The outdoor games not only help children to get rid of surplus calories, but also to absorb vitamin D. Besides, these games are beneficial to both mental and social development for kids.
Pass the ball to each other, listening to their favourite music – a great way to develop cooperation and teamwork! Hopscotch for balance; treasure hunts for questioning and problem-solving; developing flexibility, imagination, rational and creative thinking through Capture the Flag variations.
Teamwork
Games played outdoors is a wonderful ways for our children to cultivate and practice their teamworking skill – making new friends, communicating and working with each other become the key to success while encouraging teamwork, inclusion a friendly competitive spirit. For example, in a group scavenger hunt, members of a team must collaborate on finding solutions to clues and reaching other objectives within a set period of time – this type of outdoor game can nurture and cultivate problem solving creativity and team work skills while it may be played anywhere!
Human knot is a funny outdoor teambuilding game. Players stand in a circle then put their hands out in front of them to catch a hand not directly to their left or right before they untangle themselves without letting anyone else’s hand go – this activity helps build group members’ trust, active listening and their cooperation.
Connect Four is a good outdoor game to excercise thinking strategically. To play it, divide into two even teams. On a win, a player has to line up four like coloured discs horizontally, vertically or diagonally. This demands of planning, critical thinking and competition among players, which is easy on one’s body.
Social Interaction
Playing outdoors offers children SEL skill development, such as working with others to do tasks such as co-operative ball games where children need to learn teamwork and also learning how to play fairly and encourage their teammates. Other SEL skills involve learning how to galvanise effort to overcome challenges, release frustration or disappointment in a healthy way or developing problem-solving skills, such as how to avoid flags in prison games, or how to devise a strategy either as part of a team or alone to win at a particular game.
Now there are all sorts of team-building activities: tag, freeze tag and so on. These require good sportsmanship, risk-aware behaviour without risk-taking behaviour, respect with peers, and of course, the requisite social skills, negotiating fun might even consist of team bocce ball, where the strategic thrill of the throw might be juxtaposed with silly trash-talk between teammates.
Cognitive Development
Communal outdoor games are useful for children to improve cognition. Playing helps the improvement of children’s ability to solve problems as they need to iterate the way of playing and what’s next. Furthermore, outdoor play aids the guidance of children’s mastery of logic of rules or a sense of time, space and gravity.
Games such as tag or hide-and-seek that are part of the tradition of outdoor play demand much more in-the-moment critical thinking and negotiation between players (agreeing who gets to be ‘it’, where each person’s safe spots are, what constitutes being caught and so on).
Another fun outdoor recreation is to play with sidewalk chalk: children can practise their writing and other skills while still getting fresh air. Or simply play musical chairs: when the music stops, the last person still seated gets eliminated – variations, such as hopping on one foot or doing 10 pushups, will serve to increase the duration of the game. You can also add in a new dimension by playing capture the flag between two teams, separated by a base/flag.
Physical Activity
Playing games outside make sure that the athletes experience physical activity, socialise with their friends, develop their teamwork and strategy, relieve their stress and tension, at the same time find the emotional expression by the tension-relieving, without being distracted by the weird things that have occurred outside of the game by focusing on the game and build their own world.
Soccer, baseball and football are typical outdoor games, providing individuals with some physical activities. For example, baseball may be classified as a batting game wherein two opposing teams can practice their skills by hitting or catching balls. Such games typically hold team spirit and help players to stick together. As well as these games, Connect Four and croquet can provide concentration and strategic thinking, which may be helpful as Zhu and his colleagues point out: Children benefit from moderate competitive sport as it improves their mental concentration, stimulates their physical activities, and helps them to socialize with others. Croquet, for example, is a lawn game that can be played between two oppositional teams of either four or six players using mallets to hit balls through wickets that were previously designated on a croquet court. This game starts with players hitting their balls through a series of hoops with black and white alternating red and blue coloring. Therefore, the game progresses as players have to make it through rest of their hoops as they move further along the court. Furthermore, croquet may also provide some exercise that stimulates people’s strategic thinking, similar to Connect Four. This game has similarities with golf as players must hit their wooden balls through a designated course. However, each Connect Four player has a specific hoop to hit into while attempting to inhibit their opponent from doing the same. Therefore, Connect Four can be helpful for senior citizens as it is not strenuous, but instead requires using coordination and concentration to hit balls through hoops in order to win the game.
A jumping game such as this jumping game hones hand-eye coordination and plays to children’s competitive instincts. Some other fun outdoor game options could be roving tag with a rag, a twig and clover hunt, a Frisbee discus throw, and an outdoor or home-based scavenger hunt – a portable sport net can make team volleyball or cornhole play easier during field days.
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