04/14/2022
This is one reason extended nature play is SO IMPORTANT for children. It's easy to think that practicing sitting for long periods will help our child be more tolerant to long periods of sitting (hello average school day) BUT there are better ways to help them prepare for school! Free play outside is necessary for all children 🌿
Register your child for outdoor preschool this fall!
https://littlesproutsnatur.wixsite.com/home
"Children’s ability to move and play are being restricted more than ever. We are trying to protect them by saying 'No climbing,' 'No running,' 'No spinning,' 'That’s too dangerous,' and 'Get down from there!' However, research shows that the drastic decline in 'risky' outdoor play in kids is creating behavior problems. By constantly hovering over kids, restricting their movement, and diminishing their time to play, we are causing more harm than good." - Angela Hanscom of TimberNook
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2013), a recent study shows that the average child spends eight hours a day in front of screens (television, video games, computers, smart phones, and so on). Older children and adolescents are spending an average of eleven hours a day in front of screens (Hanscom 2016). That’s a huge amount of time spent in front of screens, which provide little to no proprioceptive or vestibular input. In prior generations, this time was spent outdoors or in play.
When children jump, swing, spin, pick up rocks or dig in the dirt, kids are doing exactly what they need. They aren’t intentionally doing it to get hurt, act rambunctiously, worry you or get messy. They are doing it to help themselves become safer, calmer and happier kids.
Read more here:
https://cstu.io/4b8241
