Trusting children when they play outside, letting them take risks (measured and supervised), is good for developing their coordination as well as their muscles.
While children are on vacation, Australian researchers encourage parents to let them play outside as freely as possible. Géraldine Zamansky, journalist at Health magazine on France 5 and on Saturday on France Info tells us a little more.
franceinfo: In fact, is playing very serious for the health and good development of children?
Geraldine Zamansky : Absolutely, and especially playing outdoors. This stimulates the proper growth of the body and the brain in a unique way. Many studies mention these benefits in nature, but they already exist in a square with slide, climbing course, sandbox, etc. And above all, what counts almost as much as the frame is to have a certain freedom. With the possibility of taking risks by climbing on the kind of spider’s web designed for older children, for example, without forgetting to put your hands in the ground or to dig it with the help of a pebble. Australian researchers have just surveyed parents and educators. And if the latter know the theory, they often feel unable to apply it. The fear of accidents is too present for everyone and especially for professionals in charge of children. They are even afraid of damage to clothes and protests from parents.
Is it time to insist on the importance of these explorations by trusting children?
Attention, it is obviously necessary to control the dangers, not to let them do anything, anywhere and at any age without supervision. But the trust granted itself is already beneficial, rewarding. Trying to climb alone means concentrating, developing coordination, muscles and balance with special motivation. Pr Emmanuel Flamand-Roze, neurologist at the Institut du Cerveau, the ICM, explains that feeling a positive emotion during learning increases its effect tenfold in the brain. You have to imagine it as a very complex network of neurons whose circuits improve over the course of our first years.
How can these connections be made more efficient?
You have to try to develop skills with a notion of pleasure, based on your own desire to accomplish something. So the game is an excellent framework to make the brain grow well. In addition, if there are other children or adults, it is an opportunity for equally essential interactions with sharing, respecting the rules, etc. A team from the University of Cambridge, this time, observed a link between the ability to play with friends at 3 years old and better mental health at 7 years old, for example in terms of emotional control and the ability to focus. In summary, holidays or not, playing is really very serious to grow well!
The study in detail: https://journals.plos.org