Flip flops and mulch keep child-care kids inside

It's not necessarily rain, sleet and snow that keep children off the playground and inside child-care centers, says one new study. After researchers held focus groups with 49 child-care center staff across 34 diverse centers, a few surprises emerged. Staff identified several previously unreported barriers to child-care kids' outdoor play, such as:

• Flip flops/No coat: If one child wears inappropriate flip flops or a parent does not pack a winter coat, some centers kept their entire class inside. Staff even reported some parents intentionally keep their child's coat because they don't want their child to get dirty, injured or a cold virus to worsen. I figure the decision to keep the entire class indoors is due to lack of staff, but the article did not clarify.
• Focus on Cognitive Skills: Some parents stress more time for the ABCs than gross motor skills such as kickball and swinging on the monkey bars.
• Mulch: You'd think mulch would enhance outdoor play, but it can be a barrier, too. Staff reported kids eat mulch, throw it at peers, it gets caught in between toes. Mulch also requires regular maintenance.
• Staff: Some staff irresponsibly chat or text on their cell phones while outside, others simply don't want to go out in the cold or make the effort to put on/take off kids' coats. Some overweight staff admitted their weight dampened their desire to inspire children's physical play.

As ridiculous as these barriers are, they are real, and identifying them is a first step to facilitate change. Unfortunately, child-care kids aren't the only ones inside. As our nation's childhood obesity rates continue to tick upward, many of today's children are spending more time indoors than in the sandbox, playing at the park and riding their bikes around the neighborhood. My husband and I have tried to address the problem by keeping computers and televisions out of our kids' rooms, and they're only allowed so much TV and computer time per day. During non-school hours I do my best to slide away from the computer and choose gardening, lawn work and walks to the park instead. The result is magical -- the kids go outside ... and play.