No kidding, it’s the great outdoors

August 20, 2009 by  
Filed under Related Interests

Children should be encouraged to play outdoors as it not only helps to stimulate their senses, but also gets them close to nature.

Elizabeth believes parents should consciously make time for their children to have outdoor play.

Elizabeth believes parents should consciously make time for their children to have outdoor play.

THERE was a time when evenings were synonymous with the sounds of excited children at play and traditional games were the norm. But these days, ask a child about a game and he’s more likely to name a computer game. Forget climbing trees or wading through ponds, just having time to be outdoors is a luxury few children enjoy. But depriving children of outdoor time means stripping them of the most wonderful environment for their development — nature. Nature provides a rich and stimulating environment for play and depriving children of the chance to engage with nature means taking away a valuable component in their early development, said Nallini Swaminathan, president of the Selangor Association of Play and Expressive Therapy (Sapet).

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