ECCDD101A: The Role of Outdoor Activities in Child Development

This essay delves into the significance of outdoor activities for the mental and physical development of toddlers and pre-schoolers. It explores the challenges and risks associated with these activities while emphasizing their crucial role in cognitive, social, emotional, and motor skill development. The essay examines current beliefs, research, and approaches to providing challenging outdoor environments, highlighting the importance of incorporating risky activities to foster resilience and self-regulation. It discusses how outdoor play enhances children's awareness, problem-solving skills, and social interactions, while also touching upon the impact of government initiatives and the importance of parental guidance in ensuring children's safety and overall well-being. The essay also highlights how outdoor activities enhance their creativity, independence and life skills.

Running Head: OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
Outdoor activities for children
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1OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
Outdoor activities can be used for the mental development of toddlers and pre-
schoolers, however there are many unknown aspects of these activities which can be
considered to be highly challenging and risky for children and can even detrimentally affect
their health. The contribution of outdoor activities in the mental and physical development of
toddlers and pre-schoolers can be considered highly uncertain. These outdoor activities have
been known to cause detrimental effects mainly on the physical health of the toddlers and
pre-schoolers given the risks which accompany these activities. However, these activities can
be highly beneficial for the cognitive, social, emotional, motor, speech as well as language
development of the child (Little, 2017). Thus to help in reducing the negative impacts of
outdoor activities, regulatory parental restrictions are usually imposed to help reduce the
incidence of accidents that are often noted to occur in such cases. Increased risks of these
cases have led to parents limit the outdoor exposure of their child which is deemed dangerous
to them. However it has been studied how important, these risky outdoor activities are for the
mental, social and physical development of the child. The paper will thus talk about the
different challenges faced by the toddlers and pre-schoolers while playing outdoors, as well
as the reason why it is crucial for them to indulge in outdoor activities (Drenowatz et al.,
2013). This essay will focus on the current ideas, beliefs and approaches to providing
challenging outdoor environments for children, current research on how to achieve physical
development of children from risky activities, as well as the importance and value of
incorporating risky activities in the play routine for children for their development.
Children have been observed to be more inclined towards challenging and risky
activities. As it were, kids look for testing and hazardous types of play despite the fact that, it
is firmly associated with the sentiment of dread and thrill, and the probability of being hurt.
Early child advocates have observed that kids never again have free and customary access to

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sensible hazard and experience to create flexibility and self-guideline have raised concern.
What exactly degree one ought to manage in kids' play is a continuous discussion around the
globe between government officials, guardians and individuals working inside childcare.
Meetings with kids have demonstrated that youngsters take part in dangerous play to
encounter positive feelings, for example, fun, delight, rush, pride and fearlessness (Dadvand
et al., 2014).
In the event that the kid doesn't prevail with regards to dealing with the hazard, it
could bring about unpleasant and negative encounters, for example, fear, uneasiness, and
damage (Llyod, Truong & Gray, 2018). The degree of rush should be high to have the option
to encounter the extraordinary positive invigoration; the more ace achieved in startling and
exciting hazard, more is the positive sentiment in the child (Dadvand et al., 2014).
Youngsters see and decipher their condition dependent on their capacities. This
implies youngsters translate their surroundings in the light of what they can do there and how
they can utilize the ecological highlights to make play (Yıldırım & Akamca, 2017). Along
these lines, nature with its characteristics manages particular kinds of play. This translation of
the play condition is novel to every person, and relies upon the youngster's individual body
size, quality, aptitude, fearlessness and dread (Yıldırım & Akamca, 2017).
The emphasis on toddler and child security has expanded fundamentally especially in
locations for recreational activities for children like play areas, kindergartens as well as
school and playgrounds. Security enactment for youngsters' play surroundings is likewise
affecting what play situations we offer to the kids (Masters & Grogan, 2018). Preschool is a
period during which kids have their first encounters of school. Learning conditions
accommodated preschool youngsters ought to improve them as far as parts of advancement
and persuade them to investigate. Open-air learning happens when exercises that are largely

