Why We Play In The Rain
By Tess Bramer
Oh my goodness! The rain is upon us and what a treasure it is! The patio and sand fill with puddles while the yard turns into mud. The slide becomes a water slide. The water table fills itself and sandcastles hold their shapes through nature’s perfect sand to water ratio. Paint and chalk glide easily over surfaces, and then wash themselves away. Sounds are mixed and muted by the pitter patter on the roof tops and the swishing tires on the roads. Worms come out to visit. Outdoor toys feel slippery. The feel of our skin changes in the dew. Simply being outside is an adventure when it rains in California! Parents working outside on our recent rainy days have sensed a feeling of well being in the children and themselves. Indeed there is.
We experience comfort out in the fresh, newly washed air. There is a coziness in the insulating fog and clouds. It is quieter outside on rainy days. There is less going on. I am from Oregon, and my relatives laugh at how California seems to almost pause when it rains. But I think we benefit from that. Using the rain as an excuse to do things at a slower pace, or just not do them at all, gives us a reprieve from our regular, every day responsibilities. Running errands seems a bit inconvenient. Kids outdoor activities are often cancelled due to rain. It really is an opportunity to slow down and PLAY!
There are compelling developmental benefits to playing in the rain. In his article, Children That Play Outside In All Weather Grow Up Resilient, Andrew McMartin, executive director at the p.i.n.e. project in Toronto, noted “Kids who play outside in challenging weather are more positive, more creative, and more adaptable. They don’t let challenges stop them. They rise to challenges and find ways to carry on in spite of them. And that’s just their baseline. It’s nothing special to them. It’s normal.” Andrew’s observations are backed by renowned theorist Howard Gardner, who later added Naturalist Intelligence as the eighth in his former list of seven multiple intelligences. In The Importance of Outdoor Play in Winter, the Montessori Academy suggests that “through outdoor play in the winter, children learn to see their environment through a different lens, and progress from being unconscious to conscious observers of their environment.”
Rain adds some risk to normal play. The ground can be slippery for tag and obstacles can be slick to climb over. Puddles might be deeper than they look. Deep mud sometimes pulls our shoes off! Risk is opportunity, as it enables us to learn our limits and makes us aware of the world around us. Playing in the rain is yet another way to develop that very important trait we speak so much about - resilience! Navigating rainy day risks is not only healthy, it is imperative for well rounded development.
The physical implications of navigating play in the rain are beneficial, too. We use different muscles to walk through mud or wet grass and sand, and to keep ourselves from slipping while walking or climbing on slippery surfaces. We practice putting on and taking off jackets and boots, muddy buddies and sweaters multiple times as we move through our day. We use a different grip to hold wet shovels, buckets, monkey bars, leaves, sticks, trucks and so on.
I had no choice but to play in the rain as a child living in Portland. While I love sunny California, I am thankful that rain was my normal, every day life for a little while. Developmental benefits aside, playing in the rain is FUN and creates memories that last a life time. We hope you will join us in our enthusiasm for rainy weather this year!
Tess Bramer is the Co-Director and Pre-K Teacher at Valley Parent Preschool. She can be reached at Tess@valleyparent.org
