Natural settings provide young children with the ultimate playground. Learn about the best places to take your toddler as well as activity ideas, health benefits and practical tips to enjoy the outdoors in any season.
Benefits of Nature Play
Interacting with nature boosts children’s physical, intellectual and emotional well-being. Here’s how outdoor play facilitates healthy development.
Cognitive
The natural world offers endless learning opportunities. Through exploration, discovery and rich sensory experiences, toddlers tap into their creativity and inquisitiveness. Time spent outdoors is also found to improve concentration. lengthen attention span and encourage healthy risk-taking.
Physical
Activities like climbing trees, collecting seeds and walking across logs build fine and gross motor skills, strengthen muscles and improve balance and agility. If your child displays extreme lethargy or weakness with any activity, ask your pediatrician to check for iron deficiency. Wellements Iron Drops can help increase levels.
Emotional
Nature’s relaxing vibe reduces anxiety and promotes positivity. Through outdoor play, children can release energy and build resilience and confidence.
Social
Most young toddlers engage in parallel play rather than interacting directly with peers. As they get older, they engage more with others and begin to develop important skills such as sharing, collaboration, empathy and conflict resolution.
Safe Outdoor Areas For Your Toddler
Parks, playgrounds, hiking trails, woods, creeks, and even your backyard are invaluable sources of entertainment and discovery. To ensure safety while being outdoors at parks, woods, playgrounds, and hiking trails, use common sense and closely supervise your child at all times. Avoid hazardous spots, such as:
- Deep or fast-moving waters
- Areas with poison ivy
- Steep hills or cliffs
- Loose or slippery boulders
Make Your Backyard Safe
To make your backyard a safe spot, ensure that you have a fence installed with the help of a Fence contractor in Rockwall, TX (if that is where you are situated) around the perimeter. It can act as the first line of defense against unsupervised exits or access. Simply put, it can keep your children away from potential dangers like vehicles on the road and strangers.
Fences can keep your child from going outside, but it has limitations. Certain wildlife such as rodents, squirrels, and bats can still make their way to your backyard and make it their home. Such creatures not only pose a physical threat to your kids, but they might also be carrying dangerous diseases which they could pass on to your little ones. Therefore, it is important to make sure you contact a pest removal or Bat Removal service and remove any potential wildlife threats you find in your garden. That way, you can let your kids enjoy the backyard without worry.
Fun Nature Activities
You’d be amazed at the fun you can have with little more than a few rocks and twigs. Here are 10 ideas for things to do in nature:
- Identify animals.
- Start a nature box.
- Go on a hike.
- Do art projects using items found in nature.
- Plant a garden.
- Pick fruits and vegetables.
- Build a fort.
- Watch the clouds.
- Roll in the grass.
- Splash through puddles.
Tips To Enjoy Nature Year-Round
Nature play is not just a fair-weather event. With the right clothing and supplies, you can have fun outside rain, shine or snow. Here’s how to gear up for any season:
- Always apply sunscreen. The sun’s UV rays are powerful even in cold weather. Little ones can enjoy the benefits of vitamin d drops that supplement their diets.
- Bring water bottles everywhere to make sure your tot stays hydrated.
- Dress in layers in cold weather. Start with a base layer made from moisture-wicking material like polyester. Put on a mid-layer to retain heat followed by an outer layer to shield your child from the elements. Use a wool hat, gloves, and socks with waterproof boots for maximum warmth and protection.
- In hot weather, stick with light, loose, and quick-drying clothing. Put on close-toed, breathable shoes.
- Monitor the weather so that you don’t end up going out just as it is about to rain, or if the humidity outside is too much for your child. With the most reliable weather station on the market (which could be found by reading reviews here), this becomes a fairly easy task.
- When you know exactly how much it’s going to rain, you can get ready for mud puddles with a rain suit, wool or synthetic socks, and waterproof boots. Skip the umbrella; it will limit your child’s movement.
Spending time in nature offers many health benefits. Take every opportunity to support your child’s growth and development. Get outdoors and check with your pediatrician about giving your toddler organic vitamins made from simple, natural ingredients.