Do you ever watch young children running around and playing and wish that you could bottle up some of that energy? I know that I do sometimes. Children seem to have an almost unlimited supply of energy, enthusiasm, and excitement, and the main outlet for that energy is through physically active playing. Get any group of young children together and they quickly start running, jumping, climbing, and every other physical activity you can imagine.
Not only is this behavior natural for children, but it is also necessary for their normal growth and development. I do not have room here to list all the things that children learn through playing and all the ways it helps their bodies. Physical activity is necessary for proper bone and muscle development. Evidence is increasing that it is necessary for proper brain and hormonal development as well. It may help prevent obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Some aspects of ADD/ADHD, particularly in younger children, are the result of unreleased energy and the need for playing and physical activity. Free play improves children’s social interaction, problem solving skills, creativity, self-confidence, and overall emotional health.
Unfortunately, children are playing less and less, and as a result are also getting less and less exercise. This is due in part to changes in our society (both parents working outside the home, decreasing safe places for children to play in their neighborhoods, overscheduled lives) and decreasing time in schools (and even in preschools and daycare centers) for physical activity due to increasing academic demands. There are now widespread reports of schools that have eliminated recess, and many students are not required to participate in PE. Television, computers, and video games are probably the worst culprits, occupying an increasing amount of children’s free time. Rapidly rising rates of overweight and obese children, and of children with attention problems, are just a few of the problems worsened by decreasing play and physical activity in children.
Children need to play; they need physical activity, both structured and unstructured. This is one of the most important things we can do to have healthy, happy children who develop into happy, healthy adults. Parents need to be sure that children spend more time playing and being active than they do in front of a computer or television screen, and to be careful not to overschedule their lives with too many activities. Daycare centers, preschools, and schools should schedule appropriate amounts of free and structured play activities. We need to ensure that schools do not decrease or eliminate physical activities, including recess. Most importantly, we all need to be sure that children have time to be children. For more information on ways to increase children’s play and age-appropriate activities, click here.
