The Importance of Outdoor Play

April is Outdoor Play Month at This Playful Home

For most of my life, I’ve taken the great outdoors for granted. Having lived the majority of my time in the countryside or suburbs, I (rather ironically) became more focused on outdoor play when we moved to central Vienna.

Up until that point, my children could go outside into their big Australian suburban backyard at any time they wished, they spent hours climbing the trees, building dens or running about.

City living meant an apartment (where we had to be mindful of our downstairs neighbours), a small terrace and having an excellent knowledge of the parks in the local area.

But moving to the city also came at a time when my youngest son was becoming really active. In fact, he thrives when he can spend the majority of time outdoors. He loves nothing more than climbing, exploring and kicking a ball as high as he can.

Unfortunately apartment living and a very active child did not go hand in hand, and so we actively changed our daily rhythm and weekly rhythm to focus on more outdoor time. It was possibly the best parenting decision for all of us.