Encouraging young people outdoors

 
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10th-16th May, 2021 is Mental Health awareness week - this year’s theme is Nature. The aim of the week is to inspire more people to connect with nature in new ways.

However, after the last year, getting outside has been, at times, the only option available to us all … so much so, that it can now feel like going out for ‘another walk’ isn’t sparking anyone’s imaginations or getting young people motivated!

To support this week, we’ve put together a list of the benefits of being outside, some creative suggestions and ideas for outdoor activities and some book recommendations to help make things a bit more fun and exciting and to help bring that motivation back!

Outside activities can…

  • Help young people sleep better at night after getting some fresh air.

  • Encourage a healthy lifestyle by keeping them moving!

  • Help to develop gross motor skills as they climb.

  • Become an excellent starting point for talking about nature that is all around them and how we can better take care of it and our environment.

  • Allow children the much-needed freedom to run, jump, climb and be in a wide-open space.

  • Improve their concentration, which in turn can help their performance and behaviour in school.

Outdoor activities can include:

  • Tree rubbings - brilliant fun and a way to practise and develop many skills. Can you take rubbings from more than one tree and compare the pictures?

  • Asking your child to spot or find things. e.g. can you spot something green? Can you find the biggest stone? How many flowers can you see?

  • Collecting leaves/ stones which can then be made into a picture or collage. Can you collect something for each colour of the rainbow?

  • Racing games are brilliant for burning energy. For example, who can race the quickest to the nearest tree/ fence post?

  • Making up stories about things you can spot on your walk. This can include creating characters such as ‘tree people’ or ‘Leaf Elves’ and then telling stories about what they might get up to.

  • Set-up a ‘treasure hunt’ for your young person, with some clues for them to follow or items for them to find. This could include educational elements such as maths questions or spelling.

Book recommendations:

There are a wide range of books available to help get young people interested in being outside. They offer a lot of different activities if you are feeling stuck during the holidays or at weekends. The team have picked out their favourite books and you can download these recommendations below.

 
 
Rebekah Sammut