Movement and Play

Attractive routes

Greenery in the street invites people to sit less and exercise more in the form of a recreational walk or bike ride. Going to the shops or work as a ‘walker or hiker’ instead of by car is more attractive in a green environment. This is healthier, saves fuel, and improves air quality.

Walking

When walking (with the dog) in nature, the physical effort is sufficient to positively impact well-being and yet low enough to persist. It is accessible, cheap, and can be done well into old age.

Elderly people and those with wheelchairs or strollers tend to choose accessible walking routes through green and safe streets. When it comes to pavements, it is important for this target group to use materials that are wheelchair friendly, not become slippery when it rains, or are more stable with few potholes or bumps.

Cycling

Where possible, create attractive continuous cycling routes with trees, interesting plants, and water. And for safety, with vegetation no higher than 1 metre close to the cycle path.

Outdoor sports

Exercising in a green environment provides fresh, healthy air, and also a different experience. Various sports activities can often be integrated into a green outdoor space, from yoga, boot camp to mountain biking. Exercising outdoors burns 12% more calories than doing the same indoors.

Natural swimming and boating

Swimming is healthy for young and old. A natural swimming pond or natural swimming pool is a beautiful and sustainable combination of exercise and enjoyment in the greenery.

Green, attractive water connections can be used as recreational navigable routes.

Natural Play

For many young children without a garden of their own, neighbourhood green spaces may be the first or most available form of nature in their childhood. Even the smallest piece of outdoor space can provide enough space to build a hut or hiding place, to smell flowers, to admire critters, or to stimulate the imagination.

Children who play in the green develop better motor skills, balance and coordination and are more flexible. Provide an attractive green outdoor area with a diverse range of play spaces and play opportunities. Create enough space so that children do not get in each other’s way.

Children want an area with a view, a height difference, and safe water. Scrambling, tree climbing, and muddling around with sand and water are favourite activities. When installing a water pump, it is important to ensure proper drainage of the water, for example to a swale. For children, it should be clear whether the water is drinkable or not.

Children up to the age of twelve need green play areas that are designated to be safe. Children with ADHD in particular benefit greatly from a green environment. This can be realised in the schoolyard and in familiar natural places close to home on the street, in the park or public park.

For boys of primary school age, greenery in the living environment is associated with more physical activity, especially in the form of outdoor play. Vegetable gardening may lead to less sedentary behaviour in children.

A large green outdoor space challenges boys and girls of primary school age to physical activity and contributes to girls in particular staying active over the years. On average, girls are more active in natural playgrounds than in tiled areas.

To promote exercise, attract leisure activities to green areas. As the activity becomes more central, the greenery becomes more decorative, unless it is for activities where there is interaction with the greenery (survival, mountain biking, tree house building and gardening).

Being able to practice a recreational activity can be the primary reason to visit the green space, and in this way benefit from other well-being benefits (meeting, relaxing, etc.) of greenery.

Living Climbing Tree

A tree in the open field reaches to the ground with its crown. In this way, it shades and protects its trunk and its roots. Just letting it grow in this way provides good climbing trees.

Trees offer children many opportunities for sports and games. Scrambling and climbing is always fun. Trees also stimulate the brain in other ways. In every season a tree is different. The leaves, buds, flowers, and fruits appeal to the imagination.

Climbing is less harmful to a tree than parking a car underneath it. The soil becomes compacted due to parking and roots slowly die. Trees subjected to compaction can become unsafe and die sooner.

Adults

Exercising improves overall fitness and resistance and is a good support for weight loss. There is reduced chance of obesity and dementia. We get stronger bones and muscles, better memory. We also suffer less from depressive symptoms and have more social contacts.

Gardening is a healthy and varied form of outdoor exercise. One hour of housekeeping burns an average of 105 kcal. One hour of gardening burns 280 kcal.

Municipalities are working on the construction and management of public green spaces, which are increasingly being carried out together with residents, organisations and businesses.

Elderly

Research shows that exercising in green areas provides greater benefits than exercising indoors. We stop less often and last longer. We are more willing to repeat the activity. In addition, we are less tense and experience more pleasure. This also applies to rehabilitation programs.

Care

Older people with a garden tend to stay active longer. This also applies to elderly people in care institutions. An effective, green design of the outdoor space contributes to a more active attitude of clients. Consider a picking garden where the elderly can pick a bouquet themselves, or raised planters where people can garden from a wheelchair or without bending down. An accessible outdoor space also increases the solidarity and involvement, both of residents and of the neighbourhood.