of course, we know that fresh air and exercise are good for our bodies, but research is mounting to prove that direct involvement with nature is as important to children as getting a good night’s rest and eating a healthy diet. It can also help to nurture our souls as we take more time to reflect and appreciate the quiet and solitude that nature has to offer. As our playgrounds evolve into true outdoor classrooms, we can begin to understand all of the dynamic learning that can take place in these ever-changing environments. Just a few of the benefits that have been identified are:
- Building Physical Skills – Opportunities to run, throw, pedal, climb, and construct allows children to utilize large and small muscles, develop balance and strength and build greater overall body awareness.
- Building language skills and vocabulary – There are tremendous opportunities for building an extensive vocabulary while playing outside. Soft, spongy, slippery, cumulus and chlorophyll, are just a few of the words that can be used as descriptors while learning scientific facts related to the outdoors.
- Building Problem Solving and Divergent Thinking Skills – I wonder how I can build a structure with tree cookies? What will happen if we leave an ice sculpture outside? Where do you think this bug might go if it needs to get out of the rain? These are just some of the questions that a child might naturally explore in the outdoor classroom. One question often leads to asking many more, increasing a child’s natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
- Taking Risks and Building Self Esteem – The outdoor classroom is a place where children can safely take reasonable risks to build skills and promote development of a healthy self-concept. Increasingly challenging activities can be introduced as children practice activities that help them master skills as they gain confidence and push themselves to the next level of activity.
- Sensory Exploration – Do you recall the smell of freshly cut grass, the sound of raindrops hitting the cement, or the feeling of sticking your toes into sand? Opportunities to explore a vast assortment of natural materials are readily available outdoors. The textures, smells, sights and sounds will likely create strong memories that are associated with positive thoughts related to the outdoors.
- Increasing Observational Skills – Outside, children can take the time to focus on the constantly changing environment as the foliage turns from green to orange, a multitude of intriguing insects abound, and the scents of lilacs and rosemary permeate the air.
- Stimulating Imagination and Creativity – Through the use of dramatic play stages, outdoor easels, roofed houses with mud kitchens, and a creative tricycle path, children’s imaginations can run wild as they create endless play scenarios. Children also expand their creativity with nature’s loose parts including pine cones, acorns, stones and so much more as they create designs that can be endlessly changed and rearranged.
- Invites Collaboration – Children naturally work together as they explore the environment. Through their combined efforts in a non-competitive arena, they build amazing constructions, ask one another questions and seek to discover the answers together. This give and take between children is an important forerunner to being interested in others’ ideas and using their ingenuity to create something new.
By making nature easily accessible and an engaging part of each child’s day, we hope to inspire them to develop a deep appreciation for the world around them and understand that they have a responsibility to care for the environment, truly embracing the Jewish value of Tikun Olam, taking care of the earth.
JCC Chicago is so grateful to Dr. Steven and Marisa Mandrea for their generous donation to renovate the Outdoor Classroom at our “Z” Frank Apachi Early Childhood Center. We look forward to the unveiling of the Mandrea Family Playground this school year and all that it will offer our children, families and community!