Children who regularly play outdoors have a stronger sense of purpose and self-fulfillment, say researchers.

Unlike when we were growing up, where we were allowed to play outside the house freely, a good number of Nigerian parents do not let their children play outside.

This is because of the fear of their safety. Nigeria is not the safe place that it once used to be.

For children who don’t play outside, new research shows that this might be detrimental to them.

According to findings from Michigan State University, children who regularly play outside have a deeper appreciation for beauty, are more creative and have more active imaginations.

Researchers found that children who spent from five to 10 hours a week outdoors have a stronger sense of self-fulfillment and purpose than those who don’t. They also reported feeling happier and were more interested in the world around them.

Fresh air, we guess is good right?

The children, who were a part of the study, reported feeling peaceful and a few even reported a belief that a superior power was what made the natural world around them. A few said  they were  amazed at the power of nature manifested in storms and other such natural phenomenon and at the  same time felt happy and  had a sense of belonging in the world.

The researchers also found that the parents of the children who expressed the highest affinity toward nature and the strongest spirituality had spent significant time outdoors during their own childhoods.

Commenting on her study, Van Wieren said that nature offers a diverse display of colors, sights and sounds, and warned about the growing amount of time children spent using technology such as computer games and watching television.

‘This is the first generation that’s significantly plugged in to a different extent and so what does this mean?’ said Van Wieren.

 

‘Modern life has created a distance between humans and nature that now we’re realising isn’t good in a whole host of ways.

 

‘So it’s a scary question: How will this affect our children and how are we going to respond?’