Kids thrive with outdoor games

The boys know that garbage must be handled properly and that nobody should strew it around.

"If they see someone littering, they will tell me in a whisper," Audrey Rusli said about her two sons.

"If they see vendors selling decorative plants they like, the boys, especially the younger one, will ask me to buy them for our house," she continued.

Joshua Adrian Boentoro, 12, and Joshua Akira Boentoro, 10, are aware of the need to preserve the environment, thanks to their close encounters with nature.

However their mother, who has encouraged them to play outdoors since they were about five years old, is upset that the boys are often nailed to their seat for hours playing online computer games.

"So, I will take them to Bali at the end of the month, there will be no computer," Audrey, who lives on the outskirts of Jakarta, said.

She also plans to take them to several places inside and outside the city, like Lubang Buaya Memorial Park and Museum and Taman Mini recreation park in East Jakarta.

Taman Mini, Ancol Dreamland and Ragunan Zoo are the city's oldest recreation areas that remain popular among children.

In the past few years, many new recreation centers have been established that offer great outdoor activities, including games like Flying Fox, target practice, rides and water parks. Outbound activities such as milking cows, planting trees and bathing a cow are also on offer.

Outdoor activities are good for children's mental and physical health. They may end up being covered in dirt, but this can be easily overcome, as some local TV commercials point out.

It is good to motivate children to explore outdoor activities at an early age. When they have fun, it makes them happy and they will develop a habit of playing outdoors.

Kaleena, 4, enjoys walking around the neighborhood every morning.

"She likes picking wild flowers and grass. When she gets home, everything is put in a vase," her mother, Sarilani Wirawan, said.

On the weekend, Sari, Kaleena, her six-and-a-half-year-old brother Yudhistira, and their father often bike in the University of Indonesia compound in Depok, not far from their house, or stroll around a nearby lake. Sometimes they have a picnic under a shady tree.

"But Yudhis is jijikan *adverse to* dirt, especially when eating. The funny thing is, while the three of us are busy preparing our breakfast under the tree, he'll quietly have his meal in the car. But we don't force him to join us. We respect his choice," his mother said, laughing.

Her children also like biking around the neighborhood with other kids, as well as role-playing, playing ball, painting, playing with water, and playing music with cans, bottles or whatever they can produce noise with.

Watching TV and playing computer games or Lego and puzzles are among their other hobbies. Sari has a rule for her kids: They may watch television only for two hours a day and play with the Nintendo for half an hour at the most.

Recently, she was rather upset to find her kids spending most of their time watching television.

Television and computer games are a headache not only to Sari, but also to many parents.

In the past, parents did not need to tell their kids to play outdoors because there were a lot of open spaces and particularly because video games had not yet gained popularity.

Today, in urban areas where there are not enough public parks or open areas, and there is a great variety of high-tech games and attractive TV programs, getting kids to go outdoors can be real uphill battle.

In motivating kids to play outdoors, parents need to be creative.

Livia Gunawan, a resident of Cipete, South Jakarta, plans to send Mark, her adolescent son, to tennis and swimming lessons this holiday. The boy, who loves sports, will also play futsal with his friends.

Encouraging kids to join a sports club is a great idea, as is taking them to a resort or a recreation park. But outdoor activities do not necessarily have to be expensive.

"We once took the children on a tour of the city using an angkot *public minivan*, economy train and the busway. The children loved it," said Sari.

Another idea is providing outdoor games and equipment for kids to use in their own yard. In Sari's case, she installed a swing and monkey bars for her kids and their friends to play on.

Playing outdoors helps children exercise their muscles and become stronger. After playing, they will usually be exhausted and sleep well, which is also good for their parents as they can then rest peacefully.

Outdoor activities allow children to express themselves better and socialize with other kids. They gain confidence and courage that will help them when they eventually step into the real world.

Parents should not be overprotective, but they need to watch over their children and guide them from time to time, especially because it is highly possible that some of their children's friends could be bad influences.

Sari agreed that parents should teach children to develop self-reliance and not follow what naughty friends do. But she said this was hard and sometimes her son just gave up and stopped playing with his friends.

"But we should keep telling our children that even when they grow up, they will still meet willful people," she said.