Getting your kids to play outdoor isn’t just fun… it is also extremely good for them!
The 5 Benefits of Your Kid Playing Outside
and The Positive Impact on the Adult He or She will Become:
1. Improved Academic Success
2. Improved Health: Reduced Hyperactivity and ADHD, Improved Vision, Reduced stress, Increased Resilience, Strengthened Bone Health, Reduced Risks of Diabetes and Heart Disease
3. Improved Social Skills
4. Improved Self Esteem
5. Screen Detox
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
”I don’t want to dance hip hop. I am not good enough. I am not as good as the coach.” said a kid at KidsCampSingapore this week.
“If you want to be better at something, it’s going to take time and dedication. It took him many hours to get where he is today. You will get there too! One more thing: I never ever want you to underestimate yourself like that. ” replied Papé (Head Coach and CEO).
It is no coincidence that participation in sport is linked to higher academic achievement in school. They can apply the same principles of dedication and hard work learned through sports participation to their studies.
Ironically, evidence suggests that talented children are most likely to emerge when they are given time to develop, to play, and to remain children. Children are not miniature adults, and their enjoyment of sports (and their self-esteem) can suffer when well-meaning adults forget this!
HEALTH
Outdoor activities promote health and wellness not only through childhood but throughout a child 's lifetime, getting into the habit and abilities of being active.
Health Benefits include:
Reduced Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that green outdoor settings are widely effective in reducing attention deficit syndromes in children.
Reduced Stress: There is no doubt spending time in green outdoor spaces is a huge outlet for stress and resources for resilience. It is relaxing and healing! (as shown by researchers from the University of Colorado).
Improved Resilience: Sport is about bouncing back, learning from mistakes, holding your head high after losing or picking yourself up after a tackle. The earlier your kid can learn these skills, the better… through sport or any other kid activity.
Vitamin D Benefits (from the Sun Exposure): Strengthened Bone Health and Helping Prevent Diabetes and Heart Disease, as demonstrated by the American Academy of Pediatrics. "If you think your child is getting enough vitamin D by just drinking milk, you’re probably wrong.”
Decreased Obesity and Heart Disease linked to physical activity
And even Improved Vision: A study published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology found that chances of your child developing myopia drops by 2% for each additional hour spent outdoors per week.
SOCIAL SKILLS
Not everyone gets to go down the slide first. Being outdoor is not only about running and being active, but it is also about learning social skills, executive functions (leadership skills), team-building skills and communication skills that will help them in school, their future career and personal relationships.
A paper from the University of Missouri-Kansas shows how outside play fosters “social, emotional, and cognitive competencies” in kids, and this from a very young age, including strengthening the language and communication interactions. They learn to interact not only with other children their age, but also with older individuals like their coaches.
A team cannot succeed without working together. No matter how good the individual players. You see it so often in football. Players have the opportunity to pass to a teammate, but instead choose to go for glory themselves. Shoot for goal, and then miss.
Communication is key and learning to be part of a team is synonymous with learning to value the effectiveness of teamwork. By working together they will learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses and will be better able to decide and strategize the best plan for the team. This will without a doubt help them in their future lives and careers as well.
In sports, emotions can run high. With the right coaches, they will learn to channel them the right way, to lose graciously and to respect rules/authority.
All are useful lessons for kids to carry into adulthood and their future careers!
Joining a team activity/sport gives kids a sense of belonging and the opportunity to make new friends, creating another social circle outside of school. Some may even become buddies for life! A study in Switzerland found that kids who participated in team activities had greater well-being, including being better socially adjusted, feeling less anxious, and generally being happier about their lives.
SELF ESTEEM
The great developmental psychologist Jean Piaget argued that the foundations of self-esteem were laid between the ages of about 6 and 11 years of age. Importantly, this is also the time when children are most likely to be introduced to sports.
It is impossible to over-state the importance of positive early sporting experiences for the development of self-esteem (i.e. strengthening physical self-worth, a sense of personal effectiveness and feelings of autonomy). Many studies demonstrated that the kids who are more physically active have considerably higher levels of self-esteem (as one from Canadian scientists on sixth grade students).
Every Monday morning, as a new group of kids arrives to KidsCampSingapore.com, there is often a kid or two who needs more time to feel at ease. Papé, the Head Coach, has this incredible ability to give him/her a listening ear as long as he/she needs, some comfort and not rushing the integration. We all have childhood memories of a first day at school.
A pat on the back, words of praise and encouragement, a high-five from a friend, or a handshake with an opponent at the end of a match (even if they lost), is all character building for your child.
The difficulty however, is to not let their self-esteem be distinguished by winning or losing. But instead, to focus on their effort and enjoyment of the sport.
So next time your child plays a game – of anything – ask “how it did it go?” versus “did you win?”
Or better still, “did you enjoy it?”
SCREEN DETOX
Down memory lane, many will nostalgically reminisce on childhoods spent riding bikes, climbing trees, and getting dirty outside amongst the fresh air.
Children aged 5 to 16 spend an average of six and a half hours a day in front of a screen, according to market research firm Childwise.
Even the tech guru, Steve Jobs said about his kids: “We limit the amount of technology at home.”
KidsCampSingapore CEO Papé:
"Outdoor play is a vital element in children's growth and healthy development.
The outdoors provide limitless potential for discovery and exploration.
It is a powerful way for kids to be truly themselves.
It confronts children with positive experiences of vitality and complexity, but imposes no agenda on them.
This is in clear contrast to the artificial stimulus from the digital entertainment where children have to follow steps to get to the next level of the game.”
Today our kids are sedentary, isolated, neglected bodies bombarded with chaotic sensory stimulations. Hard-wired for high speed, our kids are entering school struggling with self regulation and attention skills, lacking social skills as well as true activity.
How to fight this? I feel powerless...
We can follow the 4 building foundations advised by Zone In :
Move, Nature, Connect and Touch,
in line with what KidsCampSingapore offers for our kids’ long-term benefit, well-being and health!
KidsCampSingapore is a multi sports outdoor activity camp in Fort Canning!
Kids will love it and come home happily tired! From archery, to treasure hunt, football, rugby, obstacle run, rope pulling, sac run....
$350 per week.
To know more about KidscampSingapore or whatsapp: +65 9821 4902.
To Sign Up.
Multi sports outdoor activities in Fort Canning!
Kids will love it and come home happily tired! From archery, to treasure hunt, football, rugby, obstacle run, rope pulling, sac run....
$300 per week or $80 per day (9.30am-3pm from monday to friday) Feel free to ask more info. whatsapp: 9821 4902
Sign Up Now www.KidscampSingapore.com
Video of our National Day Special Event with the Parents (not available on mobile).
Lili @KidsCampSingapore.com
9821 4902
Lili @ KidsCampSingapore.com