Thursday, November 14, 2013

Five Great Outdoor Activities for Children

Exposing your children to outdoor activities is a great way to supplement their classroom education as well as give you the opportunity to spend time together and have a good time. There are numerous outdoor activities that are fun, yet safe enough for children and will not require complicated outdoor gear.Topping our list are gardening, picnic, walking, swimming, biking, and nature activities such as bird watching.Gardening offers great benefit for children that includes exercise, stress reduction and boosting their self-esteem and confidence especially when they see that the plants that they have planted starts to grow. In terms of outdoor gear, the activity requires very little other than the basic gardening tools such as shovel, hoes, pails where you put the water and protective gears such as hat and gloves.Biking as a form of exercise is gaining popularity around the world today. Its health benefits to adults as well as to kids are the same. However, emotionally, biking gives children self-confidence, a sense of independence and teaches them the observance of traffic rules and travel habits that they bring with them until they grow up. Biking requires minimum outdoor gear other than the outdoor clothing. These of course are the bike and the helmet that are also not as expensive and hard to find.Swimming is another outdoor activity for children that require little effort in terms of outdoor gear but high on benefits. Swimming promotes physical development, develops endurance, enhances flexibility and with proper supervision, injury-free. All the outdoor gear that children need for swimming, especially if it's on the pool are the swimming attire, goggles and floaters.Children may be hesitant at first to jump into the water, but with proper motivation, your child will be wading his way across the pool in no time at all. When compared to the pool, the beach offers a wide variety of outdoor activities for the children. They would need the same outdoor gear but they have a wide range of interesting things to do, such as building a sand castle to gathering shells.Ice skating is quite popular as a winter sport, and timely as December is fast approaching. Why not start your kids young with ice skating? In terms of gear, the skate is the most expensive equipment. Make sure that they fit snuggly to avoid injuries. Since you'll be skating on ice, a suitable garment is a must. It must be warm enough to allow blood to circulate throughout the body. A word of warning though, never leave your child alone for a minute in the ice.Walking is the most simple, less expensive and relatively safe outdoor activity for children. The outdoor gear that you would need is just a good pair of walking shoes, a good pair of socks and appropriate clothes as dictated by the weather. The views that your child will see along the way depending on where you walk will greatly enhance the experience.Outdoor activities for children need not necessarily be physically strenuous. The gadgets and equipment for these simple and common activities are available in almost all outdoor gear shops or online. Most often, it's the presence of the parents that make these outdoor activities most enjoyable.