by Natasha Boddy
Children in Canberra are being asked to turf the tablets and get back to the good old-fashioned way of having fun by climbing trees and getting dirty in the great outdoors.
A new initiative called Nature Play CBR launched in Canberra in Thursday encourages less screen time and more green time by showing kids that playing outdoors is fun.
Nature Play was started in Western Australia in 2011 and has since grown to Queensland and South Australia.
Nature Play WA chief executive Griffin Longley said there had been a recognition among families, schools and even governments of the importance of children playing outdoors.
“We know when kids are outside playing more, it not only benefits their health, but their mental health hugely as well as their creativity and capacity to learn,” he said.