Does your child play outside for 3 hours a day?

[StopGrowingPlease]

I’ve just seen this -
‘Pediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom calls active free play outdoors, “the most beneficial gift we as parents…can bestow on our children.” Hanscom says ideally kids should be playing outside 3 hours each day, and that doesn’t include organized sports.’
Do your children play outside for 3 hours a day?
My 18 month old has just come back inside after about 40 minutes playing in the garden. He’s also had a 30 minute music class and a 45 minute Little Movers class today. He’s now having his tea and will then probably want to play with his toys inside for a couple of hours before I attempt getting him to sleep. When we go to the park he’s usually out of the pram and playing/walking around for about an hour.
Is this not enough?? What do you and your children do??

Mine comes home from school, eats something and then gets taken to dance for between 3-5 hours depending on the day. Weekends he also dances and plays football. He never just plays outside.

The idea of forest school fills me with horror to be honest, it's not right for our family at all. My middle child in particular would hate it.

My DS would hate it too. He's much more content being inside with a good book and some duplo. He takes after his dad as I loved being outdoors as a kid.

Yes he enjoys being outside like most preschoolers but his peers who would love attending a forest school type setting are no better than him because they prefer being outside more it's just their characters and that they just have different personalities. I mean I could send him to a forest school type setting but he'd just sit outside reading instead of being inside so it's not like he'd be more active.

Yes, but not with me. They've all been to nursery/childminder since age 1 (now all school age). We purposely chose settings that have good outdoor facilities so they could be outside the majority of the time, in any weather.

We live in a village 9 nearly 10 year old , walks to and from school daily. Then goes on her bike with friends, plays hockey and netball. Its probably 3 hours at least now weather is getting better less in winter.

It depends where you live if I lived in the city no way would I allow it but DD plays out everyday after school until tea time with the neighbours kids. We do live in a small village and DH works from home..

Yes every day unless there's an actual storm. Only because I'm shit at being inside the flat with them not because I'm some natural earth mother.
What you're doing sounds completely normal, healthy etc... don't worry!

Hmm my 8 year old dumps her stuff after school and is straight to the park on her bike, home when she's hungry and home for the night when the streetlights come on. Problem is the streetlights come on at about 4pm in the dead of winter. So summer, absolutely. But winter definitely not.

I think it's because the emphasis here is on "unrestricted play / outdoor time" (aka, which, in my mind (rightly or wrongly), I also equate with "unstructured"). I.e. it's not just about being outdoors and fresh air, but about kids having an opportunity to explore and connect with nature and the outdoors in creative ways,

That said, I think your kids hiking and biking at the weekend is more than fabulous, and I'd definitely say that counts big time.

No, not a chance! But we live in a city with a lot of air pollution so certain times of the year the local authorities advise against going outside for long. But my DS (8) plays outside a lot at school because the school is in the countryside on the outskirts so a bit less polluted. After school he has swimming 2 nights a week, and at the weekend we go on long dog walks and/or to the playground, sometimes we go on bike rides. I think he gets enough outdoor time/time to exercise with 2 PE sessions a week at school too. Before we moved here we lived on a compound and could send our son outside to play for hours with his mates (with an adult or two supervising), but here that's just not possible, it's too busy, cars everywhere and not enough green space close to the house where we know he could play out safely.

Not quite.

Noticed the recent hype about 'forest bathing'?

In your kid's case, it would still make a big difference whether he was reading outside in a forest or natural setting versus an indoor one ....

• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190404074915.htm
• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180706102842.htm
• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121212204826.htm
• https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health

That's just what a superficial search yielded, you'll find more if you look in more depth.
I certainly know the benefits first hand in my own body and mind.

The uk has an awkward school day average of 9am-3pm, ie middle of the day. Which in winter doesn’t leave much afternoon with daylight.
Most other countries in Europe, including northern cold ones have school 7.30am-11.30/12. Meaning primary school age children still are free from lunchtime until it gets dark to do non school activities or get outside.

Easily if your average it out over a year rather than expect it every single day whatever the weather or how we are all feeling etc. dc have an outdoor hobby which makes it easier to achieve but we have no shame in a winter duvet day

Yes we’re the same. We have a big garden (nearly two acres) so in the summer we’re always out doing maintenance.

Yes easily in the summer holidays but how on earth would this work in the uk during term time? My kids don't get home until around 4 depending on the day, then they have to sort all their stuff out, eat dinner, do reading/time tables/whatever.
Most nights one or other of them has a club and they need to actually sleep at some point. There aren't enough hours in the day for this if organised sports don't count.

Tbh I don't see why organised sports don't count. Surely rugby, football, outdoor athletics etc all count?

I think free play has benefits and outdoor time has benefits and exercise has benefits. All are essential. But I don't see that they all necessarily need to happen at the same time.

If my child rides her bike to the local sports club, does an indoor gymnastics class, rides home and then spends some time drawing and playing Lego in her room, I consider that all those things are good and healthy for her and I don't care that she didn't have outdoor free play. Although of course outdoor free play is lovely too, but I don't agree that any child needs 3 hours of it every day of the year to the exclusion of other things.

It's physically and practically impossible for thousands.

Walk to school doesn't count.

20 minutes playtime in school.

Possibly about 40 minutes at lunchtime if they abandon their lunch quickly and it's not wet/muddy/snowing.

Afterschool club until 6pm.

Walk home doesn't count. They live in a social housing flat where it's against the rules to play outside if they even have a grassed area.

Homework/reading/spellings, bath/wash, delousing and bed.

Weekends, they could possibly fit it in (assuming the parents aren't working) if they have the access to transport and somewhere suitable - not that many places in the town centre.

Active free play? No I don't think so - unless that includes things like a walk in the woods? Is that active free play? We did that this morning, and she'll play outside in the garden this afternoon I'm sure.

Can’t actually remember with our own (adult) children but I think so. Luckily our grandchild loves being outdoors in all weathers so when we have him, yes.

It doesn't make any sense. My son does about 12-14 hours of dance a week plus football but it doesn't count. Surely it's about getting exercise.

I’m not quite sure about the organised part either?

I mean this morning I have taken Ds out for a long walk ( about 90 mins), he was in pram the first 30 mins as Busy roads. But the hour he walked along river wasn’t ‘free play’ it was instigated by adults as he’s 2 years. I can’t exactly send him out with a picnic for the day alone.
we are now in the park, he’s played alone a bit, but now dh pushing him on a swing, which isn’t alone either.
But by the time we walk home he would have been outside 3+ hrs. He will be back outside in our garden later as I need to sort raised beds

Probably not for mine. On a school day they have 20 mins walk each way and an hour of playtime. Once they come home they rarely go back out though. Then they do football one evening a week and a couple of PE sessions plus often a couple of after school club sessions which mainly seem to involve rolling in mud by the state of them when I pick up. At the weekend probably yes but some is organised activities. 2 hours of rugby whatever the weather. Often a walk or trip to the park and then out and about doing general errands.

Not going to beat myself up for not hitting targets. The kids are fine.

Mine does, but that’s because we’re on a farm and we have horses, so I need to be outside and he needs to be with me as he’s only 18 months. I’m glad he can have the same lifestyle as I did as a kid (albeit in a much happier family environment thank goodness) but I think for most families, it’s not overly realistic to have three hours outside every single day.

Yes, when preschoolers - we lived in a city but used the parks all the time and at nursery there was a small garden they were in a lot. But not once they were at school. At weekends I did take them to playgrounds and parks a lot. But we have definitely been indoors a lot since they started school

Much more than that in summer, much less than that in the winter... because we lean towards soft play and museums instead of parks and walks