为什么孩子需要户外活动

为什么孩子需要户外活动

When my children have not played outside enough, I can tell. Their energy levels ratchet up, the noise increases in the house, and they squabble incessantly. I can feel my own mood shift. I start snapping at them to be quiet, to calm down, to please move out of the kitchen where they tend to congregate.

当我的孩子们在外面玩得不够的时候，我能看出来。他们的精力水平越来越高，房子里的噪音越来越大，他们不停地争吵。我能感觉到自己的情绪在转变。我开始要求他们安静下来，冷静下来，离开他们经常聚集的厨房。

The author's children spend hours digging holes in the yard.K Martinko

So I tell them it's time to go outside. Usually they complain and try to come up with reasons for why staying in is better, but I insist. Within minutes they're out and running around, and an immediate sense of calm descends on the house. Sometimes I give them a minimum time limit, say 20 minutes, before they're allowed to come back inside, but often they forget about it once they're wrapped up in a game.

所以我告诉他们是时候出去了。通常他们会抱怨，并试图想出理由来解释为什么待在家里更好，但我坚持。几分钟后，他们就出来了，到处乱跑，一种平静的感觉立即降临到房子上。有时我给他们一个最短的时间限制，比如20分钟，他们才可以回到室内，但一旦他们沉浸在游戏中，他们往往会忘记这一点。

Kids need consistent daily outdoor play. Indoor activities are not a replacement for outdoor ones, which is why it's up to parents to insist that children get their daily dose of fresh air. There are numerous benefits to be had, some of which I'd like to share.

孩子们需要每天持续的户外活动。室内活动不能代替室外活动，这就是为什么父母坚持让孩子每天呼吸新鲜空气的原因。有许多好处，其中一些我想分享。

Physical Benefits

身体上的好处

Outdoor play gives children exercise outside of a structured group-sport environment. Give a kid a bike, a scooter, a pogo stick, a skateboard, and their heart rate will be racing in no time as they practice (and take pride in) new skills. Outdoor play builds core strength. Active kids haul sticks and logs, move rocks, lug buckets of water, and shovel dirt while building forts, designing ramps, and digging holes.

户外游戏让孩子们在一个有组织的团体运动环境之外进行锻炼。给一个孩子一辆自行车，一辆滑板车，一根弹簧单高跷，一个滑板，当他们练习新技能时，他们的心跳会很快加快(并且为之自豪)。户外运动可以增强核心力量。活跃的孩子们在建造堡垒、设计坡道和挖洞的时候拖着棍子和木头、搬石头、拖着水桶和铲土。

Pediatric physiotherapist Devon Karchut explains how big movements, like rolling, spinning, and jumping, stimulate a child's vestibular system. "This sensory system is the 'air traffic controller' or organizer for all of the other senses and influences things like attention, regulation, balance, spatial awareness, and coordination of the eye muscles." Children need to stimulate this system on a regular basis, and outdoor play allows this to happen more naturally.

儿科理疗师Devon Karchut解释了大的运动，如旋转、旋转和跳跃，是如何刺激儿童的前庭系统的。“这个感觉系统是‘空中交通管制员’或所有其他感觉的组织者，并影响注意力、调节、平衡、空间意识和眼部肌肉的协调。”孩子们需要定期刺激这个系统，而户外游戏可以让这个过程更自然地发生。

Mental Benefits

心理上的好处

Outdoor play gives children a rare chance to be in a space without fixed rules. There are fewer requirements to calm down, to be quiet, to stay clean. Outside, they're free to do anything that entertains them (within reason). They're allowed to operate apart from parental or teacher oversight, which is more conducive to imaginative play and getting into a creative flow state. Instead of hearing "don't do that" all the time, the outdoors is a place where "let's do it!" takes precedence. This is empowering.

户外游戏给了孩子们一个难得的机会去一个没有固定规则的空间。人们对冷静、安静和保持整洁的要求越来越少。在外面，他们可以自由地做任何他们感兴趣的事情(在合理范围内)。他们被允许在没有父母或老师监督的情况下进行操作，这更有利于想象力的发挥，进入创造性的流动状态。在户外，人们听到的不是“别做那件事”，而是“让我们做吧!”这是授权。

Children learn how to assess risk on their own when playing unsupervised outside. With no hovering adults to say what's safe and what's not, they try things that push their limits, but are more inclined to listen to their bodies because they know they're responsible for themselves. This can help set them up for longer-term success.

