Free To Be In The Outdoors
There are numerous reasons why getting outside with children is helpful to their growth, development, and health. And there are many ways to be outside, from team sports to playgrounds to exploring a forest. Let’s discuss how the benefits of open/free/or self-guided play in nature are uniquely valuable and different from structured play.
Recently Co-Founder Sarita attended Soul Fire Farm’s Farming Immersion with our daughter Sunshine for five days for a magical communal experience learning Afro-Indigenous growing practices. While there were tons of new skills to learn about growing food and tending to the land, the only skill Sunshine wanted to participate in was feeding the farm animals. Otherwise, she preferred freely exploring the farm and playing with the other children. While she may not have participated in the formal skill share activities of weeding, mulching, and planting, she fortified different essential learning outcomes, such as:
Executive Functioning – having self-regulating skills to plan, organize, make decisions, and learn from mistakes are essential for living. Not relying on adults to guide every step supports the development of independence.
Initiative – creating satisfying games without being prompted paves the way for future self-starters in other aspects of life, including school work and play.
Leadership – cooperating with other children and establishing ways to play together requires effective communication, listening, compassion, and compromise. While organized team sports are great, leading a charge without a coach takes a lot of courage and confidence.
Creativity – Seeing the world as a place of endless possibilities takes mastery. Being adapted to playing in natural areas without the structures of a standard playground guiding play enables seeing outside the box. Being able to make something out of found objects fallen to the forest floor and being wholly entertained develops peace of mind and enjoyment of life’s little things.
There’s a lot of pressure on parents, educators, and folks who care about children to ensure that “learning outcomes” are met. It’s important to remember that learning doesn’t always look one way. Kids deserve time to play independently and discover who they are, what they love, what they don’t like, what their strengths are, and make mistakes. Sometimes the best way to love them is to leave them be and throw away prescribed expectations. The kids are truly alright.