Are you worried about your special child and are you afraid that he may miss other children in learning? Special children have special needs because they are different from others. These children face problems in communication skills, social interaction and cognitive learning due to the deficiencies they have. Despite lacking some obvious skills, they can benefit greatly from outdoor activities. In addition to providing physical benefits, playing outside is absolutely beneficial in improving social and mental skills in special children. In this post, I will talk about the physical, mental and social benefits, separately and respectively.
Physical benefits
The most obvious benefit children get when they go outside to play is getting vitamin D from sunlight. Several researchers have shown how important it is for children to be in sunlight for a few minutes every day. Additionally, playing outside improves motor and balance skills and also increases muscle strength, flexibility, and coordination. In addition, playing also improves cardiovascular health, which, in turn, increases life expectancy.
Mental benefits
Special children have a great inferiority complex. However, playing outside helps improve your self-esteem by overcoming obstacles and facing challenges. Even setting minor challenges helps boost their confidence, as they take pride in accomplishing something they thought they couldn’t do. In addition, it improves your problem-solving skills, as completing a task involves many problems that need to be solved. In addition, special children suffer from anxiety, stress, and depression more than normal children, and outdoor playtime helps to overcome these psychological problems.
Social skills
Children with special needs suffer the most from the inability to interact effectively with others. Since playing outside is all about teamwork, it gives them the opportunity to make new friends and interact with them. They share their ideas and listen to others, deal with conflicts that arise during play, and work as a group to achieve their goals. They do all of this in a low-stress environment and have fun doing it. As a result, they can maintain a healthy relationship with their peers through improved self-confidence, resilience, and self-defense. The process of overcoming challenges in a group goes a long way toward boosting social skills.
Where to take children to play outdoors?
Now the question is where should you take your kids to play? To be honest, it could be anywhere, but wherever you take them, make sure it’s safe enough to play. There are different types of play structures that apparently look amazing, but are not as safe to play outside as they should be. Therefore, first inspect the playground that you will take your children to. Since they are special, they need special care. There are some playgrounds that offer an exclusive play area for these children. If you can find such a play area nearby, it would be beneficial to take them there. If you can’t, take no chances and turn your home garden into your playground and gather the neighborhood kids to play with them.