Fantastic Outdoor Games Enhancing Brain Development In Kids

Children today are glued to indoor games like the XBOX, video games or their PlayStation. We live in a tech-based society but it is really important that our children play out. I have encouraged my children and teenagers to take risks and I am not a helicopter parent! Outdoor games for kids teach them about leadership, about being creative and working as a team. It is important that our children get balance in their lives and this means playing outside as it helps brain development.

Outdoor games develop a child’s brain immensely as their mind is in active mode while playing these games. 

Some of the benefits of making a habit of playing outdoor games in the development of the brain are explained below.

1. Outdoor games will help children acquire social skills:

 All outdoor games involve children playing in a group. While in a group, they have to communicate, negotiate, follow the rules and many more such skills. Any imaginative game invented by the children will help the children immensely in developing their social skills. As in an imaginative game, they have to think and make a story or create the rule of the game in consultation with their playmates.

This helps in developing their communication skills, negotiation skills and many more such essential social skills. While playing, it is imperative that there is bound to be some disagreements; the way they handle the conflict and provide resolution to the disagreement will help in developing their social skills.

2. Outdoor games develop the observational skill of the children:

 Outdoor games for kids also helps in developing their observational skills. Games like I spy will make them aware of their surroundings as they have to find the objects or whatever the player has, ‘I spied’. For example, if the player says they have spied two objects in a square shape, the children would be observing their surroundings looking for the object in square shape. Likewise, in the game of hide and seek the diner has to keenly observe any movement in their surroundings to seek their friend who is hiding.

3. Outdoor games teach the students the importance of Teamwork and sportsmanship attitude:

Outdoor games or team games like football or cricket will teach the children the importance of teamwork. In order to win a game, everyone in the team has to play with each other and not against each other. The strategy they will use as a team for getting a goal requires teamwork as the ball has to be passed between the team members, and then the final goal is made. Adding to the variety of ball games, ‘Gaga Ball’ is a dynamic new addition that emphasizes agility, dodging, and striking, offering a fresh take on cooperative play and strategy.”

Outdoor games teach them that in order to succeed, collaboration will help them a lot. Team sports also teach the children the importance of sportsmanship, as it is not always possible to win every match they play. And if their team loses, then they have to accept the defeat with dignity and without being bitter and rude and be a sore loser. Most people underestimate the impact that simple outdoor activities might have on their children. As they are growing and exploring, everything has the potential to shape their attitude towards life. They can enhance both psychological and physical skills without even thinking of it. That said, including these routines into your weekend’s activities and some extra material as trampolines for a little fun would be great. Find more about it on Trampoline Flight‘s website.

4. The outdoor game helps in increasing the attention span of children:

Outdoor games usually come with their own set of rules and regulation, and children have to pay attention to know these as they want to play the game right. As playing is always fun and children mostly want to play the games right and hence, they give maximum effort in order to win the game and accordingly pay attention to all the details that are required in the game. It is a proven fact that children having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD if they have the habit of playing outdoor games, has shown good progress in their attention spans.

5. Outdoor games will help in enhancing their motor skills:

Playing any sport helps the children in improving their motor skills. While playing a game of cricket or tennis, the hand-eye and hand-feet coordination play an important role in order to hit the ball accurately. The game of catch also tests the hand-eye and hand coordination. A simple visit to the playground makes the children use a lot of movement, an action like climbing, hanging or navigating their cycles everything requires motor skills and regularly doing these movements or activities will help them improve their motor skills. 

6. Outdoor games will enhance the concentration of children.

 Every parent faces the difficulty to make their children concentrate, and every outdoor game helps the children in enhancing their concentration. A simple game of treasure hunt or scavenger hunt will help the children in their focus, as in the game they have to pay attention to the things surrounding them in order to find the treasure or hunting for the objects in the scavengers’ hunt. Sports like football also requires a lot of concentration on the players’ part, wherein the players have to concentrate on the ball to get the goal and the goalie has to concentrate on the ball so that the goal is saved.

7. Outdoor games will help to keep the children healthy:

 The outdoor activity involves a lot of running, jumping, hopping, walking; in other words, it requires a lot of physical movements. Hence, any outdoor activity done regularly will make them healthy as they are continually doing some or the other physical movements. Children burn many calories by doing these physical activities and at the same time, having fun. The chances of a child getting obese are very bleak if they are invested in playing outdoor games every day.

8. Outdoor games will help the children in thinking creatively:

 Outdoor games make children think on their feet that make them think creatively. When they play some pretend game, it uses their creative mind in order to weave a story or decide the rules and regulation of the game. While making the map of treasure hunt or scavenger hunt, that also gives their creativity a boost. Outdoor games make the children think out of the box and find the solution then and there, this provides an exercise to the brain as well to think about more creative ways to deal with the situations that they come across in any game.

9. Outdoor games will help in developing the overall personality of the children:

 Generally, children who prefer outdoor games have a better personality than the children who remain inside. Children’s communication skills are enhanced; they are more confident in talking with people around them. They learn to deal with the situation on their own, also the value of sportsmanship, discipline, leadership are instilled in them. They become a better problem solver due to their involvement in the outdoor games. Children also learn other skills like organisational skills and negotiation skills; they learn how to co-operate and also learn to handle any setback in a mature way.

10. Outdoor games teach children to think logically and analytically:

 Every outdoor game presents the child with different challenges and makes them think about how to solve it. In a game of hide and seek children are inadvertently thinking logically and analytically, they analyse the sound or movements around them. Children think where their friend might be hiding and analyse the probable place of hiding based on their friend’s previous choices of hiding places. Games like treasure hunt also test their logical and analytical thinking capability of the children.

Thus, parents should make it compulsory for their children to go out and play some outdoor games for at least an hour a day. The benefits of incorporating outdoor games are so many, and there is no exaggeration in saying that outdoor games prepare the children for life and the benefits of it are innumerable.

Now that you have all the reasons why playing outdoor games for kids is so important it’s time to give you the opportunity to win Pass the Pigs.

Win Pass the Pigs

Pass the Pigs is Amazon’s #1 travel game and has sold millions of games across the world.

The classic party game Pass The Pigs goes Super-Size. These giant inflatable pigs can bounce around the garden, house, beach or even the pool. It’s Pass The Pigs like you’ve never passed them before! Inflate your pair of porkers, throw them and see how they land. Will you get a Leaning Jowler, a Mixed Combo or will you Pig Out?

About GIANT Pass the Pigs:

• RRP £14.99
• Age 4+
• 2+ players
• Contains x2 inflatable pigs, rule book, scorecards, x2 pencils, carry bag, deflation rod and vinyl plastic repair seal

To enter complete the Gleam entry box. Closing date May 9th 2021

Pass the Pigs

Sharing is caring!