Guest blog written by Forest Holidays.

Everyone knows just how refreshing spending a couple of hours outdoors can make us feel. For children, playing outside offers them the opportunity to use their imagination and play creatively in a free, open environment. It also gives children the same feelings of reduced stress and anxiety that we feel as adults, which are essential for optimal functioning of our brains and bodies.

But what exactly is it about being outside that is so beneficial? Scientists are finding more and more that the answer is sunlight. Daylight isn’t only essential for plants, it’s also highly necessary for humans to get enough direct sunlight in order to maintain essential bodily functions and maximise wellbeing. And for children, getting enough sun is actually crucial to their development.

Here we take a look at just how daylight can benefit your child’s development.

The human body is massively in tune to the ebb and flow of the sun's light. For millions of years, our bodies have evolved to work alongside its natural rhythm, and as such, our mood is directly related to sunlight.

But with many people spending more time indoors and on screens that produce artificial light, our body systems can suffer. One of the main reasons people feel an improvement to their mood when they step outside is the light levels. Houses reduce our light levels dramatically, and spending too much time indoors can lower our mood.

Light is measured in units called “lux”. A brightly lit classroom is around 500 lux, but a cloudy day outside is anywhere between 10,000 - 40,000 lux. A sunny summer day can even exceed 100,000 lux. As you can see, even spending time outside on an overcast day is far more beneficial to the body than being indoors.

Aside from the benefit of boosted wellbeing and mood making children more engaged and passionate about learning to begin with, one study has found strong evidence that exposure to bright light may significantly increase the brain's ability to grow new pathways and retain new information. This research supports multiple other studies in which scientists repeatedly find daylight is intrinsically linked to optimal brain function in both adults and children.

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that our body cannot make for itself, and is crucial for regulating calcium and phosphate levels in the body. Without adequate sunlight, children can develop a condition called rickets as a result of too little calcium and vitamin D.

Mental planning and proper brain function also rely on us getting enough daylight and opportunities to absorb vitamin D from the sun. And bright sunlight may also contribute to the prevention of diseases, boost immunity, aid our cardiac rhythms and even prevent nearsightedness in children. You don’t need to lock the kids out for hours though – as little as thirty minutes a day during summer is enough for the body to replenish its vitamin D stores.

There are so many ways for children to have fun outdoors, and doing so brings a whole bucket load of benefits further to those above. From increasing their social circles to fine tuning their problem solving skills, boosting their gross motor skills and reducing stress, the importance of spending time outdoors cannot be understated. Have fun outside knowing that your body is reaping multiple benefits from the daylight, even if it’s overcast!