Newspaper Article

Does outdoor play make kids smarter?

Musolf, DeAnne

2014

Overview

Indeed, self-direction may be key to the power of outdoor play for all children, says Joanne Finn, school psychologist for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in Contra Costa County. \"Outdoor spaces give kids more choices for creative play. Indoors, there are only a finite number of things a kid can do,\" says Finn, who has a daughter, 12. But outdoors, she says, when kids are self-directed \"they're not going to do something rote -- they're going to want to problem-solve: gather materials for a fort, play hide-and-seek, explore new spaces. There's an enthusiasm there. And when they're excited, learning is heightened.\" Kids can get bored outdoors without the \"instant gratification of the screen, particularly in circumstances they haven't yet explored,\" Finn says. Parents can give them ideas, but boredom allows the child \"time to organize themselves and figure out what interests them,\" Finn says. This kind of problem-solving hones executive thinking, she adds. \"If a parent circumvents that process, they'll never figure that out.\" \"I always say to them on Friday, 'You have the choice to take something from here and bring it into your life at home. What will it be?' \" says [Amelia Rosenman]. \"And sometimes, not always, but sometimes they say 'playing outside!' \"

• Publisher: Bay Area News Group
• Subject: Finn, Joanne / Honos-Webb, Lara / Rosenman, Amelia / Savin, Barry