By: Telana Sladen
Common wisdom has always been that fresh air and sunshine are good for us. But what impact does spending time outside really have?
Nature Play WA CEO, Kelsie Prabawa-Sear notes that we all feel better when we are outside, whether you’re a child or an adult.
“When we go outside, we get sunshine, we get fresh air. We have nice smells and we know that we feel better, but we don’t necessarily know why.”
There is fascinating science behind why outdoor time is refreshing.
“We see a drop in our stress hormone in cortisol. Then we also see an increase in our endorphins, which are associated with happiness and pleasure. There is also oxytocin that also helps alleviate stress and anxiety. So nature just helps our body adjust to feel better just by going outside,” said Kelsie.
Getting Kids Outside
Kelsie said the best thing to do is get ourselves outside, and the kids will follow.
“If there’s nothing inside that they’re glued to, like a screen, if we go outside, they will come. Then generally we get the benefits as well.”
She said that once kids are engaged in outdoor play, they can sustain themselves for a decent amount of time.
“Once you start to recognise how much better you feel, you are more motivated to do it. Everyone feels better and generally you can squeeze it in some part of the day.”
The 2026 Indoor Crisis
It has always been important for people to go outside, but there wasn’t as much focus on it in the past. Many people accepted it as part of their day.
“For a lot of us when we were growing up, kids were outside, so no one needed to talk about it or tell us to go outside.”
The University of Kent came out with research that shows when kids have time outside, they get positive associations of smells and the feel of nature. When these children become adults who are struggling with mental health, the return to nature brings back those positive associations.
“They get better results than people that never had that time in nature,” said Kelsie.
“Not only is it good for the kids when they’re little, it’s also helping to safeguard them when they’re older so that they can sort of draw on those positive associations and help them feel better.”
Kelsie said this is due to the overwhelm of events happening in the present day that can sometimes keep us from healthy habits that are better for our overall health.
Outdoor Time
“Research shows that ten minutes of walking outside will positively impact your wellbeing and how you feel,” said Kelsie.
“Then for kids, if it’s not just walking, but running and jumping and cartwheeling and swinging, that just makes everyone feel even better again.”
She said there are added benefits of resilience that they can learn.
“There’s lots of ways that it kind of builds up on the time to just make us a little bit more emotionally regulated in the moment and then longer term helps us with our resilience.”
Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.
Feature image: Canva
