How to teach your wild child the benefits of outdoor play

The days are short and cold. It’s tempting to get a fire on and let your son hibernate under a pile of blankets.. But there are benefits to opening the door and letting the wind in. So what are some benefits of outdoor play?

Letting your son outside to splash around in puddles and get cold and dirty can be good for his mental and physical health. Putting him in uncomfortable situations in nature and sunlight has a positive affect on mood, self confidence and general happiness as well as boosting his immune system.

Humans in the wild

It’s predicted that two-thirds of all humans will live in cities by 2050. Consider that the concept of a city, especially as we know them today, would be as alien as a civilisation on Mars to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Cities have been around for around 6000-7000 years(1), with humans only really beginning to settle in permanent habitations around 4000-6000 years before that. That leaves a gap of around 190,000 years where we (homo-sapiens specifically) were roaming the open plains, mountain ranges and forests of the world. And before that our ancestor species were doing the same for up to 2 million years(2). What’s my point? We are designed to be outside! Wild!

What are some benefits of outdoor play?

1. Trees are the best medicine

The Japanese have a great term for going for a walk in the woods. They call it ‘forest bathing’. Even the name conjures a feeling of serenity and blissful aimless wandering. Their research suggests that inhaling aerosols during a walk increases Natural Killer (NK) cells. These cells are part of the immune system that fight tumors and infections.

Another study on the topic noted that by releasing essential oils from cedars into a room where people slept, they were also able to cause NK cells to spike(3).

A 20,000 person study, run by the University of Exeter, found that people who spend 2 hours per week in green spaces are substantially more likely to have good health, as well as psychological well-being. Any less than 2 hours a week, which doesn’t have to be taken all in one go, was found to have no benefit(4).

2. De-stress

Spending time in fields, woods and gardens was found to be an antidote for stress by:

lowering stress hormones
reducing nervous system arousal
lowering blood pressure
increasing self-esteem
reducing anxiety
improving mood

A study conducted by psychiatric researchers found that feelings of isolation were reduced when patients were in nature. It also increased mood and promoted calm, leading to reduced stress.

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3. Mental health

Natural environments are found to reduce aggression and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The right prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain that’s involved in ADD- and Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).and is affected by attention fatigue, which causes children inability to pay attention and control impulses.

Children that spend time outdoors in nature show reduced attention fatigue. Those that are diagnosed with ADHD show reduced symptoms(5).

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

-John Muir

Read here to learn about more ways to improve your son’s mental health.

4. Clean air

Your children, especially when they start school, spend a lot of time sitting down- more on that later- indoors, breathing in stuffy school air. Not that it’s a problem in the UK, but in places where the outside temperature can get warm, that air is probably air-conditioned as well, so they breathe the same recycled air all day.

Sitting at their desks inside makes it more likely for them to breathe shallowly, where they only inhale into the top part of their lungs- apical breathing. Breathing this way triggers stress receptors in their chest so their body thinks it’s in a fight or flight situation, causing them to become more stressed and anxious.

Ensuring that, when they aren’t in school, they spend time upright, walking and playing outside, means that they are able to breathe deeply into the bottom portion of the lungs. Filling the lungs in this way gets more oxygen into the cells and allows them to expel toxins.

Increased oxygenation helps to release more serotonin, increasing their mood and general feeling of happiness- especially important after a long day at school. Try a walk through the park after school to help them release the stresses of their day(6).

5. Grounding

Our feet are our connection to the Earth. Well, it seems like this connection is extremely beneficial. Being able to draw strength from the Earth may sound a bit too hippy for you, but wait until you hear the science behind it.

Clearly, humans weren’t designed to wear shoes, or we would have evolved some. Also, you wouldn’t have thought that we would evolve to be so susceptible to all the health disorders we have today. Could it have something to do with the fact that we are missing out on an electric connection to the Earth that our ancestors had?

A potentially significant factor in many health disorders is something called electron deficiency syndrome. By earthing, we allow free electrons into the body in huge numbers. These electrons are then able to neutralise free radicals- molecules that damage healthy tissues by stripping their electrons.

This charge we receive can reduce inflammation, stress and pain as well as improving our blood flow and energy, boosting our sleep and making us generally happier(7).

How long should you spend grounding your children?

As long as you can. Remember, we were made to be barefoot and walking on the Earth’s surface. It’s meant to be our default, not something to limit.

Read here to learn more about the benefits of a barefoot son

6. Sunlight

It’s hard to come by in the UK at the moment. But the importance of spending time in the sun hasn’t changed. Even when it’s above the clouds. It’s unsurprising that these short days are the time of year that mood is at it’s lowest. When people go to work and return in darkness it messes with our sleep cycle, having an affect on our mental health. Think back to when we were hunters. We woke and slept based on the sun, so it makes sense that morning sunshine should tell our body that it’s time to get up.

Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and associate professor at the Stanford University school of Medicine. In his opinion, one of the most important things you can do for mental and physical health- for yourself and your son- is to get morning sunshine into your eyes.

It sounds strange, obviously staring at the sun isn’t a good idea. But I definitely recommend trying it. I make sure that every morning I’m with my son, I take him out in the garden as the sun’s light reaches it, whether it’s cloudy and raining or not.

It doesn’t have to be crazily early either: 2- 10 minutes before 10am is fine- which is difficult at mine during these short days when the sun hits my grass at 0950.

Read here to learn more about the benefits of sunlight.

One reason for getting this light in your son’s eyes first thing is that it triggers a dose of cortisol, which signals your body that it’s time to wake up. This increases energy and focus throughout the day. It also sets your natural body clock so that your body understands it’s morning and so triggers the release of melatonin ready for when its time to sleep. So you’ll both me more awake in the day, and get a better nights sleep as well as promoting positive hormone function and better mental health.

And before you look out the window and decide that it’s too wet and windy to get out and that you’ll just sit near the window, it’s no good. The glass filters out a lot of the blue light that we need to stimulate wakefulness. So, get up, keep your shoes off and take your son into nature and watch the sunrise. Once you start, you won’t be able to stop(8).

7. Boost immune system

Children who play in the mud or grass develop a stronger immune system than the ones that are being sanitised constantly by terrified mothers(9). The ones who stay indoors, wrapped up and scared of getting dirty are the children who end up weaker and poorly.

It comes down to a concept we believe in at Son of Man: being comfortable with discomfort. Your son going out into the garden and coming back wet, muddy, cold, tired and grazed may be an inconvenience for you, and you may worry for him in the short term. But that short-term hardship for him- and you- can have extreme long-term gains. You might have to wash an extra pair of trousers, and comfort a shivering child, but when he grows up he’ll spend less time ill and more time happy and successful. It’s an easy choice really.