Latest / Homeschool Insights - Biblical Home Education Inspiration in Under 10 Minutes! / Outdoor Play Lowers ADHD Symptoms — And Homeschoolers Can Do It Anytime - Aby Rinella
Transcript
- speaker-0: Every child now spends 30 minutes a day with unstructured play outside and seven hours a day, this statistic blows my mind every time I read it, in front of a screen. speaker-1: So what are some ways practical ways that you can do that? If you're maybe a family who is not a big outdoorsy family, your kids don't go play in the dirt. ⁓ how can you encourage that in them? What are some things that you can do? Because I I imagine now my girls are they have kind of I think a a a balance of indoor play and outdoor play, but I'm always surprised at the things that they can come up with e when they're outside. ⁓ what are some practical ways that people can instill that in their kids and help them to become creative? So I know they don't always need help being creative. speaker-0: Right, they don't. But we need to get them back to that state. I think the first thing a parent can do is really just find the passion themselves. Like, like eliminate like you said, it took you a while to get used to that. But I think one of the ways that parents can just fuel that in their kids is themselves knowing how good it is for the kid. You know, in the last two decades, ⁓ it's unbelievable the changes that we've seen in kids. It's now ⁓ the average child now spends 30 minutes a day with unstructured play outside. And seven hours a day, this statistic blows my mind every time I read it in front of a screen. Wow. so it's totally shifted in the last two decades. So we as parents kind of need to untrain that in ourselves and retrain what's best for our kids and and just educate ourselves, knowing that physically out that we're play is so beneficial for our kids. It's good for their health, it's good for their mental health. ⁓ there's less depression in it and anxiety in kids that play outside. ADHD symptoms immediately drop. Wow. In when they're outdoors. And that's why after working in the public school a lot, kids are often on ADHD medications in the school to get them to be still. But parents take them off in the summer. And that's because when they're playing outside, it's not just that they're allowed to be, you know, free, but also it lowers those symptoms. ⁓ because it's just it's a release for them to be out there and they use their creativity and they get fresh air and vitamin D. And it just, it's physically good for kids. And ⁓ the academic benefits also when they study schools that have like environmental programs or more recess, ⁓ those kids are scoring higher on tests, they're they're doing better and all across the board academically. So we as homeschool parents, ⁓ we just have the freedom to do it anytime we want. We can our kids can be outside anytime they want because it's physically, emotionally. ⁓ and mentally good for our kids. So I think when parents get on board with that, then it's gonna be easier to facilitate ways of getting our kids out there. ⁓ so I think that's probably the first step is is knowing how good it is for our kids. And then, and then how to actually do it. It it really depends on where you live. ⁓ I know not everybody lives like we do. Not everybody's gonna go spend nine days in the backcountry with their kids, but it doesn't have to be that. Honestly, it can be, you know. a community garden, just having your hands in the dirt in a community garden. Or ⁓ if you have a child that loves to read, you know, just send them outside to read. ⁓ find a stream, find a park, find somewhere outside and and take them and and do what they already love to do outside. So those are really good ways of just practically doing it. Go for walks, ride your bike. ⁓ It really does come naturally once you start doing it because you naturally feel better and you see the benefits in your kids. So so those are some practical ways, whether you're, you know, living rurally, obviously if you live rurally, it's a lot easier. But there's so many ways anywhere you live to be outside. speaker-1: This episode of Homeschool Insights is brought to you by BJU Press Homeschool, CTC Math, and the Explorer Bible for Kids. Visit the show notes to learn more about these excellent resources. And for more encouragement, listen to the Schoolhouse Rocked Podcast at Schoolhouserokt.com.