Nature Play Week looks to encourage children to engage with outdoor activity

Celebrating and promoting outdoor play opportunities in natural environment, Nature Play Week returns as of today.

Developed collaboratively by individuals and organisations involved in the Kids in Nature Network, Nature Play Week aims to promote the abundance of fun activities for children and families to connect and play in nature by highlighting the benefits of nature as a place to enjoy, relax, play, imagine and explore.

It runs from 8th April to 18th April

Kids in Nature Network describes nature play as “a term used to describe the creation of simple play opportunities in the natural environment, nature play encourages kids and parents to see the natural environment as a place to enjoy, play, imagine, relax and explore.

“Getting your kids involved in Nature Play doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming, it can be as simple as a visit to the local park where the kids can roam free.

“Nature Play Week is a great place to get started.”

The Kids in Nature Network adds “over the past 30 years, we have moved indoors and screen spaces have replaced green places. Use of television, computers, the internet and smartphones, increased parental fear, poor urban planning and more highly structured play and supervision keep kids from playing outside.

“This change in the experience of and exposure to nature has led to a gradual distancing between our kids and the natural world and has profound implications for the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health of future generations - and for the health of nature itself.”

For more information go to www.kidsinnaturenetwork.org.au and www.natureplayweek.org.au

Image credit: Kids in Nature Network.