SHARON ROBERT’S CORNER: Playtime

SHARON ROBERT’S CORNER:

Have you ever wondered whether your child plays enough? Furthermore, do they play enough outdoors?

Most pediatric specialists recommend a minimum of outdoor play to be one hour daily; 2 hours being the ideal. Active outdoor play has many proven health benefits: better sleep, improved mood, increased focus, healthy muscles and bones (vitamin D) fundamental strength and coordination development and relaxation.

There are some integral benefits of outdoor play to your child’s well-being. Typically, Canadian children get about 20 to 30 minutes of outdoor playtime during recess at school each day. This can vary based on the school, region, and specific policies in place. It has been suggested that walking to and from school could be considered as time spent outdoors, but in most heavily populated areas in Canada, children are bussed to school. So where can a child get this play time especially outdoors? It can be a struggle to find opportunities but just like other important things, you build it into your routine . 

Here are some suggestions: A morning walk or a short stroll after dinner. If you can, walk to school or wait for the bus outside instead of in the car. If you are going somewhere, park further away and when weather is appropriate try to eat a meal outdoors. Even little chores such as fetching things out of the car, getting the empty garbage bins help to get some outdoor exposure. Finally, you could just make it a rule to get out and play for 10 minutes a day. Chances are the child will stay out longer, if anything is done consistently, no matter how small, it becomes a habit.

Sharon Roberts: https://dyslexia.ca/about/