Spring weather is here! Do you ever notice how the fresh air and sunshine seem to make you feel good? It is actually true: outdoor play, exercise in wide open spaces, and exposure to nature literally boost mood, reduce anxiety, and promote mental health. So we should all look for opportunities to be outside with our children - for their benefit and for our own. This spring, try some of these outdoor play ideas:
* Go for a nature walk. You can do this on your own sidewalk, or find a park that has a nature trail. Wrap some tape (sticky side out) on your little one's wrist, and tell them to collect nature treasures they find along the way. This will help them to notice the world around them, and can be a fun way for a parent and child to walk, talk, and connect. * Park it. Take advantage of our great community parks! Look for parks that have fun, inviting playground equipment (great for boosting gross motor skills) as well as wide open, green play spaces (great for mental health and boosting attention). * Sidewalk chalk rocks! You can use sidewalk chalk and a little creativity to playfully teach pre-academic skills, such as color, shape, and letter recognition. Draw some shapes together, then tell your child to jump on the pink shapes or the green shapes. Then tell them to jump on all the circles, or all the squares. Children will remember these things much more readily if the learning experience includes playfulness and gross motor movements. You can also take turns lying down on the sidewalk and tracing one another's outline, or drawing fun hopscotch or obstacle courses. Have fun with it! * Have a book picnic. Choose a book or two, and maybe a snack, and find a shady outdoor space to read together. The outdoor space and lack of distractions from screens and toys may boost your child's interest in the book and increase attention span. * Get your heart rate up! Try a quick game of tag, hide-and-seek, duck-duck-goose, or a simple foot race. Even if only for a few seconds at a time, a burst of exercise can do wonders for mental and physical health!
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AuthorHi, I'm Brie Krentz, and I'm the School Psychologist at HGECC. I care about the social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health of all of our children, and I believe in Conscious Discipline as a way to minimize behavior problems and to help children connect meaningfully with others. Archives
October 2021
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