Need to balance screen time with green time

Benefits of nature play:

Natural Playgrounds

For children, play is learning. There is no better space for children to learn than the outdoors, and there is no better play resource than nature! In the structured, busy and the technologically advanced world we live in, the role of outdoor play that we experienced as children has been forgotten.

While we need to support the importance of technology as part of modern-day life and education, we need to be mindful and purposeful for that use of technology and balance it with nature play every day.

There is a huge amount of research on the benefits of nature play for children. Firstly, there are alot of physical benefits such as moving in ways to promote physical wellness. For example, children when engage in nature play, they move in different ways then other children. They are lifting rocks, climbing over things, and running through imaginary nature spaces. Studies have found that when children play outdoors, they are more physically active than when they play indoors. When children run, jump, climb, throw and kick balls, and ride toys that require balance, they also build gross motor skills and start developing a habit of being active.

Natural environments provide children with more challenging situations and ability to cope with stress. There has been multiple evidence suggesting that repeated exposure to high-quality, unstructured outdoor play opportunities has a positive impact on social and cognitive development such as executive functioning (this includes memory, flexible thinking and self-control). Contact with alot of living organisms (plants, animals, insects, bacteria) can also help boost children’s immune system.

Natural environments also provide alot of sensory input for children for example proprioceptive input (which is our bodies system that receives input from muscles and joints to know our bodies position in space) for ex being able to touch your nose with your eyes closed. Children need different sensory experiences throughout their childhood to optimize their sensory integration. 

How to get more outdoor play in your child’s life: 

1. Get them to help with outdoor chores like watering the grass and weeding

2. Add a regular outdoor activity into the schedule for example going for a daily walk or bike ride

3. Organize play dates at the park instead of in the home

4. Make up a scavenger hunt for your next park visit and get your children to run around to find items on the list. A scavenger hunt with visuals would be helpful for younger children.

5. Take old kitchen pots and tools to the beach to make mud pies or even in your own garden

6. Take morning breakfast or lunch outside and have a picnic

7. Play hide and seek in the park, this will help get them outdoors but also increase their confidence in exploring new environments with independence

8. Do a summer camping trip

My new camp experience!

My name is Ekam, I am a first-year occupational therapy student from the University of Western Ontario. I am so excited for this amazing experience for my Level 2 placement with 3 other fellow OT students here at Larchwood Farm with Alanna!

Today I had my first day of camp and it was an amazing first day! I helped lead some cooperative games and I look forward to leading other activities such as the nature walk and yoga mindfulness sessions. Nature-based occupational therapy services are so important and I want to gain some more knowledge to take into my future practice. I am so excited for my new camp experience!

I grew up in the GTA and lived in a city my whole life but there has always been a big part of me that has been extremely connected to the outdoors. As a kid I always used to love playing outdoors with other kids who lived on my street and it was always a challenge for my mom to bring me and my brother inside when it got dark. We used to play soccer, hockey, hop scotch and imaginary play when we were outside. When I got older, I love being outside whether it is for going on a hike, painting, reading a book or simply just eating my meals outdoors and I feel the most peace when I am outdoors. When I saw the placement opportunity for Larchwood Nature OT camps, I felt that it was an amazing fit for me. I have been working as a camp leader since I was 16, it was my first job in high school and I loved it so much I went back every summer for 6 years! Combining my love for the outdoors and summer camps, I am so excited for the adventure that this placement will bring me. As I read through the blogs by the previous OT students, I am learning so much more about the benefits nature provides for children and I cannot wait to explore further how occupational therapy can be a part of this as well!