What age for “going out to play” in street?

[LassieOh]

Hi, I live in a very quiet little town, in a street far away from any pain roads. in the street there is a 10 mph speed limit, chicanes/ traffic calming measures, and we are at the end of the estate so no through traffic, roads are quiet. There are also a few big common grassy areas between the houses, so lots of space for kids to play. It’s a family area, so almost all houses have young kids. Our neighbourhood is ‘naice’. We have a street WhatsApp group for all parents/adults. My child is sensible and if he has clear rules is very good at sticking to them. He is good with road safety. Just now one of us goes with him with he is playing outside. I’m considering saying to him he can play out without us supervising if he doesn’t go past the end of our row of 10 houses. Within that scope there are lots of other kids and 2 grassy areas to play on.

My question is, at what age would you feel comfortable letting your child do this?

Also, any suggestions on things you’d want to make sure your child knows before letting them do this? Eg their address, parents phone number?

Main roads

In our estate the age seems to be the summer before they start P1 so they're 4/5. Earlier than I expected but our estate sounds very much like yours and they know they're only allowed to the play park in the estate.

The first year all the parents would check on them every 10/15 mins but now they're 7/8 there's less frequent checks but same rules - play park only and if we ever check and they've gone elsewhere they won't be allowed out again.

Same as above. Seems to be 4/5 around here, although mine were slightly older (6/7) because of when we moved.

Never. I don't allow my children to play on streets, or near streets. My 9 and 6 year olds don't even know this is a "thing". My 19 year old obviously does, but never cared for it. At 11, in the spring before high school I allowed him to play in the park, but I walked him to and from, and he had a mobile phone to contact me. As the summer went on, he was allowed to walk there and back. In the summer of year 7, he was allowed to get the bus to go swimming with friends in town, or to their house for planned "play dates". So he certainly had freedom, but not playing on streets. It causes too many problems in my opinion.

Mine were 7 where we live but 5 when visiting 5 my parents and sisters house. The difference was due to traffic at different locations.

Ds is 8 , for the past year he's been allowed to kick a ball around at the side of our house ( I can see him through the window )
However I caught him in the road when he's been told its out of bounds so now he's not allowed any more . My ds is not sensible enough !

@ThisMustBeMyDream

Never. I don't allow my children to play on streets, or near streets. My 9 and 6 year olds don't even know this is a "thing". My 19 year old obviously does, but never cared for it. At 11, in the spring before high school I allowed him to play in the park, but I walked him to and from, and he had a mobile phone to contact me. As the summer went on, he was allowed to walk there and back. In the summer of year 7, he was allowed to get the bus to go swimming with friends in town, or to their house for planned "play dates". So he certainly had freedom, but not playing on streets. It causes too many problems in my opinion.

I'm like this with my children also.

Mine played out from 3 or 4 with me supervising. This meant they got used to it and by 6 I wouldn't watch, but just check regularly. Lots of children played out, there's a grassy area at the end of the street. I am so grateful they got to do this as I did it as a child and I think it is important for their development and social skills. Also far less hassle than arranging play dates and means they spent lots of time outside rather than inside on screens.

Around 6/7 based on the area you describe. Provided you set a rule about where he can and can't go and he doesn't go beyond the end of the road, I don't think he'd particularly need to know address, phone number etc specifically to play out, although obviously knowing them is in general very helpful/ important. Playing out was a very happy and fun part of my DD's childhood.

From around 4 here.

From the situation you have described the summer after they turn 5 and have had a year in school.

I think it should be a gradual withdrawal of parent, so can you clean your car while he is playing unsupervised?
Can you see the street from your
Kitchen window?
Also dependant on traffic etc

When we moved here my ds was the only child in the street. By the time more came along he was about 5 and he used to go out and play but we were next door and they sort of played in the gardens most of the time, but we're allowed on the street because it was very quiet. I allowed my second When he was about 3/4 because the older ones were there with him and another couple of children had moved in next door on the other side.

@ThisMustBeMyDream what a shame you let your own anxiety stop your kids from playing out. Kids being allowed out to play unsupervised is how they learn to assess risk, develop resilience and self confidence. Helicopter parenting is very bad for kids. Mine were around 6 yrs old when they joined the rest of the street urchins🤣🤣

Thanks for the replies, really useful to know. I was thinking from age 5-6.

I can see one of the grass areas from my window but not the other, I will perhaps start with allowing him to play there.

To the poster that seemed horrified with playing on streets, perhaps it’s a turn of phrase here, I don’t actually mean playing on the road, I mean playing on the paths/public grass areas/neighbouring kids front gardens in the street. I don’t mean playing on the road.

Thanks all 🙏