The shrieking of excited children's voices fills the air in many neighborhoods across the country. Children have played games for thousands of years. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the average child watches more than three hours of television each day. If your child is in the habit of watching television for hours a day, he may be reluctant to go outside and play. Help your child regain his enthusiasm for outdoor play by providing him with ideas and the necessary equipment.
Purpose
Games provide more than just entertainment. According to the website ChildCareAware, game playing helps your child maintain her healthy weight, improve her imagination and gain respect for the outdoors. Playing outdoor games requires more than just using his body. When he plays tag with friends, he uses strategic thinking skills to catch the other players and unwittingly uses math skills when running to intercept another player. Encourage games that challenge your child intellectually and physically.
Types
Running games like relay races and obstacle courses improve your child's endurance and leg strength. Encourage your child to use a baton for relay races and provide backyard items like hula hoops, slides and small cones for an obstacle course. Teach her to play badminton or volleyball by providing a net, racquets, balls or birdies. Net games improve your child's eye-hand coordination and, when he plays with others, teach him to work as part of a team. Encourage your children to play dodge ball, kickball, softball and soccer. Use sidewalk chalk to outline a hopscotch grid on your driveway and let the children practice jumping and hopping. If you have young children, play duck, duck goose.
Benefits
A 2010 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and led by Victoria J. Rideout, M.A., and colleagues found that young people today spend more than 10 hours a day using media such as television, video games, computers and listening to music. Getting your child outside to play gives her and her friends a chance to be loud and exuberant, run off extra energy and improve her social skills. Childhood obesity rates are rising sharply and playing outdoor games burns extra calories and builds muscle strength, which will help your child maintain a healthy weight.
Equipment Safety
You may think of your backyard as a safe place for your kids to play, but according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 50,000 children each year visit the emergency room because of injuries on backyard equipment. Keep your kids safe by putting soft rubber mulch under swings and trampolines. Use trampoline safety nets and check equipment for exposed or loose bolts. When your kids ride bikes, insist on helmets for everyone. Prevent accidental strangulation by never allowing children to play games with ropes.
Considerations
Always supervise children. Watch for rough play and getting too close to the water's edge, and step in if children are not playing fairly. Consider the cost of equipment before your purchase. Although fun to have, expensive outdoor items sometimes sit unused while simple equipment like balls and bats appeal to children of all ages. If the children are playing games in the hot weather, provide plenty of water to prevent dehydration and heat stroke.
References
- Child Care Aware: Outdoor Play Every Day: Children and Nature
- North Seattle Community College: Physical Games for Cooperative Play
- Kaiser Family Foundation: Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-to-18-Year-Olds
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Childhood Obesity
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: Outdoor Home Playground Safety Handbook
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