I was very interested to stumble upon a story listing Children’s Top 10 Outdoor Activities. The results were arrived at by surveying 2,000 UK parents with children aged 6-10, along with their children.
For me, one of the most interesting findings of the survey (commissioned by the cheese brand, Dairylea) was that for 57% of children ‘just running free’ was the best way to play outdoors, with 43% of them wishing they could do it more often. Three quarters of the children felt happiest when undertaking unstructured play.
I smiled when reading the top 10, because so many of the activities were those that I have seen my granddaughter Daisy enjoy, and which I have covered here on the blog.
The top 10 outdoor activities were as follows:
- Running free
- Hide and seek
- Exploring
- Playing a sport (e.g. with a bat and ball)
- Playing Tag
- Climbing trees
- Paddling in water
- Making sandcastles
- Splashing in puddles
- Rolling down hills
I think I’ve seen Daisy enjoy all of these activities at some point and have been invited to join her for many of them – including ‘rolling down hills’!
Outdoor exploration, whether on her local streets or in nearby green space – has always been one of Daisy’s passions. In the past we’ve added a fun twist by making these excursions a listening walk or a smartphone safari, but the main thing is that they are always child-led.
The most fascinating aspect of Daisy’s unstructured outdoor play is that she collects so many natural objects that she finds interesting. These can be used for little art projects or simply displayed for enjoyment and appreciation.
Rockpools and minibeasts
Daisy has also become a skilled minibeast spotter during her excursions. I first blogged about this when she was much smaller, but she remains very attentive to these tiny creatures!
During a recent holiday she and some other friends spent a lot of time moving and monitoring the nearby snails on a shaded wall, and on a recent weekend walk with some grownups, Daisy made sure to stop the group so that everyone could observe a tiny woodlouse that she’d spotted on the path!
Finally, I also wasn’t surprised to see sandcastles and paddling on the list, because Daisy has always loved the beach with a passion, including rock pooling.
This is an excellent list that really resonated with me. It’s worth making time for such activities – especially for the ones that require no planning and no structure at all!
Granny Smith says…
I’ve noticed that after outdoor play and activities Daisy has a good night’s sleep…
Granny Smith's Diary 