Physical activity is a must for people of all ages, as it promotes health and wellness from the inside out. Staying physical and active will not only help you to stay a healthy weight, but it can improve your mental state quite considerably as well. In fact, many people find that their stress levels are reduced quite considerably when they are able to engage in some movement and exercise.
Though regular physical activity is important for people of all ages (and all people, no matter what), it is for children that movement is most essential. This is due to the fact that children are growing, including their brains. Brain development happens tremendously in the first few years of life, such as in the development of fine and gross motor skills alike. If these skills are to ever be fully developed, they must be developed before a child reaches their sixth birthday. Otherwise, unfortunately, the child is likely to be lacking these skills for the rest of their life.
And physical movement can develop them, allowing children to maneuver in the world in new and interesting ways that challenge their brains immensely and allow for the brain growth that is necessary. But physical and active play does even more. It helps children constructively spend their energy, allowing them to focus better in other environments, such as in the classroom. And, as obesity has become hugely problematic even among children here in the United States, physical movement and play on a regular basis can be essential for staying healthy physically as well, especially when it comes to managing weight. Ideally, every child who is at the age of two or older will get at least an hour of moderate physical activity each and every day.
Unfortunately, children are not moving as much as they should be here in the United States. This is something that can be seen by the national obesity rate for these children, which currently sits right at 18.5% – far too high by just about any standards here in the United States and well outside of it too. There are a number of reasons that this might be the case.
In many cases, the use of electronics has overtaken the desire to get up and playing actively. Electronics now come in all shapes and sizes, with children of all ages playing on tablets and watching TV and even using cell phones. Electronics have truly become so widespread that up to two thirds of all parents in this country now worry that their child or children are devoting too much time to using these devices.
And while electronics certainly do play an important role in our modern world – and are not necessarily inherently bad – it is important that they do not replace physical play. Taking children to use a commercial indoor jungle gym or indoor soft play equipment (for younger children) can be a great way to promote active play over the use of electronics. The commercial indoor judge gym is ideal for a number of different reasons.
First of all, a commercial indoor jungle gym or other such commercial indoor play structures can be ideal for allowing kids to get up and moving when the weather is less than ideal outside. A commercial indoor playground and commercial indoor jungle gym and other such indoor play structures for sale can be used in just about any type of weather. No matter how cold it is outside or how rainy, a commercial indoor jungle gym will provide children with a much needed space for movement and activity – and even socialization, which has a number of benefits in and of itself – on a regular and very consistent basis.
The use of a commercial indoor jungle gym can be ideal for providing a level of structured play as well. After all, a commercial indoor jungle gym will provide specific challenges for children of all ages, allowing them to test their physical abilities and, of course, develop new ones as time progresses and as they grow.