the prekindergarten program
Outside Play
Outdoor play is essential for children’s health and well-being. The sense of peace and pleasure children experience when they take in fresh air, feel the warmth of the sun on their backs, and watch the changes in nature around them is immeasurable. The time children spend outdoors every day is just as important to their learning as their time in the classroom. Children experience a sense of accomplishment and growing competence when they spend time outdoors engaged in purposeful activities. Social skills grow as children share equipment. Children develop their gross motor skills as they run, leap, hop, jump, swing, slide, and climb. These activities allow children to take risks and try out new skills. The outdoors is a natural laboratory for scientific exploration as children observe and explore nature firsthand. Cognitive development opportunities are ample: children find and study bugs, they count plants, note patterns, and they solve problems — just to name a few examples. The next time you and your child are outside, note all of the cognitive and language learning that is happening for your child!