Children's Health and Wellbeing

If I have done anything even a little, to help small children enjoy honest, simple pleasures, I have done a lot of good.

Beatrix Potter

Here’s something really easy you can do to improve your child’s chance of future health and success, make sure he or she spends plenty of time playing outside. Throughout my childhood I would play outside cricket, football at the local park in Winchester or playing on a beautiful beach in Northern Ireland with wonderful views of the Mourn Mountains. Remember going “walkies” with the family pets.

Harvard Health Publishing - Harvard Medical School based in Boston USA states outside play is essential key for everyone’s development - children as well as adults. Is it not better to explore the great outdoors of the British countryside rather than challenge robots on a computer? Forest Holidays encourage children on the their website fifty ways to enjoy playing in the countryside: 

https://www.forestholidays.co.uk/outdoor-education-and-child-development-guide/

or contact Emma Harper 

emmaharper.medical@gmail.com

Three of the ways to enjoy the outside the holiday group suggests are:

• The building of a fort in the woods is a great idea which helps with creativity and action planning. Good thought distraction and for children encourages group cohesion and dynamics.
• Playing shifting stones say across a pond is a really good fun. What a sight - seeing a flat stone skimming and bouncing across the water.
• Riding a bike through the woods is an excellent form of exercise which involves good co-ordination skills.

The Forest Holidays link page is very useful, particularly the mention of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. This year’s Bird Watch has been very successful and so very encouraging that most birds have increased in numbers.

For Harvard Medical School please visit Harvard University website:  https://hms.harvard.edu/

Richard- Chair STG