When I was a child, I used to play outside. After school, I met my friends and we played together until dinner time in summer or until sunset in winter. We had a lot of fun with quite simple things like a ball, a skipping rope or a rubber band.

Today, it’s different. New activities like video games, computers and undeniable safety concerns make it more difficult for kids and parents. Nevertheless, I think parents should be more aware of the many advantages for kids playing outside. If you don’t want them to play alone, join them and make sure that you all have fun.

Ball games often belong to the children’s favourite games and it’s easy to do. The only thing you need is a ball like a Mitre football for example. Invite schoolmates or neighbour’s children to play football. Two goals are easily improvised and you could start your own football tournament.

Another ball game is kickball, a playground variation of softball that is appropriate for school age children. For kickball, choose a lightweight ball for small children and a heavier one for bigger kids. You’ll also need something to serve as bases. Kickball uses the basic rules of softball and baseball but you can always come up with new rules to make it more kids-friendly if necessary.

Sometimes your children want to play on their own. They will come up with own ideas and can entertain themselves very well. In order to whip up their fantasy, you could install a playhouse. A Honeypot playhouse offers a lot of possibilities for children. They can play hide-and-seek, knight and princess or just have their “meetings” there without parents. A Honeypot playhouse has a rustic look that will make your children think they own their own little cottage. Besides that, it offers many safety features like smooth edges and safety hinges. So you can be assured that your children will be safe playing on their own.

Another favourite outdoor activity for children is playing in the sandbox. Small children enjoy exploring the sand while older children learn to use their fine motor skills to dig, bury and build. There are plenty of toys like buckets, pails, shovels, sandbox bulldozers or sand moulds. Your kids will come up with a lot of games to play on their own. At the end of the day, just store all the toys and balls in your outdoor storage box to make sure that nobody trips over them and gets hurt. Besides the toys of your kids, these boxes also provide enough space for other items like a garden hose or a lawn mower.

So go outside and play with your children. It isn’t just healthy for your kids but also for yourself. Nothing is better than spending a day outside.

Did you know?

According to recent research, children who play outside for an average of 90 minutes per day have less risk of heart trouble later in life. Playing outside is one of the best ways to boost self-esteem in young children.

-Manuela

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