Our
kids spend all day in a classroom, and when the school bell rings it’s likely
that they want to let off some steam and do something that they enjoy. As a
parent, it can be difficult to make the decision whether this should be
structured activity in the form of a supervised class or unstructured play
where they can spend time gaming or outdoors with friends. Infinite
Playgrounds, designers and creators of canopies
for schools, tell us more:
Lack of physical
activity amongst children
Research
has found that one in five children don’t play outdoors at all but this can be
due to many factors. In fact, one shocking statistic from 2016 revealed that
three-quarters of UK children spend less time outside than prison inmates which
is rather shocking to hear! In a typical day, kids aged eight to 15 spend just
68 minutes of their time taking part in an outdoor activity, sports-related
activity or travelling on foot or by bike. Instead, it’s believed that children
are using their spare time to play on their smartphones, tablets and gaming
devices. We are clearly becoming a nation of tablets / mobile phones and I am
struggling to see that change.
There
aren’t enough schooling hours in the day to make a change to child activity
levels either. It’s recommended that children have 1 hour of physical activity
per day which doesn’t actually seem a lot in a long day. Yet, a P.E class often
occurs only once a week and break times aren’t long enough for children to get
their heart racing for a significant amount of time. There is usually a lot to
cram in for each school day.
It’s
possible that the lack of outdoor and physical activity that is being
experienced is having negative health implications to the growing generation in
the long run. One fifth of children are classed as overweight or obese when
they begin school, and this increases to one third by the time they leave
primary school.
Structured clubs
Out-of-school
clubs have been found to increase physical activity and wellbeing levels amongst
children. They are not free so more often than not parents have to pay for
this.
Research
from the University of Bristol was conducted on the subject, whereby 1,223
state-funded pupils aged eight to nine made up the sample. It was discovered
that children who went to after-school clubs that involved exercise became 67%
more likely to meet the recommendation for the hour of physical activity per
day. Children who attended these types of out-of-school clubs got around 7.5
minutes more activity each day that children who didn’t attend.
Placing
your child in an after-school club can often have cost implications too. The
average cost per hour session of an after-school activity was found to be
£21.79 in London and around £16 in the rest of the UK. Even if a child was
attending three of these after-school clubs per week, the costs would certainly
add up.
School
work and commitments can get in the way of club attendance too. Primary school
children were found to attend on average 3.2 after-school activities each week
that were not school organised and funded by parents. However, this decreased
to an average 1.7 amongst secondary school children as their homework levels
increased and they preferred to spend more time with friends and online.
After-school
clubs can have positive effects on school work too. In children who came from
low-income backgrounds, those who attended after-school clubs one day per week
had on average 1.7 point higher actual Key Stage 2 score than predicted. These
children also developed better social, behavioral and emotional skills than
those who did not attend.
Unstructured play
Of
course, unstructured play is good for children too and I am a huge fan of this
for my toddler. They need to indulge in this sort of play to improve their
overall behaviour and learn how to work collaboratively and share with others
without direction from an adult.
Referring
to the study from the University of Bristol, playing in the neighbourhood or in
the garden was found to be associated with similar increases in activity as
attending an after-school club. This could be seen as a more reasonable
solution however as mentioned, it can be difficult to encourage children to get
outside and play as they get older.
When
children play without supervision outdoors, they become more in touch with
their senses. This can help build stronger cognitive abilities and improve
their social skills through unsupervised interaction with children their own
age.
As
we can see, both structured clubs and unstructured play have their own benefits
for children what ever the age. We need to keep in mind that kids need to be increasing their
physical activity levels as this reaps a range of benefits. It does depend on the
individual child whether they prefer (and are more likely to) do this without
an encouraging adult or on their own. The best way to help a child’s
development could be to strike the right balance between clubs and unstructured
play.
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