A green environment helps children grow up healthily

1. Growing up in a green environment with natural elements such as water and sand help your child to grow up healthily. A good and varied diet is of course the most important thing, but the environment of the child is also very important. In a good environment with lots of greenery, a child can play outside and become familiar with nature. Not only with trees and shrubs, but also with animals, insects and birds. In addition, regularly playing outside increases the resistance. Children are less likely to catch a cold or have the flu. It is also a known fact that children who play on a farm develop less allergies than children who grow up in a city. A green environment has its advantages.

Houses with very small gardens and little greenery

1. A green environment is still not very important to the building sector in the Netherlands. Construction companies do not always have an eye for this and often build as many starter homes and family homes as possible on a piece of land that they have purchased. Only little land is available per house and per family to set up a reasonable garden with lots of greenery and a lawn in order to offer any children the space they need to develop healthily.

Green squares are good for older children

1. There is often a small square or playground nearby where you can also play, but a private garden is especially necessary for the little ones. It means that the children can gain their own experiences with sand, soil, flowers, plants and water under the constant supervision of the parents. Even older children can play safer badminton, table tennis and other games in their own garden than on the street. For lack of anything better, however, a square is a good substitute for a garden of your own, if that square is well equipped for children.

A pond in your garden or in the vicinity

1. Families with small children should wait a while before setting up a pond in their garden. After all, children under the age of four do not yet realize how to straighten themselves up again if they fall forward into a shallow pool of water and suddenly cannot get any air. A small child can therefore already drown in a shallow pool of 30 cm deep. If your child has had swimming lessons and once he can swim well and stay above water, the danger is often over. Also pay close attention to ponds in your area that are publicly accessible, so that you know where there is a danger of drowning for your toddler.

​​Secure any pond with a grid over it

1. ​​Anyone who wants to keep an existing pond in the garden when children come, would do well to place a sturdy steel framework with not too large openings of about 7 by 7 centimeters over the pond and fix that grid at the corners firmly in cement and in the ground. This way the fish have light and air, but the children can no longer fall into it.

Your child can play safely in a green and sheltered garden

1. In a garden of reasonable size, a small child can have a sandpit where they can play safely and gain experiences. During dry periods, the sand is as dry as salt or sugar and can be sieved. If it is made a bit wet, it can be used to make mountains, castles, tunnels and roads. A child can also bake “cookies” or load and take away containers of sand with a small toy shabby and / or a plastic truck. It is a form of imitating the world and the work of the adults.

Exercising motor skills

1. Playing with sand has another advantage. The child exercises his motor skills and learns to handle the material, but also increases his resistance at the same time. The body learns to defend itself against bacteria that occur in nature outside. Playing with soil and creating your own garden has the same effect. Watch out for cats and always cover a sandbox. Cats really find your sandbox the end to relieve themselves. Once that happened, don't let the child play in it anymore and renew the sand.

Water belongs in a green environment

1. Fill a children's pool or, if not available, an emptied sandbox (or another container) with water in the summer and give your child all kinds of things to play with the water and experiences to do. An empty and rinsed plastic bottle of vinegar can be cut through and with a pen some holes can be made just above (or slightly above) the bottom. If the child puts water in it, it runs out in streams on all sides, which gives a funny effect. No need to buy separate water bowl toys.

A child's hand is quickly filled

1. Small watering cans, plastic bottles, plastic balls, bath ducks, boats and the like are great water toys to play with in the water bowl or in a children's pool. The water bowl can be emptied easily, because children often enjoy using that water to take care of the flowers and plants in the garden at the end of the day.

Children learn to ride a bicycle

1. Where can a small child play and learn to ride a bicycle more safely than in their own garden? However, it must be of normal dimensions and preferably have a grass field on which you can play and ride a bicycle. Falling is rarely a problem and here again the child builds up more resistance than in a house without a garden or with a garden that is much too small, where little movement is possible. However, always allow children to wash their hands when entering and before eating. Hygiene is not unwise, but neither is an excess of concern for bacteria.

A green, natural environment also around the house

1. Not only a private, spacious garden is important for the healthy growth of children, but also a green environment in their residential area. Trees and grass strips in the street, a green walking area a short walk away and the presence of birds and other animals, is not only interesting for children, but also has a calming effect on their mood and gives them the necessary freedom of movement that they often need in our busy residential areas. to miss.

Sitting behind the (game) computer for a long time is not healthy

1. Where in the past children often played outside in the street with other children in residential areas, they now usually sit behind the computer or the TV, because it is often just too dangerous outside on the street should not and cannot be played at all. That way they don't get enough exercise and that is one of the reasons why children are often overweight nowadays and often have to wear glasses early on.

Use an egg timer to indicate a measured time

1. Make it a rule of thumb that playing computer games half an hour a day is good, but definitely not longer. Put the egg timer on it so you don't have to indicate when the time is up. The child will then know to stop when the alarm goes off. It will probably grumble about it and say that the alarm is not working properly, but as a parent you would do well to keep the child at that time.

Doing experiences in a green environment is healthy for mind and body

1. A green environment not only gives peace of mind and encourages adults and children to exercise, but in a green environment the temperature and oxygen content are also better. Trees and shrubs in particular provide a good oxygen content in the air. In addition, they provide shade in the summer against the sometimes too bright sun and too much heat.

Playing with fallen leaves

1. In addition, they provide children with great fun toys in the form of fallen, dry leaves in the fall. The rustling of the leaves in the wind is also a wonderful, soothing sound. Not only for children, but also for yourself. Children also gain many useful experiences in a green environment. In addition, there are also more animals to be found there than in a natural environment.

Playing outside helps against obesity

1. Children who often play outside remain healthier than children who spend a lot of time inside. The temperature differences alone ensure a higher resistance of the airways. It is a known fact that people who are outdoors on a daily basis also get sick and cold less often. This also applies to children who play outside for at least an hour every day. They move more and are less likely to be overweight.

Woods, heather and dunes are excellent playgrounds and learning places

1. Children who do not have a garden at home and also have no place to play outside in their environment should go into the woods, dunes or heath with their parents at least on weekends to live out well. Parents who also explain everything that can be seen in that nature and can tell about it, do their children a great pleasure. The walk to the shopping centers and the DIY stores is much less interesting for a child and certainly less healthy than a walk and playing in a green environment.

Find a house with a garden to help your children grow up healthily

1. Anyone looking for a house, planning to start a family and having the financial means to do so, would do well to find a place in a green environment, where there is enough space and tranquility to help children grow up in a good way. Children simply need space. Not only to learn to walk and cycle, but also to develop their lively imaginations.