HMN 2026: How Outdoor play at ages two to four is linked to better mental health by age eight

Children who spend more time playing outdoors between the ages of 2 and 4 may be less likely to develop emotional and behavioral difficulties later in childhood. That’s according to new research led by the University of Exeter, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Previous studies have shown a link between outdoor play and children’s mental health, but this is the first study to explore how outdoor play in the early years relates to children’s mental health over time.

Most children have low levels of mental health difficulties that stay low throughout childhood, but some increasingly experience difficulties with their mental health, and others have difficulties from an early age. These new findings suggest that the more often children play outdoors as preschoolers, the more likely it is that their mental health problems will remain low through middle childhood, at age 8.

Researchers analyzed data from 4,151 children from the Growing Up in Scotland cohort and looked at symptoms of mental health difficulties when children were ages 4, 5, 6 and 8. This included externalizing symptoms—problem behaviors such as aggression, impulsivity and hyperactivity—and internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression.

The research found that those who played outdoors more frequently at ages 2, 3 and 4 were more likely to remain in a low-symptom, good-mental-health group through middle childhood. Specifically, the results showed that for each additional day that a child plays outdoors in a typical week during the preschool years, the odds of that child having a healthy profile of mental health symptoms through age 8 increase by 6% to 14%.

Professor Helen Dodd of the University of Exeter led the study and said, “Our findings suggest that providing young children with more opportunities to play outside could be a simple, low-cost way to support better mental health and should be considered within public health, education and planning policies.

“This includes providing adequate funding for the provision and maintenance of playgrounds and protection for the range of spaces that children and families use for play, including informal spaces close to home, parks and other green spaces. These public spaces are especially important for people without access to a garden.”

To isolate the effect of outdoor play, the researchers controlled for a range of other related variables, including child sex, ethnicity, the highest education level within the household, the number of physical conditions the child experiences, the working status of parents, and whether the family had access to a park within a 10-minute walk of home or access to a garden.

Marguerite Hunter Blair, OBE, chair of the U.K. Children’s Play Policy Forum, welcomed the study and said, “These findings clearly demonstrate the importance of play-based early interventions that can have a long-lasting positive impact on preschool children’s mental health.

“This evidence shows that our young children will benefit significantly from more play opportunities and better spaces to play. To support this, governments and local authorities must build outdoor play into key policies and work with communities to create and improve these essential play spaces.”

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