5 Benefits of Outdoor Play

5 Benefits of Outdoor Play (even in the winter!)

As winter arrives, it gets darker earlier and the days become colder. Many of us feel an instinct to eat more, as if gearing up for the colder months ahead. It’s almost like we’re preparing to hibernate! We certainly are more inclined to stay inside but this is an inclination we must resist! Outdoor play for children is incredibly important and the findings are backed by science. Don’t let the weather stop you. As they say “There is no bad weather, just bad clothes.”

Consider These 5 Benefits of Outdoor Play:

Spending time outside helps our bodies set more natural sleep rhythms.

According to work done at the Stanford School of Medicine and Dr. Andrew Heuberman, exposure to natural light helps our bodies decrease the production of melatonin. Melatonin is the natural chemical that tells your body you are sleepy. Exposing our bodies to sunlight, especially in the morning, can help set our circadian rhythm for the day. The bright sunlight tells our brains it is time to be awake. Our natural circadian rhythm lasts a little longer than 24 hours so If we are not resetting our rhythm with natural light we are likely to get off a healthy sleep/ wake cycle. Dr.  Jay Neitz, PhD, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, discovered that the part of your eye responsible for signaling the light levels in your surroundings to your brain is also sensitive to color. It reacts specifically to the contrast between orange and blue tones, essentially serving as a natural “sunrise or sunset detector.” This helps your brain better determine the time of day. Viewing a sunset and its specific hues sends signals to your brain telling it to wake up. It does this by increasing serotonin and decreasing melatonin.

Bright sunlight effects one’s mood and energy levels positively.

Bright light helps our bodies produce serotonin. Serotonin, known as the “feel good” chemical, helps to boost our moods and energy levels. Bright light therapy has been found to be an effective treatment for conditions like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and other types of depression. The light receptors in our retina send signals to our brains that help to encourage the production of serotonin. As serotonin levels increase in our bodies so do feelings of well- being and happiness. Getting outside into the natural sunlight also sends signals to our brain to decrease levels of melatonin which tells our bodies it is time to sleep. Conversely, low light levels signal our brain to produce melatonin which tells our bodies it is time to sleep. Overproducing melatonin can lead to a disrupted circadian rhythm. If our circadian rhythm becomes out of whack and leads to poor sleep routines, depression is more likely to set in. Just as bright light (screen time) before bed can disrupt our sleep patterns as well.

Kids get more exercise playing outside than in!

Seems logical. There is more room to run and play outside. With a wide expanse to explore our kiddos will get more exercise during time spent outside than in! With more room, kids can move their bodies in ways that are freer than in the confines of a home. Inside they may have to watch out for the coffee table, a vase or the hard tile floor. Outside they can show you those karate moves or perform their tumbling shows with plenty of room to explore all of their bodies are capabilities. Not to mention all the new discoveries to make. Playing outside kids can use a macro lens and move around freely looking at the tree line far across a field or high into the sky at the passing clouds. Similarly, they can put on a micro lens and discover the tiniest treasures nature has to offer. What is the smallest thing they can see? Can they find any bugs? What color is the smallest flower you can find? So much to discover using your senses. Listen for the birds. What sound does the stick make when it breaks? What sound can the stick make when you hit it on a tree vs on the ground? What do you smell up in the air? Or down low near the ground? Our senses can keep us occupied for hours.

Improved concentration!

Spending time outside provides more opportunities for our little ones to make new discoveries and use their bodies in different ways. Did you know spending time outside can improve concentration? Forty years ago, psychologists Stephen and Rachel Kaplan, hypothesized that we can improve our attention and concentration by being exposed to nature. Attention Restoration Theory suggests that natural elements found outdoors help to focus our attention. For example watching a bird soaring high in the sky or a stick traveling down babbling brook or a yellow leave lazily falling from an autumn tree all slow down the brain and nervous system. Slowing down the input into the brain allows for the amygdala to relax and the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus to come back on-line.

Since developing this theory, many studies have proven this to be true! Spending time in nature has shown to reduce stress hormone levels, lower blood pressure, improve mood and strengthen immune system functioning. By reducing stress we are freeing up the amygdala to allow for increased concentration and information retention.

A study in Norway found a positive correlation between time spent outside and the attention span of preschool to first graders! (As a side note- did you know that in Scandinavia some daycare centers offer up to nine hours a day of outdoor activity for their children irrespective of the season or weather!) The scientists found that symptoms of inattentiveness were decreased with more time spent outdoors!

Reduced your risk of nearsightedness.

Here is one I did not know- Research shows a reduced risk of nearsightedness in children who spend time outside! Nearsightedness, also called Myopia, does have some genetic factors. It can occur when the eyeball is too large from front to back. However, research suggests there are also developmental factors at play. Some studies show that the more time one spends in school, the more likely they are to develop Myopia. Why? The more time you spend looking at things close to you, the less ability you develop to focus on things far away. Interestingly, rates of myopia shot up during the lockdown as more and more of us were glued to screens.

This study, among others, has shown that spending time outdoors can help prevent the risk of developing Myopia! How? By giving children the chance to look at things far away. Remember that macro lens I spoke of? That is what helps train our little ones eyes to see and focus on things in the distance.

So get outside and play!

Spending time outdoors is good for our children’s muscles, eyes, brain function, mood and overall health. It is a free one stop shop for preventing many of life’s ills! So no more excuses. Have your child step outside first thing every morning to greet the day (and set their circadian rhythm for the day). Get them back outside, for as little as 20 minutes, later in the day and help them use a macro and micro lens to slow down the rhythm of their day and recharge their brains. You can even step outside at sunset to say good night to the sun! This could become a fun daily ritual and will send a signal their brain (and yours!) that it’s getting to be time to go to sleep.

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