want to move somewhere kids still play outside..Folkestone????

[waterrat]

I know this is unlikely - but I feel sad for my kids that the streets everywhere are deserted and I have to walk them up to the park. I wish we lived somewhere where they could just pop outside and find a friend to play football with.

I really want to move to the south coast - Kent - Folkestone - but am I mad to think kids would play out there? I want to start giving my 7/8 year old a bit of freedom as they grow older but I can't imagine it at the moment...

I'm in South Oxfordshire, down a quiet road. All the children play outside after school and on the weekends. Lovely to see.

Where are u now?
I'm in Kent... more Whitstable/Herne Bay way and unfortunately there is not a lot of that around here either..

Not where I am anyway and it does make me sad for my 9 year old but I was never allowed to play out the front as a child am I turned out ok 🥴

Any cul de sac anywhere.

South Oxfordshire also, kids all play outside here.

Seems of a weird reason to move? Why not get a house with a garden?
Playing out on the street is a no-no in most areas as other residents don't like kids bouncing their footballs against their fences, walls and cars.
When my kids were little we lived in what 'seemed' an idylic place. Lots of fields, only a couple of streets, but it was all 'segregated' by a gang of local yobs who stopped kids from our street going out to enjoy themselves.
We played in our garden instead or went out.
The yobs never seemed to be taken anywhere to go out for the day, so hence they felt the need to take over the estate.
Sad really.

Glad you turned out ok @Bigonesmallone3 ! ha. Yes I probably over-worry about this but it's a real passion of mine - I read a lot about the decline of free play among children and worry about it a lot! I see how little responsibility or freedom my 7 year old has - when we go camping he is off like a different child, playing completely differently because we are not micromanaging him all the time.

We live in London near the edge..actually a nice area with a lot of parks but the road is typical London road with parked cars everywhere. Even if I let my kids out (and I would..) there are no other children outside ...

I really try to give them space to play in their own chosen way with other kids but it's either at home or in the park which is never quite as relaxed - when I grew up it was in a cul de sac and we all just went and played with our friends whenever we felt like it.

@MagicKingdom I suppose it's true that there are lovely little roads like this all over the place but hard to find !

anywhere else//? North of England??? DH needs to be in Kings Cross for work....

👋 big , I’m near Whitstable too! I think children do play out but more on the newer built estates rather than the older, traditional areas probably because they tend to have more cul-de-sacs and the like so are safer road wise. I’ve got friends up at Reculver on a newish estate, always full of children playing out, and there’s a ‘green’ with a play park, easily visible from the houses that surround it.

@Tensixtysix- the chance for children to play freely with other kids is a really important way for them to learn emotional skills that we don't pay much attention to at school. Lots of studies show playing freely in the way that kids don't tend to do now is very important for development of frontal cortex / decision making and emotional regulation skills.

It is also good for their happiness and wellbeing.

I find gardens dull as do my children....they want to be out with other kids - I do invite children over but two kids kicking a ball about the garden is not the same as a group of mixed ages playing freely - which used to be the norm.

I want them to have a bit of freedom in a safe way...as children used to have when playing outside was more common ..

hmm seems like south oxfordshire could be good! don't know anything about that area...

Quiet Dorset market town- tonnes of kids playing out. I see lots of young children taking themselves to the park etc.

I send my 8yo out to run errands without worry.

Have a look at a scheme for children to play out

Pick a day sat 3 pm, leaflet the area, ask kids to bring balls etc at local park

I’ll send you a link

Start one up!! You’ll be surprised

Oh hello judas 👋🏻
I'm not far from there also, my road has a lot of bungalows and older residents so I don't see all that up here

North East England, all the kids around here play out. Only thing is that it's three hours by train from Newcastle to King Cross.

I live in London and we have regular "playstreets" where the road is closed to traffic and kids are encouraged to play on the street with bikes, scooters, chalk etc. As a starting point, why not organise one of those locally?

@reefedsail that is really nice to hear - it is a shame not to be able to give children that little bits of responsibility. It would be odd to see an 8 year old out alone where I live - obviously they are capable of it! But I never see it. In fact I rarely see young people outside at all without adults apart from going to school.

Yep I have heard of Play streets - I need to do that!

It's a start...

Greentulips... can you send me a link too

I've never lived anywhere where this happened sadly. I live on a cul de sac in outer London. It's basically a car park and no kids play out.

I think you are imagining an idyllic sort of utopia but the reality is a lot darker.

@qumquat unfortunately many parts of the UK are now essentially car parks. I've noticed that housing developments now have cars parked all through, right up to the doors - rather than the old style where there were larger communal pedestrian areas.

Our cul de sac in chapel Allerton leeds. Lovely.

I grew up in Hythe, the next town over from Folkestone. Folkestone isn't that kind of town IMO, but Hythe is much nicer, has a villagey feel and has plenty of cul de sacs and wide open spaces. Though I would say that growing up there wasn't very exciting as I entered my teens! 😂

I’m from Folkestone, I’d never let multiple kids play out. Full of bored pissed teens or strangers in the summer

I now live in a council estate in Reading and my Kids plays out .
It’s the people not the town

@Zombiefly that is interesting as I thought about Hythe! It has a good secondary doesn't it? Non grammar ...
I can't quite imagine moving to a village - I've lived in London my whole life ..I always wonder if villages are quiet with nobody else to play with!

My kids might turn round at 14 and say what the hell did you bring us here for....we miss the bright city lights!

aaaargh. hard to know what to do - they have different needs at different ages....

@Decormad38 my husband would love it if I suggested moving to Leeds..he thinks the north is much better than the south....

Our estate in Shrewsbury.

We’ve stayed here so long because it’s perfect for kids, there’s whole groups of all ages having football matches on the green all through the summer. Kids out on their bikes, playing ‘tracker’ in the hedges and along the strip of grass behind the estate.