孩子们在没有人监督的情况下在户外玩耍时，会学习如何评估风险。没有成年人在身边说什么是安全的，什么是不安全的，他们会尝试挑战自己的极限，但更倾向于听从自己的身体，因为他们知道自己要对自己负责。这可以帮助他们建立长期的成功。

Educational Benefits

教育上的好处

There's so much active learning that goes on outdoors. The outdoors is like one giant sensory bin, just waiting to get unpacked. When kids are out of the house, they take the discrete facts and information they've heard in the classroom and apply it to real life, e.g. experimenting with pulleys to haul stuff into a treehouse, building a bridge across a deep hole that will support their weight, getting the right consistency of mud by mixing dirt and water, seeing how sand adds traction to an icy walkway and a sprinkling of ice melts it, how to dig a tunnel in a snowbank without it collapsing. They'll do better in school, too, after spending more time outside.

在户外可以进行很多主动学习。户外就像一个巨大的感官垃圾桶，等待着被打开。当孩子们离开家的时候，他们会把在课堂上听到的离散的事实和信息应用到现实生活中，比如用滑轮把东西拖进树屋，在一个深洞上建一座桥来支撑它们的重量，通过混合泥土和水来获得合适的泥浆稠度，观察沙子如何增加结冰通道的牵引力，少量的冰如何融化它，如何在雪堆里挖隧道而不让它坍塌。在户外多花些时间后，他们在学校的表现也会更好。

Lilian Henglein / Getty Images

Playing outside connects children to the seasons. They become aware of the changing weather and how it affects animals, plants, and soil around them. They can watch animals foraging and hoarding food in the fall, buds appearing on trees, birds building nests, raising babies, and migrating. Time spent outdoors puts children at ease with the seasons, teaching them how to dress appropriately and not to fear non-sunny weather. This in turn will make them more finely tuned to changes in the weather, and hopefully more concerned about climate change as they grow because they know what they want to protect.

在户外玩耍使孩子们与季节联系在一起。他们开始意识到天气的变化以及它如何影响他们周围的动物、植物和土壤。他们可以看到动物在秋天觅食和储藏食物，树上出现嫩芽，鸟儿筑巢，养育后代，迁徙。在户外度过的时光能让孩子们轻松地适应季节，教会他们如何得体地穿着，不要害怕没有阳光的天气。这反过来又会使他们更好地适应天气的变化，希望他们在成长过程中更关注气候变化，因为他们知道自己想要保护什么。

Outdoor play makes children happy. You'll see it when they come inside, tired and satisfied, cheeks and eyes glowing. And you, as a parent, will feel happier, too, because you've had a brief respite from the noise and the chaos. So make this a priority by designating time each day for children to play outdoors.

户外游戏使孩子们快乐。当他们走进来的时候，你会看到他们疲倦而满足，面颊和眼睛闪闪发光。作为父母，你也会感到更快乐，因为你在嘈杂和混乱中得到了短暂的喘息。所以，每天为孩子们指定户外活动的时间，把这作为首要任务。

Take them to parks and forests on weekends or after school if you can. You don't have to play with them; I often sit with a book, a coffee, or a friend, observing from afar and enjoying the break while they lead their own explorations. Spend some money on making your yard more interesting for them. Instead of buying technology and other toys for indoor enjoyment, buy a basketball net, a scooter, a shovel, materials to build forts and ramps and a mud kitchen. Your kids will get hours of enjoyment out of these things, and the benefits are far-reaching.

如果可以的话，在周末或放学后带他们去公园和森林。你不必和它们一起玩;我经常和一本书、一杯咖啡或一位朋友坐在一起，远远地观察，享受着他们带领自己探索的休息时间。花些钱让你的院子对他们来说更有趣。与其购买科技产品和其他室内娱乐玩具，不如买个篮球网、滑板车、铲子、建造堡垒和坡道的材料，以及一个泥厨房。你的孩子会从这些事情中得到几个小时的快乐，而且好处是深远的。