The Importance of the Great Outdoors for Children
As children spend increasingly less time enjoying nature and playing outdoors, an array of problems are arising in their development. From obesity to ADHD to depression, children in the United States have been struggling with major health challenges. For many, this is due to screen addictions and other unnatural shifts in lifestyles. Westminster School, a private school in Annandale, Virginia, discusses the importance of the outdoors for children and how its students immersed themselves in nature and outdoor activities this spring.
The Benefits of Being Outdoors
- Physical fitness: The outdoors benefits a child’s body by providing adequate sources of vitamin D, improving distance vision, and offering opportunities to become physically fit. Activities like hiking; biking; or playing sports, such as football or running, keep children physically active and fit. This keeps diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, at bay.
- Mental fitness: Recent studies show children and adults truly need to spend time in nature. Exposure to nature helps improve concentration and reduces anxiety. The unstructured play in nature fosters imagination and creativity. It also activates the senses of smell, sight, touch, and hearing. Overall, environment-based education is known to increase students’ performance on critical thinking skills tests.
Moreover, as per the attention restoration theory, natural environments help people practice the attention called soft fascination. This practice increases pleasure and reduces the feeling of fatigue caused by urban environments.
- Emotional wellness: Natural environments provide restful experiences and reduce the need for directed attention. This helps reduce stress levels, which fall within minutes of being in green spaces. A lot of unstructured time in nature allows children to escape from the hurried lifestyle that dominates the world today. Besides reducing anxiety and depression, being connected with nature also encourages more prosocial and empathetic behavior among children, according to research.
Westminster School Celebrates the Great Outdoors with Its Students
Westminster School celebrated this spring by arranging several outdoor activities for students across different grades. Not only were these activities about enjoying nature and playing outdoors, but they were also about fostering collaboration and sportsmanship.
A Visit to Camp Crowell
On April 18, the Griffin athletes spent the day at Crowell, a national Girl Scout camp in Oakton, Virginia. This was through the Inner Quest program. Despite the snow and sleet in the morning and rain, later on, the students were determined to stay outside as long as they could. After an indoor lunch, they played a few more cooperative games, reinforcing the day’s theme of teamwork.
On April 25, the fifth-graders enjoyed better weather and more activities at Camp Crowell, such as playing the "spotter” and the "flying squirrel."
The sixth-graders camped on May 2, engaged in cooperative activities, and enjoyed the zip line.
Ben from the fifth grade said, “It was so much fun to play with my friends at the camp. I am excited about the next camping trip!”
New Horizons Overnight Camp
On May 6, the eighth-graders journeyed to New Horizons for an overnight camping trip. After dinner in the New Horizons summer campground, the campers enjoyed active games, such as spider ball. In classic campout style, this was followed by delicious s'mores. Before returning to the city on Saturday morning, the eighth-graders took in the fresh air, hiking along Fridley Gap Trail.
Canoeing at Beaverdam Reservoir
On a sunny Monday, May 9, the seventh-graders completed their Inner Quest field trip with a visit to Beaverdam Reservoir. With spring in full bloom, the students soaked up the beauty surrounding them while they learned to canoe and to work together as a team.
Susan from seventh grade was ecstatic, “I can’t believe we managed to canoe across the reservoir. And it was so beautiful. The flowers. The water. The lovely weather.”
Capital Athletic Conference Track
After the single-grade outings, the Griffins worked together at the Capital Athletic Conference track meet on May 11 at Langley School. The Griffins brought home the second-place banner from a field that included six schools.
Charlie from the Griffins said, “We came second. It was a tough competition but we did it! I’m so excited to tell my parents and friends about this.”
Westminster School is proud of its students’ stellar athletic performance and participation. With the help of the school’s athletic director and PE teachers, the students not only enjoyed but succeeded in these athletic programs. These are an integral part of Westminster School’s well-rounded and complete educational experience.
Why Westminster School?
Established in 1962, Westminster School is a private school that follows the traditional and time-tested classical education for the forward-looking 21st century. The school adheres to high standards of education that set it apart from other public and private schools. Besides building a well-informed mind, strength of character, dedication to learning, generosity of spirit, and joy in the possibilities of life, the Westminster academic program trains students in basic subjects within a broad humanities curriculum.
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