Why children need outdoor play. Eleanor explains...

Outdoor play excites the senses! Not only our traditional senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste but also proprioception, think of body awareness, the sensations we receive from our muscles and joints, and the vestibular sense that includes balance and spatial orientation. Play that involves ‘just right’ challenges including running, jumping, climbing, making forts, tinkering, designing obstacle courses to name a few activities is essential for children’s development of strength, coordination, gross/fine motor skills, cognition and self-regulation. Active play fosters creativity, imagination, problem solving and enhances confidence and social connections as well as life long friendships.

In Occupational therapy we speak of the kinesthetic sense or the ability to know accurately the positions and movements of one’s skeletal joints. Kinesthesis refers to sensory input that occurs within the body. Postural and movement information are communicated via sensory systems by tension and compression of muscles in the body. The kinesthetic sense is processed by the entire nervous system. Signals from our brain and spinal cord are transmitted to the rest of our body. Play is a child’s occupation and is essential for physical growth, socialization, cognition and emotional intelligence.

Amazeing Acres Adventure Playland offers limitless outdoor play so come explore with us today!