Benefits of Outdoor Play

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At The Grove Academy we place a high importance on providing a large, safe, natural and FUN outdoor environment for our children to play in. A space where children can run, jump, slide, shout, climb, ride, explore, kick, throw enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

With the long and fun list of outdoor play equipment found at each of our centres, the possibilities for play and development are endless. Children can climb the fort and pretend they are pirates for a day, or jump around on our  trampolines and try to reach for the sky, or they can race different balls down the slide to discover which one goes down the fastest.

But besides fun, there are countless other benefits of outdoor play for your child:

Physical

The first and most obvious benefit is that outdoor play is great for their general health and wellbeing.

• Outdoor play helps exercise little muscles, strengthen growing bodies and build stamina.
• It is invaluable and essential in helping develop fine/gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
• It also helps children learn about their bodies and their physical abilities.

Developmental

Outdoor play has so much more to offer than just physical benefits as it also engages and strengthens little minds.

• It develops social skills including spatial awareness, cooperation and communication as children play and interact in open, free and unstructured spaces.
• It also develops life skills such as independence and resilience as they learn to manage risks and face their fears.
• Nature engages all the senses and has no bounds when it comes to imagination. So it provides the ideal environment for unique and enjoyable lessons which activate thinking outside the box and encourages creativity and curiosity.

Nature

Outdoor play also helps your child connect with nature and the environment around them.

• It allows children to learn countless new things about this big wide world around them. How do plants grow? Why does this sand always stick to my skin? What happens when you pour water on the ground after a hot day?