Isn’t it
great, the kids are playing in the mud with leaves?
I read an
article the other day about Bush Kinder in Melbourne. It was great to read
about how the kids are out playing in the park in all weathers, but also it
made me think and feel sad about the way we live.
Newsworthy
that kids’ play with sticks, logs, trees, leaves and mud, when shouldn’t that
be something that kids do every day?
The
kindergarten is based on evidence that children learn better if they have the
opportunity to play outside. Well that’s fantastic, but how about that they
might be healthier by spending time being physical more, active and having to interact
with their friends face-to-face not through a computer.
About 70% of
adults played outdoors more than indoors when they were young, this compared to
only 13% of their children (according to the article), obviously something has
gone very wrong. Children need to play outside, they need uneven surface, they
need trees and rocks to climb and they need fresh air. I was shocked when I
arrived to Australia with my little kids long time ago, and kinder and school
had “wet day” timetable. In Sweden we have a saying “There is no bad weather
only bad clothing”, which means that if it is raining during recess you had to put your rain clothes on
and go out.
I think the
bush kinder idea is fantastic, and I wish we had many more of them. To get kids
more active outside and make them realize that being active is not about being
driven to a sport activity, but actually running around outside in the back
yard and in the neighborhood too discover life.
Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta
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