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educated in a homeroom, happen in the outside. In outside learning, kids learn in bonafide
environment. Inside elementary schools, learning in school grounds and close by areas
empowers kids to associate with their nearby areas in the neighbourhood. Spot based
instruction is the way toward utilizing the nearby network and condition as a beginning stage
to show ideas in language expressions, arithmetic, social examinations, science, and different
subjects over the educational plan. Underscoring hands-on, genuine learning encounters, this
way to deal with instruction expands scholastic accomplishment, enables understudies to
create more grounded connections to their locale, upgrades understudy's gratefulness for the
characteristic world, and makes an elevated responsibility to filling in as dynamic,
contributing residents.
In the recent years, especially in the year 2018, the Australian government invested
additional funds in developing and promoting the New Child care package to help make
significant changes in the early child care. Child care in Australia has been thriving, with
about 1.57 million childcare centres in the country. They have focused on different skills of
children to help improve their services with respect to the chosen skills and their response to
them. Considering one of the major skills that ensures the proper development of children is
the physical development, including the, motor and cognitive skill development. Even though
according to the recent researches conducted on the physical growth, heath and skills, an
accurate account on the development and evolution of the importance of physical skills in the
lives of children is yet to be evaluated. However, there have been different accounts of the
strategies and situations which help in the development of the physical health and well-being
of children.
Current researches have been significant in highlighting the importance and
contribution of the risk activities in the physical development of children. Outdoor activities
under the supervision of parents, pre-schoolers and toddlers have been observed to foster

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significant progress in the physical, cognitive and motor skills. Even though in the recent
years there has been a significant decline in the incorporation of risky activities and plays due
to the introduction of internet and social media in the lives of toddlers and pre-schoolers as
well. Nowadays, they are seen to be more in front of television screens and laptops rather
than in playgrounds.
However, even though there has been a significant decline in risky play of children,
the importance of these challenging activities have been highlighted in the recent years. Thus,
the government has been investing on childcare with creative recreational facilities and
services to help the recent young generation build their immunity as well as their skill sets.
Other than allowing children develop immunity from different pathogens at an early
age, challenging outdoor activities enable them to inhale fresh oxygen as well as help them
avail enough exposure to natural sunlight which has been known to indirectly impact their
physical and cognitive development- generate Vitamin D skeletal as well as muscle health,
crucial for increase bone strength, improve eye health and in turn help in improving their
vision (Bento, 2017). Children engaging increased physical activities have been observed to
have not developed respiratory diseases like asthma, different allergies, speech problems,
mental impairments as well as metabolism issues (WHO, 2019).
It can also impact the emotional and mental status and development of children,
which will indirectly impact their physical health. Research has shown that children have
been able to assess the consequences of their action, are more aware of their surroundings as
well as possess the ability to interact and socialize with other children of different age groups,
by going to playgrounds and taking part in risky plays (Gordon Biddle at el, 2013).

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Educational institutions, parents as well as experiences help guide the mental and
physical development of children. However, toddlers and pre-schoolers generally do not
respond well to verbal instructions, but have been seen to respond well to visual aids as well
as learn from their own experiences and activities (Booren, Downer & Vitiello, 2012).
Thus, even though there are several incidences that have reported how risky and
challenging the outdoor environment and the choices of outdoor activities are on the toddlers
and pre-schoolers, it also highlights the different skills that it helps develop in toddlers and
pre-schoolers before they attend educational institutions (Cattuzzo et al., 2016).
Considering that the immune, nervous, digestive as well as reproductive systems of
the children are under developed when it compared to the adults, the children can face several
risky situations which can hamper this developmental process. However it is difficult to
predict the effect each risky incident might have on the development process of children, due
to the high uncertainty of their response and reaction patterns of exposure. Children are often
found to have little or almost no control over their external environment. They are also
unaware of the different risks and challenges one might face in particular situations and might
find it difficult to cope with the consequences of such actions (Dadvand et al., 2014).
Risk factors include physical injuries, bruising, mental trauma, air, water as well as
noise pollution and diseases can detrimentally affect the health of the children. However,
these can help develop their critical thinking, cognitive as well as behavioural aspects, which
can further help them in the future. Even if the different outdoor environment risk factors like
increased pollution, diseases and more could be prevented by reducing the exposure of
children to risky environmental features, the imminent risk of physical harm and disease can
also be found in indoor recreational activities which are deemed safer (Dadvand et al., 2014).

