5 reasons why outside exercise is great for kids

Exercising outside has many benefits for kids. It’s a great way to get them away from screens and to help develop their creativity. There’s also a lot of fun that only nature can offer, such as swimming in lakes and climbing trees. It’s the stuff that creates happy memories and a happy childhood. Exercising outside can also help kids develop an appreciation for nature that they’ll carry for the rest of their lives.

Read on to discover more about why exercising outside is great for kids.

Reason 1: Nature helps to de-stress

Being in nature is a powerful tool for lowering stress levels - “it reduces cognitive fatigue and stress and can be helpful with depression and anxiety” says Irina Wen, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and clinical director. With the pressures of school and growing up, childhood can be a stressful time. Enabling kids to exercise outside is a great way to help them de-stress.

Reason 2: Time away from screens

There are many studies connecting time looking at screens with mental-health problems. Exercising outside helps re-balance the time kids spend in front of screens. It can be hard to convince kids to put down the iPad, so playing games outside is a great tool to limit screen time in a fun way.

“Strict limitation of screen time should be an essential component of an integrative approach to mental wellness” according to Victoria L. Dunckley M.D.

Reason 3: Nature fuels creativity

Helping your child to become more creative is an important part of their development. “Early development of creativity is much more important than we think it is” says Anna Jones at the Huffington Post. But fostering creativity in children isn’t always easy, especially when schools focus mostly on Maths and English.

Fortunately exercising outdoors and getting into nature can boost creativity according to this study,

“Nature has the ability to evoke the creative way of thinking by making us more curious, able to get new ideas as well as flexible in our way of thinking.”

Reason 4: Nature heals the body

Ensuring kids are physically healthy is a top priority. Of course, exercising is important for this, but so too is spending time in nature. Being in nature helps physical health in many ways. A study conducted on the benefits of being in a forest found that these type of outdoor environments have beneficial effects on human immune function.

Exercising outdoors is a great way to help your kids stay healthy. It’s a two-birds-with-one-stone situation. Both the exercise AND being in nature will provide health benefits.

Reason 5: Nature helps concentration

It isn’t easy to get kids to concentrate. Exercising outdoors might be the answer. This is especially helpful for kids with ADHD according to this study, that says "'doses of nature' might serve as a safe, inexpensive, widely accessible new tool for managing ADHD symptoms.”