By Celia Tennant, CEO, Inspiring Scotland
NEWSFLASH: The weather in Scotland is terrible. It’s mostly dreich, if the sun is out there will still be a smirr and it’s frequently pure Baltic. And that’s in the summer months. We live in Scotland so we can’t use the weather as a reason not to go outside. But we do and it is harming our children.
Playing outdoors is hugely important for children’s development. There is research and evidence from around the world that shows outdoor play allows children to thrive, grow and learn in the best possible way.
Playing outdoors is physically active, it increases children’s health and fitness and teaches them the basic physical skills they need throughout their lives. Playing also helps the development of social skills and emotional resilience; children learn to problem-solve and risk-assess through play and being physically active develops cognitive ability and is linked to academic achievement. And playing outside is fun which means children are happy when they do it.
Children need to play outside. They want to and they don’t care if it’s wet or windy or snowing. It is us, the adults, who do.
We don’t want our kids to catch a cold, get muddy or hurt themselves. We worry about strangers and road traffic. We look at the rain running down the window or the gale blowing along the road and say, “we’ll have to stay inside today.”
But children are stronger than we think and playing outside makes them tougher. They need exposed to the elements and they need to test themselves. If they don’t learn about risks and dangers, they will continue to be imperilled by them.
As adults we too readily forget that puddles are fun, snow is exciting and the wind is best for flying kites.
And it is easy to stay indoors too. Technology continues to offer us and our children things to do without stepping out the door. There are myriad computer games and television programmes clamouring for our and our kids’ attention and giving into that is less demanding of our time, effort and energy. In Scotland, nearly one-third of six-year-old children spend three or more hours in front of a screen each day; for many it is even longer.
This inactivity is hugely damaging to our children. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cardiovascular problems, and mental health issues are all linked to inactivity and are on the rise.
There is a movement in Scotland to change that, however. There is growing recognition of the enormous benefits of outdoor play, and policies have been put in place to create opportunities for all children to get outside more. At Inspiring Scotland, we are working with Scottish Government, councils, universities, schools, nurseries and charities to encourage more outdoor play and our #AwayandPlay campaign is highlighting the benefits for everyone. I am delighted to continue supporting the Scottish Government to encourage and support greater use of outdoor learning in the early years, as Maree Todd announced this week.
This week we have also welcomed to Glasgow a group of education academics from Canada to learn about the progress we have made and teach us about their approach to outdoor play and learning.
And on Thursday, I met with representatives from government, leading academics, health professionals and environmental leaders to identify practical solutions to make outdoor play opportunities comprehensively available to all.
But that won’t work without us all embracing the value of play and getting outside regardless of the weather. It is up to us to give our children the best chances in life by pulling on our coats and wellies and going out to play.
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