Why girls need more outdoor playtime
Encouragement from caregivers and educators could help close the gender gap in outdoor play
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When children play outdoors, they spend more time doing physical exercise, which improves their cardiovascular fitness and reduces their obesity risk. Nature-based play, in particular, helps children develop resilience and social skills. It encourages them to be more creative and cooperative, and may even lessen ADHD symptoms.
“Nature-based play, in particular, helps children develop resilience and social skills.”
Children’s outdoor play isn’t equal
Children are generally spending less time playing outdoors for many reasons, including climate change-related extreme weather and crime and traffic concerns. But some children enjoy the benefits of outdoor play more than others. Children of colour, children with disabilities and adolescents are all less likely to play outdoors than other children.
Another group is less likely to reap these benefits, too: girls.
Researchers were surprised to find a gender play gap in British children as young as 2. That’s long before more obvious gendered play patterns usually appear, such as boys generally spending more time than girls playing sports outside. “We were really quite shocked to see it in that age,” says Helen Dodd, a child psychologist at the University of Exeter Medical School who studies children’s play and mental health. “We know that being in nature is good for our health, broadly. And if from age 2 girls are spending less time in those spaces, that’s really concerning.”
In a 2024 parent survey, Dodd and co-authors found that 2- to 4-year-old boys average 2 hours and 15 minutes in nature per week, versus just 1 hour and 50 minutes for girls. According to the 2020 British Children’s Play Survey, also from Dodd, girls aged 5 to 11 played outdoors less often than boys, particularly in green spaces, and they were less likely to spend time playing in an adventurous way. Meanwhile, in a study of US preschoolers, girls were about 15% less likely to be taken outside to play, for example in a playground or backyard, than boys.
Why children need outdoor play
While this gap might sound small, it adds up over time – and could even play a role in later challenges. Adolescent girls are more likely than boys to struggle with mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, for example. Dodd thinks there could be a connection: When children as young as 2 engage in more adventurous play – which usually takes place outdoors – they experience better mental health.
“When children as young as 2 engage in more adventurous play – which usually takes place outdoors – they experience better mental health. “
This may be because nature is calming for our minds and bodies; children who are exposed to green space may experience better mental health long-term. It could also be because outdoor play tends to involve more risk-taking, such as climbing trees or jumping off rocks. “I think – based on my knowledge of children’s anxiety and my knowledge of play – that we have evolved to play in this way because it allows us to learn and develop those skills which help to prevent anxiety,” Dodd says. “If they don’t learn those skills, then they aren’t as able to manage their emotions.”
Outdoor play also boosts general physical activity. Public health bodies recommend at least three hours of physical activity per day for children under 5, and at least one hour per day for children aged 5 to 17. While most children in many countries fail to meet these recommendations, girls aged 10 to 19 are particularly unlikely to get the recommended amount of exercise. One systematic review, for example, found that globally, about 85% of adolescent girls fell short, compared with 78% of adolescent boys. Since outdoor play is often physically active, much more so than indoor play, this could be partly because girls spend less time playing outdoors.
Engaging in less outdoor play in early childhood may also set girls up for being less interested in physical activity in adolescence and adulthood. In one survey of teenage girls in the UK, for example, nearly two-thirds said they avoided such activities because they lacked confidence in their physical abilities.
Intriguingly, there are signs that nature play could help dismantle the gender stereotypes that can hold children back long-term.
“Nature play could help dismantle the gender stereotypes that can hold children back long-term. “
One of the most common reasons adolescent girls give for not wanting to participate in physical activity is that they do not want to look sweaty or messy, which would violate the expectation that girls should be clean and pretty.
But if children play outdoors more when they are young, they may be more likely to question, or oppose, these expectations. In one study, 5- and 6-year-olds in England were more likely to engage in non-gender-stereotypical activities in a forest school than in a classroom – for example, to play in the mud or jump in puddles. Similarly, children aged 1.5 to 6 in a Swedish outdoor preschool played in less gender-stereotypical ways: the children decided who should carry the biggest stone based on age rather than gender, for example.
“The character of the nature environment can make it easier for girls and boys to play together and to break free from gender patterns in many (but not all) play practices,” the researchers noted. This is partly because outdoor environments lend themselves to types of play – like pretending to be animals – that aren’t seen as particularly girly or boyish. It’s also because the objects found in nature aren’t gender-coded, unlike many store-bought toys, but have to be interpreted and given meanings by children themselves, the researchers write.
What could close the gender gap in outdoor play?
Support from teachers and caregivers is critical. Parents are more likely to encourage boys to play outside than girls, and parental encouragement is one of the strongest predictors of girls’ outdoor play in primary school. Adolescent girls commonly say a lack of support from teachers, family and peers is a barrier to physical activity.
“Parents are more likely to encourage boys to play outside than girls.”
Professionals and caregivers can work to overcome any bias in their interactions – complimenting girls on their skills and inviting them into physical activity as they do boys, for example. They can avoid sending gender-biased messages in other ways, for example by not expecting girls to stay neat and clean, or to help more with housework. They can also help ensure that girls’ sports and physical activities benefit from the same amount of resourcing as boys’. Finally, they can ensure that physical activities include the qualities that often inspire girls to participate – such as a fun, enjoyable atmosphere and a social element.
Community and policy measures also matter. Children are more likely to play outside when their neighbourhoods have green space and little traffic, something that urban planners and local governments should keep in mind. More investment in nature-based classrooms and forest schools could provide more opportunities for children to play outside. And, as climate change increases the number and severity of extreme weather events like heatwaves, it is increasing urgent to ensure that children have safe access to green space year-round.
Every child should benefit from outdoor, nature-based play – including girls.
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