There's more to outdoor play on your swing set than just swinging back and forth.
Spend enough time reading parenting blogs – the way we do – and you'll see that there are a lot of fun, developmental activities for kids that involve swing sets.
Whether you’re a fan of vinyl or wooden swing sets, there's something on this list from The Inspired Treehouse to help your child grow and have fun.
Your children are home from school. They’re out on the wooden swing set in your backyard, or engaged in some sort of outdoor play.
The school day may be done, but in a way, they’re still in the classroom. That’s because spending time outdoors helps them learn and grow.
“Green environments are an essential component of a healthy human habitat,”: says Dr. Frances Ming Kuo, an internationally-recognized expert in the relationship between nature and human health.
She uses the term “Vitamin G” (as in “green”) to illustrate how important it is to spend time outdoors. Just like vitamins A or D (which you also get from spending time outside), being in nature is something we need in regular doses.
Reading is fundamental.
It's an idea that's so important that there's a non-profit – RIF – based on those three words.
And for some kids, reading is not only fundamental, it's also fun. They're happy to spend a few hours getting lost in the worlds of Harry Potter or Harriet the Spy. Some of them read these books and go on to create stories of their own.
But for other kids, reading is a chore. But there are ways to motivate your child to read while they're still young, including making it part of their regular outdoor play time.
We turned to the British website Nurture Store, the parenting blog Childhood 101 and Growing Book by Book, an online guide for encouraging literacy, to get some ideas for outdoor games designed to get kids interested in reading and writing.
You look out the window and see your child engaged in outdoor play, and all seems right with the world. They’re having the time of their lives, and you can’t imagine anything bothering them.
But as we’ve noted in past outdoor play articles, kids get stressed. They get worried and they get down.
And while no one can be upbeat all the time, there’s something to be said for teaching your kids to be optimistic. It can help them now, and later in life.