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Outdoor activities have been observed to have improved the overall awareness of
children. Taking part in risky activities, tend to develop efficient motor skills and senses in
children. Helps the toddlers and pre-schoolers have a perception of what should be done and
what can cause harm to them, before they are taught by their parents or educational
institutions (Harper, 2017). Thus, they can assess the risk or challenges they will face before
executing or carrying out an activity.
They become increasingly aware about their capabilities and are often seen to
improve the amount of control they have on their body and can also help improve their
coordination and balance. Even though playing outdoors with no parental guidance can be
detrimental in some cases, they teach these toddlers and pre-schoolers the consequences of
their actions. The mistakes they make while playing outdoors, can increase their persistence
and resilience and also their physical abilities.
Risky outdoor activities often can be seen to help the toddlers and pre-schoolers
develop problem solving and management skills, which can be highly crucial later in their
life. Outdoor activities can help develop the creative thinking of the children, as outdoor
activities are not limited or have different constraints like indoor activities (Bento & Dias,
2017).
The development of these different skills increases and improves their overall social
and physical abilities, making them more confident and independent. These activities help
nurture their curiosity and teach them important life skills and also aid in further nurturing
and developing them. The neurological system of children becomes accustomed with the
varied amounts of sensory inputs and can help develop other skills on the basis of their
responses and reactions to these stimuli.

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Thus, even while executing basic activities like running, riding a bike, crawling,
climbing; children tend to learn and have new learning experiences. Outdoor activities often
allow the scope of experiencing new situations as they are often not bound with limits and
constraints. The more they learn from these experiences, the more they become aware of
their surroundings and the consequences of their actions and thus can in turn reduce their own
risk of physical harm.
Another skill that outdoor activities can improve is their social skills. Given the
inclination of toddlers and pre-schoolers towards risky play, these activities tend to act as a
common ground which helps facilitate the process of socialisation among them, allowing
them to help develop their social skills. Playgrounds and schools are the best facilitators of
socialisation among the said population. This increases their ability to interact and helps them
with understanding and assessing different situations as well as improves their speech
(Chignall, 2018).
These outdoor activities also help maintain the physical development of the toddlers
and pre-schoolers as well as can help maintain their physical fitness, preventing them from
gaining excess weight, which could give rise to various chronic diseases at an early age.
Outdoor activities have been major contributors for developing the motor and cognitive skills
of children. However, in recent years with the introduction of internet and social media, only
a limited population of toddlers and pre-schoolers are seen to spend quality time on
playgrounds (Chignall, 2018).

8OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
Children have a higher set of curiosity than adults. Thus, children are often found to
test their abilities and limits by incorporating different challenging and authentic outdoor
activities in the routine. These activities even though has been deemed detrimental in some
extreme cases, can be seen to greatly contribute to the development process of their skill set.
It helps the toddler and pre-schoolers gain balance and control over their activities. This can
further help in not only the physical and emotional but also mental development of the
children.
Both the benefits as well as the risks of the outdoor activities cannot be disregarded.
Hence, to avail the benefits of the activities and prevent any incidence of detrimental effects
on the toddlers and the pre-schoolers, effective measures of risk management are required to
be employed (Barbieri & Zaccagni, 2013). This will ensure a balanced approach towards both
recreation as well as learning. Thus, parents are required to ensure that they provide enough
freedom to their children in exploring different experiences and activities while imposing
certain constraints which will not hamper their learning experience but will make it safer for
them. Creative childcare services and pre-schools incorporating initiative like adventure
playgrounds and creative spaces which could help provide the children to develop their skill
set at a controlled and safe environment. The adventure playgrounds incorporate the use of
play houses, shallow water bodies like ponds or pools for kids, rope climbing facilities, sand
pits, building materials, bouncy mats along with the basic playground equipment.

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