Discussion #10: Outdoor Play and Obesity

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Re-watch the following video from last week, The Best Kindergarten You’ve Ever Seen, which depicts a very unique playground, designed by architect Takaharu Tezuka, and which really lets kids be kids:

The best kindergarten you’ve ever seen | Takaharu Tezuka (Links to an external site.)
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Please reply to ONE of the following, and indicate the number of the question:

1. Share a favorite outdoor play experience you remember from childhood. Tell where you were, what you were doing, with whom you were playing.  After several people have shared, discuss what these experiences say about outdoor play.

2. Obesity is an increasingly problematic situation for children. We all know the rules that govern obesity.  Because weight control is difficult for many adults, how can we control and model healthy eating and exercise habits?  How can we inspire students to eat healthy foods and to exercise?  What can we do to encourage more active play and less sedentary lifestyles?

3. While early childhood professionals spend many hours each week preparing the indoor environment, much less effort is typically spent on the outdoors. Why do you think less time and energy is spent preparing and planning for creative outdoor play?

Hasnaa IdrissiNov 2, 2021Nov 2 at 8:20

1. Share a favorite outdoor play experience you remember from childhood. Tell where you were, what you were doing, with whom you were playing. After several people have shared, discuss what these experiences say about outdoor play.

I remember when I was younger, we had outdoor planning every week with my family and relatives, we went to a different place each time. we were preparing everything at home before going to picnic, while each of us had a task, for example, my mom cooked us food, and my father’s job was to buy some things from the market. When we went to the Park my siblings and I, helped our family and we arranged our things like placing chairs, tables, barbecue and we organized where we seat, then my parents and relatives divided us into two teams to get started our fun activities, and most of the activities that we liked was drawing and painting because we had a lot fun when we were drawing, and each one of us presented his / her idea in their drawing. We always competed which one of us would draw the best, also we played soccer with my parents, and the team that lost, was responsible to take care of barbecue. We gathered making a circles and each one of us spoke by sign and the others had to guess what was he or she trying to say, and who got the highest points gave tasks to do to whomever got the least score. We played hide and sick and the last was found, gave orders to the first person found, to either jump 20 times, to collect flower, to pick rocks or pinecone. We were doing several activities, some of which I mentioned. These experiences give the childrens opportunity to discover and explore the natural environment, and help children solve problem by using their skills and intuition, and develop a broad imagination. Outdoor play makes the children build gross motor skills when they kick balls, climb, jump, throw balls, and run, etc.

Edited by Hasnaa Idrissi on Nov 2 at 8:21amReply Reply to Comment

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Collapse SubdiscussionPaola Ayala

Paola AyalaNov 2, 2021Nov 2 at 8:05pm

1. Share a favorite outdoor play experience you remember from childhood. Tell where you were, what you were doing, with whom you were playing. After several people have shared, discuss what these experiences say about outdoor play.

• When I was younger I grew up living across the street from a park. I have many memories with my parents going to the park and playing many outdoor activities. As a child I was an only child up until I turned five years old when my sister came along. Before my sister was born, I remember my parents taking me to the park to play in the playground. Sometimes we would even go to play tennis for a bit, and we would take my bike. Both my parents would teach me how to ride my bike in the tennis court area after or before we would actually play tennis. As a child I also remember having lots of dun with both my parents, it was an amazing childhood. There were no other distractions, no phones, no technology that kept me indoors from going outside. I also remember how we would have many picnics across the street, and we would eat snacks, talk and my mom would sing to me. I think my favorite memory of all would be how my parents would get in a small pool with me and play, we would barley fit in that tiny pool but it was the most heartwarming memory that I have as a child.