Teaching In Leisure And The Importance Of Free Time

It is important that we learn to really value and use our free time in the best way. Even when we are not at work, not all free time is really “free”.

We need time to meet our biological needs, and we need time to commute to and from work and do household chores and take care of the family. It also takes time to run errands, keep track of important paperwork and handle other administrative tasks.

So how can we learn to make the most of our free time?

Teaching the importance of free time

It is important to know how to make full use of your free time. But how do you go about learning this?

The term leisure education, or leisure education, refers to education about leisure and leisure activities for children, young people and adults. The goal of this type of education is to understand how you can best utilize your free time by taking part in beneficial activities.

The goal is not to get individuals to seek more education during their free time, but to encourage them to simply participate in educational activities in their spare time.

For example, the International Charter for Leisure Education (1993) explains how education should involve subjects that are appropriate and relevant to leisure teaching.

In the same way, education should promote the incorporation of leisure time as a subject in all educational and cultural activities, both inside and outside school.

Education that deals with leisure as part of human development

Thanks to the spread of technology and how easy it is to share information today, a large leisure industry has emerged. We see lots of ads about leisure activities and events every day.

But often the purpose of such campaigns is to promote sales and consumption. They do not really consider free time to be a source of development or personal growth.

The goal of leisure education is the exact opposite: people must learn to value their leisure time. We must consciously enjoy our free time because it is important for well-being.

In this regard, Westland (1987), quoted by Mendo (2000), provides an explanation of how education should be conducted:

• Why : It is more important to “be engaged” than to “look like doing” something. “Creating” is more important than “consuming,” and “participating” is more important than “watching.”
• What : People need to learn what leisure and free time means and take advantage of them as part of life.
• How : People can take part in leisure education through concrete educational activities. It is important to educate individuals so that they understand the important role that leisure plays in one’s personal development.

Free time and leisure activities

Through the education, you learn certain criteria for planning activities and spending your free time.

First, it teaches the value of being critical of one’s options, given how much there is to choose from. You should actively review and learn to choose what you are really interested in and which gives a certain return.

Secondly, the activities you choose should make you feel happy. Free time should be considered a reward and should help to achieve balance – especially considering how much frustration we are exposed to in everyday life.

Travel and sun vacations are not the only way to spend free time. There are plenty of other leisure opportunities, activities that have important educational components and that promote healthy social interaction and personal development.

Local festivals and outdoor activities take us closer to nature, such as camping or day trips. You can also go to the cinema, see a performance at a local theater and take part in a variety of other activities that are relaxing and help you learn new things and de-stress.

In summary

Enjoying your free time in a productive and enriching way is directly linked to taking care of your health. One of the main goals of leisure education is to help individuals maximize the benefits they can get out of their free time.

Everyone knows that relaxation is important, but we also learn new things if we consciously use our free time for activities that are as relaxing as they are educational. We learn social skills and how we can be more creative. Utilizing leisure time in a good way also helps to prevent risky behavior in children and young people.