Culture and Diversity: Analyzing Benefits of Outdoor Play for Kids

This essay provides an analysis of an article focusing on the significance of outdoor activities for children, particularly within the context of Australian culture and diversity. The article highlights the increasing health concerns among Australian children due to decreased physical activity and increased screen time, leading to issues like obesity, myopia, and depression. It argues for the restoration and creation of natural settings to encourage outdoor play, emphasizing the physical and mental benefits derived from such activities. The essay further explores the varying viewpoints of taxpayers regarding the responsibility for children's health and discusses expert opinions on the importance of outdoor sports and play in promoting physical and psychological well-being. It concludes that prioritizing outdoor play can significantly contribute to the healthy development of children, both physically and psychologically, fostering crucial social and communication skills.

Running head: CULTURE AND DIVERSITY
ARTICLE ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The restoration as well as the creation of the various natural settings thus should be
prioritized in order to help in the development of the tendency of the kids to play outside their
homes (Sharma-Brymer & Bland, 2016). The following essay deals with the discussion of an
article on the importance of the outdoor activities of the children. The essay opens with the
summarization of a given article and proceeds with the discussion of the issue in light of the
views that are shared by the experts in the field.
The article by Kylie Lang entitled “Putting nature first pays off for kids” argues that the
Australian population might benefit from the implementation of the matters pertaining to the
play activities of the children in the lap of nature. The article majorly deals with the restoration
as well as the creation of the various natural settings that might help in the development of the
tendency of the kids to play outside their homes (Lang, 2014). The article states that the children
living in Australia are observed to have been developing several diseases and other health
conditions that might be attributed to the low levels of the physical activities of the children. The
major problems that have been arising due to the low levels of the physical activities among the
children are the medical conditions that have been relating to the obese nature of the children, the
development of the myopic vision among the kids.
The lack of the outdoor activities has also depicted a great influence on the mental
conditions of the children. The children are known to be suffering from depression in the several
matters. This depression of the children has been leading to several medical as well as
psychological concerns that might trouble the child during the childhood phase of their lives.
These troubles are also at times known to be troubling the children in their adulthood days
(O’Neill et al., 2017). The author through this article tends to highlight the benefits of the
outdoor activities among the children. The author suggests a number of different games that

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require the children to team up with their friends and peer groups in order to participate in the
various games and mission hunts that help them in the development of the physical as well as the
metal capabilities. The children who have been participating in the outdoor activities are known
to be physically more fit than those who are known to be maintaining their stay indoors.
The author of the article also sheds light on the varying views of a certain section of the
concerned taxpayers of the nation. The author states that the viewpoint of the various taxpayers
concentrate on the fact that the taxes that are paid by the nationwide residents should not be
utilized in order to suffice for the duties of the parents of the given children. This section of the
residents of Australia state that the parents of the concerned kids should be held responsible for
the emotional, mental and the physical health of the concerned children (Jones et al., 2016). The
nation should bear a lesser amount of the responsibility for the upcoming generation while the
major part of the duty should be maintained by the parents of the concerned child.
The experts on the development of children in their childhood and adolescent years state
that the children should be encouraged to take part in the various matters that are related to the
outdoor activities. These activities might include the outdoor sports like cricket, football,
basketball and other such activities. The outdoor activities help the concerned student in the
development of the physical attributes and also helps in the development of the prevention in the
several health issues that might arise from the extremely low levels of the physical activities that
are common in the children of the modern era (Soga & Gaston, 2016). The experts on the matters
suggest that the parents and the guardians of the concerned children should encourage them in
the several play activities that need the children to move outside from the comfort of the couches
at home. The outdoor games help the students help them to deal with the development in their
health as well as the physical attributes.

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The researches in the matters suggest that the children who have been majorly involved
in the indoor activities develop several health conditions both in the physical matters as well as
the psychological matters. The researches also suggest that a greater exposure to electronic
media devices have a derogatory impact on the vision of the children as well as the development
of the brain in kids. The indoor activities also lead to the deficiency of major vitamins like
Vitamin D in growing children (Henniger, 2017). The deficiency of these vitamins might lead to
the dire medical conditions within the given child and might impair them for their entire life
time. The experts suggest that the educators should be encouraged to conduct several sessions
covering a certain section of the subject in the natural settings (Edwards et al., 2015). They must
encourage the involvement of the students in these physical activities by arranging treasure
hunts, creative activities like the hunt missions. These activities are instrumental in arresting the
interest of the children (Klein, Türk & Roth, 2018). This helps the children to develop their
creativity as well as the social skills that are required in order to develop the communication
skills within the concerned children. The educators are therefore advised to implement various
outdoor sessions that might help in the development of the personality as well as the positive
attitude among the concerned children.
Thus, from the above discussion it might be concluded that the outdoor play activities of
the children help in the development of the psyche of the students. The children who have been
participating in the outdoor activities are known to be physically more fit than those who are
known to be maintaining their stay indoors. The restoration as well as the creation of the various
natural settings thus should be prioritized in order to help in the development of the tendency of
the kids to play outside their homes. This in turn would lead to the development of the children
both physically and psychologically.

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References
Lang, K. (2014). Putting nature first pays off for kids. [online] Global-factiva-
com.ez.library.latrobe.edu.au. Retrieved 17 September 2018 from https://global-factiva-
com.ez.library.latrobe.edu.au/du/article.aspx
Soga, M. & Gaston, K.J., (2016). Extinction of experience: the loss of human–nature
interactions. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14(2), 94-101.
Edwards, N.M., Myer, G.D., Kalkwarf, H.J., Woo, J.G., Khoury, P.R., Hewett, T.E. & Daniels,
S.R., (2015). Outdoor temperature, precipitation, and wind speed affect physical activity
levels in children: A longitudinal cohort study. Journal of Physical Activity and
Health, 12(8), 1074-1081.
O’Neill, J.R., Dowda, M., Benjamin Neelon, S.E., Neelon, B. & Pate, R.R., (2017). Effects of a
new state policy on physical activity practices in child care centers in South
Carolina. American journal of public health, 107(1), 144-146.
Jones, R.A., Okely, A.D., Hinkley, T., Batterham, M. & Burke, C., (2016). Promoting gross
motor skills and physical activity in childcare: A translational randomized controlled
trial. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 19(9), 744-749.
Henniger, M.L., (2017). Free-Play Behaviours of Nursery Schoolchildren in an Indoor and
Outdoor Environment. In In celebration of play (100-118). Routledge.
Sharma-Brymer, V. & Bland, D., (2016). Bringing nature to schools to promote children’s
physical activity. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 955-962.

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Klein, D., Türk, S. and Roth, R., (2018). Outdoor Psychomotor Activities: Bringing Children to
Nature. Advances in Physical Education, 8(02), 246.